Outspoken National Human Rights Commissioner Wasant Panich told the media yesterday he believed his life was in danger for scrutinising the case of missing lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit and investigating unidentified bodies buried in the deep South.

Wasant said he was nearly abducted on Tuesday when he received five mysterious phone calls while on his way to a meeting at the Bangkok Metropolitan Admini-stration's City Hall, near the Democracy Monument.

"My mobile phone did not show the numbers of the callers and there was only silence on the other end," he said.

"Luckily, because I investigated the case of missing lawyer Somchai, I knew the same thing happened to him on the day he was abducted. It was a tactic to locate the abduction target using electronic devices."

The same thing happened to his wife's mobile phone the next morning when he was about to leave his home, he said.

He sent his driver out to check if there was anyone following his car. The driver phoned him later to confirm that the car was followed.

Wasant called a taxi to take him to work. He noticed a suspicious silver Toyota van. He changed the cab three times only to arrive at his office and find the same van parked 50 metres from his office building on Rama I Road.

"I have to admit I was appalled," Wasant said. "This must be an attempt on my life because I am on a committee to investigate the case of missing lawyer Somchai. I am also handling the inspection of graves in which many unidentified bodies were found. The bodies were not those of immigrants, as some authorities have claimed. The authorities were also reluctant when we proposed to dig up the graves."

Wasant was a renowned human-rights lawyer before being selected as a human-rights commissioner five years ago.

He defended many students and social activists who faced serious political allegations such as charges relating to the communist insurgency in the 1970s.

In his capacity as a commissioner, he has sought justice for many families who lost loved ones in the government's war on drugs, in which about 3,000 people were killed.

Wasant said he had reported the threat on his life to Dr Saneh Chammarik, chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, who had expressed his concern.

Security at the commission's office has been tightened.