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📔 New Report and Campaign: We Expose the Truth to Bring #JusticeForPhichit Villagers! ✊🇹🇭

  • Writer: Manushya Foundation
    Manushya Foundation
  • Mar 4
  • 3 min read

For over two decades, Phichit villagers in Central Thailand have been fighting for one thing: justice for the long-lasting harms brought by operations of the largest mining company in the country to their communities and the environment.


At this critical moment, just weeks before the Civil Court delivers its long-awaited verdict on 24 March, we at Manushya Foundation are proud to release a major new advocacy report and launch the #JusticeForPhichit — Remedy NOW Campaign.


Because the fight for remedy is not only happening in the courtroom.It is also a fight over truth, accountability, and corporate narratives.


After years of denying accountability, distorting the truth, and corporate greenwashing by Akara Resources and Kingsgate Consolidated, the owners and operators of the Chatree Gold Mine, we’re setting the record straight.


Today, we are proud to finally make public our new report:


Lies, Gold and Injustice: Exposing Corporate Lies and Defending the Truth

A Report Fact-Checking Akara and Kingsgate’s Misleading Information Before the UN



We are proud to launch this report as part of our new #JusticeForPhichit — Remedy NOW Campaign leading up to the 24 March Day of Action.


Together, truth-telling and people power are converging at a critical moment for environmental justice and corporate accountability in Thailand.



Why this report matters — and why now


On 19 July 2024, Manushya Foundation jointly submitted a UN Complaint with Phichit villagers, exposing serious human rights violations and harmful practices linked to the Chatree Gold Mine. We released a public version of that Complaint on 5 November 2025, to ensure transparency while protecting confidential information.


The response was unprecedented.


On 14 January 2025, nine UN Special Procedures issued a formal UN Communication demanding accountability, addressed not only to Akara and Kingsgate, but also to Thailand and Australia, as well as 14 other companies and investors connected to the mine and their home States.


Instead of taking responsibility, Akara and Kingsgate responded on 14 March 2025 with a 65+ page weightless submission filled with denials, misleading claims, and accusations of defamation and “misinformation.”


But the companies didn’t stop there.


They have since doubled down on an aggressive PR strategy, portraying themselves as “community-centred” and “environmentally responsible”, all while continuing to refuse remediation for the very real harms suffered by Phichit villagers.


Glossy PR campaigns, sustainability claims, and feel-good community projects will never erase years of negative impacts and unresolved injustice.


This is why, on 15 September 2025, we set the facts straight with a detailed fact-checking report to the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights.


And now, we are making that report public because the truth must not stay buried.



What the report exposes


Our new report Lies, Gold and Injustice meticulously examines and exposes the falsehoods, misleading statements, and wrongful information presented by Akara and Kingsgate in their attempt to discredit victims and evade accountability.


Among the key findings:


  • Deliberate conflation of employee welfare with community rights, despite the UN Communication focusing on affected villagers

  • Repeated references to reports and policies that are not publicly accessible, making verification impossible

  • Dismissal of credible scientific evidence on environmental contamination when it does not fit the companies’ narrative

  • The weaponisation of CSR and PR campaigns to position the companies as “sustainability champions,” gaslight communities, and frame villagers as “malicious” or “misinformed”


Let us be clear: Corporate Social Responsibility is not accountability. CSR projects do not constitute remediation.

Until today, Phichit villagers have yet to receive remedy for the past harms inflicted upon them by the Chatree Gold Mine.


The companies try to frame them as malicious individuals, but the Phichit villagers are not asking for charity. They are only demanding what they are owed.




✊ This is a decisive moment for environmental justice and corporate accountability in Thailand


With the court verdict approaching on 24 March, this is a critical time to act.


Please join us bring Justice for Phichit, because glossy CSR campaigns cannot erase lived harm, and communities have waited long enough.


📣 Read and share the report

📣 Amplify the voices of Phichit villagers

📣 Join the growing call for remedy



Until the Phichit villagers attain the justice they deserve, we will never stop speaking truth to power. We hope you join us along the way.



In solidarity,

Manushya Foundation


 
 
 

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