Articles
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Cambodian citizenships granted, 2000-2024
Kouprey combed through Royal Gazette books from 2000 to 2024 to collate all the people who acquired Cambodian citizenship. The full database is being made available on Mekong Independent.
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Scam raids hit capital’s luxury gated communities, high-rise office towers: Phnom Penh updates
Phnom Penh authorities have turned to the city’s status symbols of development to uncover lurking scam operations with less than a month left till their self-imposed deadline to eliminate scams.
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Trapped in Park 8: My story of human trafficking in Cambodia
A worker who escaped a scam compound in Cambodia writes about his own experience following a deceptive job offer, scamming people abroad and surviving after mass escapes.
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‘An epidemic of suffering’: Why are conservationists breaking down?
Conservationists around the world are struggling with their mental health for many reasons, but one of the largest is watching ecological destruction in real time.
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With banners and publicity, government steps into spotlight on scams
To an audience of thousands, the Cambodian government presented depictions of violence and forced labor as part of a promise to “destroy” the country’s online scam industry by April.
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Kenyan citizens file lawsuit to speed up exit from Cambodia
A group of 10 Kenyans are suing the Kenyan government over their trafficking into Cambodia and detention and forced labor within the country.
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Thailand prepares fourth attempt to resolve Karen land dispute
Thailand is preparing to establish its fourth government committee to resolve a longstanding land dispute with a Karen community displaced from Kaeng Krachan National Park. A new ethnic rights law offers cautious hope this attempt might succeed.
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Defamation charge against activist dropped after 7 years
A Thai court has dismissed a defamation by publication charge filed against activist Sirawit Serithiwat for a speech criticizing the Election Commission of Thailand (ECT) during a protest in March 2019.
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Long-term Cambodian workers debate leaving as Thailand reviews work permits for ‘security’
The Cambodian workers who stayed in Thailand express concerns of discrimination as Thailand’s Labor Ministry reviews whether to renew work permits after last year’s border conflict.
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Death of foreign worker stokes fears among those waiting to leave
A foreign worker who escaped a scam business died while waiting to return to her home country, causing concern as other workers from Africa wonder how long their situations will continue.
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Jailed Mother Nature activists pledge to continue environmental work
After 601 days in prison, Mother Nature activists appeared at the Supreme Court on Monday in a hearing related to bail.
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Four activists found guilty of royal defamation over monarchy reform protest speech
Four activists have been found guilty of royal defamation and sentenced to prison over speeches given at a protest in front of the 11th Infantry Regiment headquarters on November 29, 2020.
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Prince stronghold now lies empty, but doubts linger
Over the weekend, with Golden Fortune’s license finally gone, Sampov Poun compounds were locked, empty, and watched over by police — but local residents still wondered whether it was truly the end for the infamous scam city.
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A month on Phnom Penh streets after a year trapped in scams
Foreigners who were stuck in Cambodia-based scam compounds say they are free, but now lack money and face extensive bureaucratic and financial barriers to return home.
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Election Commission faces multiple legal challenges over electoral integrity
The Election Commission of Thailand faces legal challenges in three courts over the integrity of the February 8 elections after major irregularities were reported.
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Gold rush in Asia fuels mercury pollution
Small-scale mining in developing Asian economies bring new challenges to the fight against mercury pollution and its lasting harms.
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Sparks of unrest at construction sites as Cambodian scam raids continue
Foreign and Cambodian workers protested unpaid wages in a compound under construction in Koh Kong province, while workers appear to leave the Long Bay Dara Sakor compound en masse.
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Myanmar garment workers in Thailand still unpaid five years after court victory
When the Royal Knitting factory closed during the pandemic, its Japanese owners disappeared and workers lost their wages. Now labour advocates are pressing Otto Group, the German retail giant, to help collect what a Thai court says the workers are owed.
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Some Koh Kong compounds emptied, others still lively amid scam crackdown
Scattering foreign scam workers in Koh Kong have been found sheltering in tents along a stream or hiding in cowsheds. But some guarded buildings in Koh Kong were recently still busy with traffic and signs of habitation.
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Massive raid nabs more than 2,000 workers with warning shots
Police detained 2,022 foreign nationals over the weekend from 22 buildings in Svay Rieng’s A7 Casino, a late raid of lingering scam operations that saw warning shots fired into the air and lines of minibuses take zip-tied workers away from the scene.
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Thailand’s eastern sugarcane sector hit by labour crunch
Farmers have struggled to replace Cambodian migrant workers, who traditionally dominate the workforce, after border closures halted cross-border labour movement.
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Taboo against harming strangler fig spirits protects forests in Indonesian Borneo
The Iban community in West Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo, says it believes large strangler fig trees are inhabited by dangerous spirits, leading community members to protect these trees from harm wherever they occur.
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After ten years, Erawan Shrine bombing trial finally moves forward
After a decade in detention, two Uyghur men accused of Thailand’s deadliest bombing finally face trial. UN experts have condemned their imprisonment as “arbitrary and discriminatory,” and human rights groups say the case has exposed deep flaws in the Thai criminal justice system.
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Students face royal defamation charges over political parody parade at university
Four Thammasat University students face royal defamation charges after they participated in a political parody parade at the university last year.
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Declared a terrorist for bringing renewable power to Philippine communities
Accusing activists of having links to terrorism has led to non-profit funds being frozen and local climate projects being delayed or scrapped.