Oppressive, capitalist, and patriarchal systems thrive on the exhaustion of defenders. Choosing to slow down and rest is one way we resist their grip on our bodies and time. As the year draws to a close, we’re intentionally stepping back to make space for ourselves and our loved ones. Manushya Foundation will be on pause from 30 December 2025 to 4 January 2026 . Our emails and social media channels won’t be actively monitored during this time. You’re welcome to leave us a mes

All we want for Christmas is rest for those who have been fighting all year. Because care is political. And survival is revolutionary. As Decolonial & Intersectional Feminists, we honour rest as a radical act, especially for those resisting repression, violence, and erasure every single day. May this season hold space for pause and collective care. ✨ #WeAreManuhsyan ♾️ Equal Human Beings

The holidays look different for everyone. But across cultures, they remind us of something shared: the power of being in community 🤝 Earlier this month, the Manushya team came together in Chiang Mai for a day rooted in joy, care, and collective grounding. As decolonial, intersectional feminists, we build our liberation movement with  and through  one another. 🌿 Setting intentions at Doi Suthep 🥭 Women’s Solidarity Lunch at Free Bird Café —which proudly supports marginalise

As the year comes to a close, activists across Southeast Asia are still on the frontlines, defending democracy at enormous personal risk . ✊🏽🌏 From youth leaders and feminists to Indigenous and grassroots organisers, communities are standing up to authoritarian systems who use increasingly violent tactics to repress defenders. But recent USAID funding cuts have weakened the feminist safety nets that protect defenders, including Manushya Foundation’s. These cuts have put man

On the road to a people-led Thailand’s #UPR IV, care is at the center of our movement-building strategy ✊ That’s why wellbeing is a signature part of every Manushya workshop! At our recent UPR Capacity & Movement-Building Workshop in Chiang Mai , we closed the year by holding space for collective care through decolonial, community-rooted wellbeing practices. Activists from across Northern Thailand were invited to rest and recharge through: 🌿 Herbal body soaks 🤲 Traditional

For International Human Solidarity Day , we’re spotlighting what solidarity really means: showing up for each other across borders, through our connected struggles, and across generations. 🌍🤝 From 30 October to 1 November, our Founder Emilie Palamy Pradichit  joined over 120 activists, artists, and movement leaders from 27 countries across the Global South at the South-South Social Movements Convergence  in Cape Town, South Africa, hosted by Yiaga Africa  and OSF Africa . I

IN PHOTO: Youth leaders, disability rights advocates, Indigenous activists, LQBTQIA+ and feminist defenders from Northern Thailand hold a moment of silence calling for peace amidst escalating hostilities in the Cambodian-Thailand border Manushya Foundation and Feminist Rights Groups Hold Northern Thailand Workshop Ahead of UN Human Rights Review CHIANG MAI, THAILAND   –  On 15-16 December 2025, Manushya Foundation, in collaboration with Young Pride Foundation, the People’s M

Sue is a youth leader from Myanmar and a member of the Human Rights Club at Mae Fah Luang University (Chiang Rai). She participated in our recent UPR Capacity-Building Workshop in Chiang Mai, Thailand. In the wake of Myanmar’s military coup, thousands have been forced to flee violence, leading many to seek safety and livelihoods in Thailand. To survive, they cross borders often without secure legal status and face heightened risks of exploitation and rights violations. Yet de

🚨 Violence against sex workers in Thailand is not accidental, it’s by design. This December 17, on the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers , we name some of the systems behind that harm: colonial powers and criminalization. While Thailand was never formally colonised, imperial influence shaped its economy in ways that displaced and impoverished marginalized and working-class women. Many were forced into sex work as a means of survival. But these forces didn

👇 Read through the blog to better understand the challenges posed by TAFTA, and how trade and investment rules (Free Trade Agreements) protect corporate interests while exposing communities to mining expansion and long-term harm. ____ Following the termination of the TAFTA arbitration on 27 November, Kingsgate (Australian mining company) and Thai authorities celebrated ‘a new era of renewed cooperation to deliver long term value for Kingsgate’s shareholders and stakeholders’

Today, we commemorate Sombath Somphone, a renowned Lao activist and community leader. On 15 December 2012, he was abducted in broad daylight in Vientiane. His fate remains unknown. Thirteen years later, no perpetrators have been identified. The Lao government has conveniently failed to conduct a credible investigation and ignored repeated calls for accountability. Even though many high-ranking officials from the time of his disappearance still hold powerful roles today. ⚠️ Th

Early this week, #Thailand took a key step as part of its accession process to the #OECD, by submitting a self-assessment report and analysing compliance of Thai laws with OECD standards. 🔗 Access our Briefer to learn more about Thailand’s accession process: bit.ly/KeyToOECD While Thailand portrays itself as a champion on responsible business conduct, we know too well the reality: exploited migrant workers, Indigenous Peoples evicted from their lands, rural communities suffe

On 11 December 2025, the Chiang Rai Provincial Court read out the Supreme Court’s judgment in the case of 32-year-old pro-democracy activist Mongkol "Bas" Thirakhot, sentencing him to 46 years in prison without suspension under Section 112 and the CCA. This marks one of the highest penalties in the history of cases under the Lèse-Majesté law. This ruling follows years of escalating punishment against Bas. Decades for Dissent: The Case Against Activist Bas Two cases (later mer

Australia just became the first country to ban anyone under 16 from social media and call it “protection” 🚨 What it really is?  A global green light for surveillance disguised as child safety. The passage of the bill marks a dark, repressive shift in digital rights across the world. Southeast Asia, WATCH OUT: the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore are next (and we’re monitoring closely). ‼️ Manushya Foundation’s stance on banning young people from digital spaces is

We are witnessing the genocide in Palestine . The Rohingya people are enduring decades of statelessness and ethnic cleansing. Sudan  is facing massacres in silence. Congo  continues to suffer under extractive violence rooted in enduring colonial legacies. But let’s remember that rights continue to live, not through states, but through Human Rights Defenders (HRDs)  who risk everything to speak truth to power ✊🏽 This #HumanRightsDay, we expose the rising authoritarianism and