A work permit costs 3,700 baht. She paid 21,000
Most Myanmar migrants in Thailand cannot obtain a work permit without a broker. The official fee is 3,700 baht. What brokers charge is rarely that – and there is little to stop them from charging more.
Thailand and Cambodia ended their war. The Kui are still measuring the loss
The Thailand-Cambodia border conflict cost Kui communities their harvests, deepened their debts, and left unexploded shells buried in their fields. Its quieter damage, to a decade of work reconnecting an indigenous people that modern borders had long divided, may take far longer to repair.
A village fought a coal mine for seven years. It is winning, for now
A Karen community in Chiang Mai’s Omkoi district spent seven years challenging a coal mine approved without their knowledge, and won a court order freezing it. The final ruling is still pending.
In a Thai border town, migrants built their own way to face death
In Mae Sot, a Thai border town where Myanmar migrants have made their lives for decades, death has always arrived with consequences beyond grief. Over fourteen years, the migrants themselves have quietly built a way to face it together.
Thai court rules gold mine liable for cyanide contamination
A Bangkok court has ordered Thailand’s largest gold mine to compensate nearly 400 villagers for cyanide contamination, but the mine remains open and the legal battle is far from over.
A year after US aid cuts, Thailand’s largest refugee camp struggles to cope
Since international funding was sharply reduced a year ago, Mae La, the largest refugee camp on the Thai-Myanmar border, has been struggling to hold together.
In Hmong villages, a ritual is changing what divorce means for women
For generations, a divorced Hmong woman lost not just her marriage but her place in her clan. A women’s network has been reviving an ancient ritual to give it back.
Thailand prepares fourth attempt to resolve Karen land dispute
Thailand is forming a fourth committee to resolve a longstanding Karen land dispute – this time with an ethnic rights law previous panels lacked.
Thailand moves to seize 13 billion baht in assets from alleged scam networks
Thailand’s anti-money laundering office has voted to seize about 418 million USD in assets from alleged scam networks linked to Cambodia. But hundreds of fraud victims who lost their savings may face a years-long wait to see if they’ll ever get their money back.
