A Lao activist has gone missing in Samut Sakhon province, just outside Bangkok, and human rights groups fear the worst. The man vanished without a trace, and no one has been able to account for his whereabouts since. Organizations that monitor human rights say the incident looks like another case of Lao dissidents being targeted while living in exile in Thailand. Samut Sakhon, an industrial province with a large community of Lao migrant workers, has become home to many people who fled Laos amid political persecution. Rights groups argue that Thai authorities have a duty to protect exiles living on their soil and to investigate disappearances properly. Past cases of disappeared activists have largely gone unresolved, which the groups say feeds a sense of impunity. Fellow activists and the missing man's family are now calling on police to open a formal investigation. They warn that without answers, Lao exiles across Thailand will keep living in fear.