Writing for the Southeast Asia Globe, Kearrin Sims interviewed Shui Meng, wife of the disappeared Laotian development worker Sombath Somphone. Sombath, a prominent NGO leader in Laos, went missing in 2012. Various global groups suspect that local state forces have something to do with his mysterious disappearance. In the interview, Sombath's wife clarified that her husband is an educator and NGO worker, and not an activist:
Since his disappearance he has sometimes been depicted as something that he is not. For example, many say that he is an activist. Yes, he is very concerned about social issues but if he is an activist about anything, his activism is about how we improve education for the Laotian people.