Is a rubber company controlled by a retired general’s daughter pressuring indigenous farmers to give up their land in Cambodia? Jarai villagers say the firm offers minimal compensation for ancestral plots – then seizes the land anyway when families refuse. The post As rubber trees spread, indigenous farmers fight for their land appeared first on HaRDstories.| HaRDstories
When Kay’s protection order was violated three days after it was issued, she learned what’s driving Thailand’s survivor-led reform movement: the gap between legal promises and real safety.| HaRDstories
Chan Thorn once provided for her family by fishing, but Cambodia’s new airport development changed everything. The 60-year-old now depends on her daughter’s factory wage while fearing they may lose their home next.| HaRDstories
Do migrant workers threaten Thailand’s local workforce? Economic data and academic research paint a different picture than the viral videos and manipulated content driving online hatred. The post Thailand depends on migrant workers. So why the backlash? appeared first on HaRDstories.| HaRDstories
Thailand just made its first environmental class action payout. 21 million baht to farmers whose water was poisoned for two decades.| HaRDstories
Thailand made headlines this year as the first Southeast Asian country to legalise same-sex marriage. Now intersex and non-binary advocates are pushing for the next frontier: legal recognition for people who challenge the very notion of binary gender. The post Thailand achieved marriage equality. Intersex people are still waiting for their turn appeared first on HaRDstories.| HaRDstories
Forty kilometres of walking, five days of protest – but Thailand’s controversial land bridge hearing went ahead, with authorities claiming “majority support” despite the opposition from local communities. The post Thailand’s land bridge project clears public hearing hurdle despite protests appeared first on HaRDstories.| HaRDstories
Thailand passed its first law to protect indigenous communities, making it the fourth country in Southeast Asia.| HaRDstories
They’ve lost homes, jobs and safety, but Cambodia’s opposition wives refuse to lose hope. Years into an escalating authoritarian crackdown, they’re among the few still fighting back. The post Cambodia jailed the husbands. The wives won’t stay silent appeared first on HaRDstories.| HaRDstories
When Maung Thein Myint fled Myanmar eight years ago, he escaped with only the clothes he was wearing. Today, he's part of an ambitious effort to collect photographs, documents and artifacts that prove the Rohingya's centuries-old ties to a country that denies their existence.| HaRDstories
We've been covering their story since 2023: After 19 months locked up without bail in a prison in Chiang Rai, a Thai court has finally recognised them as victims forced into crime by scammers in Myanmar.| HaRDstories
From village teacher to Thailand's most prominent indigenous advocate: How Kraingkai Chichuang explains traditional concepts to lawmakers – and why the country's first ethnic protection law depends on such conversations.| HaRDstories
How Thailand's diverse indigenous groups – from mountain farmers to sea nomads – joined forces to create legislation that might finally protect their ways of life, despite challenging national narratives of cultural homogeneity.| HaRDstories
Cambodia’s Supreme Court has denied bail to five environmental activists from the NGO Mother Nature Cambodia, all of whom are appealing their convictions after spending more than nine months behind bars.| HaRDstories
Meet the people behind Thailand’s citizen-drafted Clean Air Bill that is confronting the country’s pollution crisis – and those who benefit from it.| HaRDstories
Cyber scams and modern slavery fuel Southeast Asia’s underground economy. Meet the man who has devoted his life to taking on these shadowy networks, one rescue at a time.| HaRDstories
Lured by false promises, trapped by ruthless criminals, and then punished by a system meant to protect them. The twisted tale of Thailand's cybercrime victims.| HaRDstories
How a village won a landmark case against a polluting factory in Thailand’s industrial heartland.| HaRDstories