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MEDIA ADVISORY: Press Conference on Civil Society’s Response to Thailand’s UN Human Rights Review (UPR IV)
Whose demands were heard? Civil society responds to Thailand’s UN review and calls for accountability.
WHO
Civil society leaders and community representatives in Thailand, convened by Manushya Foundation, Amnesty International Thailand, Asylum Access Thailand, Tamtang Foundation, Isan Democracy Movement, the PATANI Working Group for Monitoring on International Mechanisms, Indigenous Women’s Network in Thailand (IWNT), MovED (People’s Movement to End Discrimination), Young Pride Foundation and the Thai CSOs Coalition for the UPR and UN Mechanisms
WHAT
Press conference on Civil society’s immediate response to UN Member States’ recommendations and Thailand’s initial responses following its fourth Universal Periodic Review
WHEN
Date: Mon, 10 November 2026 | 10:00 am-11:30 am, registration starts at 9:30 am
WHERE
SCC Creative Space 328, Thanon Phetchaburi, Ratchathewi, Bangkok 10400 | Google Map link here
Thai-English simultaneous interpretation available
Livestreamed on Facebook
REGISTER
Register here to join in person.
RSVP here to catch the Facebook livestream: tinyurl.com/UPRIVpresscon
Manushya Foundation, Amnesty International Thailand, Asylum Access Thailand, Tamtang Foundation, Isan Democracy Movement, the PATANI Working Group for Monitoring on International Mechanisms, Indigenous Women’s Network in Thailand (IWNT), MovED (People’s Movement to End Discrimination), Young Pride Foundation and the Thai CSOs Coalition for the UPR and UN Mechanisms will convene a press conference on 10 November, the day after Thailand’s fourth Universal Periodic Review. Civil society leaders from across sectors will respond to UN Member States’ recommendations and Thailand’s initial responses, highlight remaining gaps and demand accountability.
The event builds on collective advocacy ahead of Thailand’s UPR IV, which received 84 stakeholder submissions documenting violations and calling for reform. As part of this effort, Manushya Foundation and the Coalition launched 28 community-led advocacy factsheets on 21 October.
Civil society partners will examine whose demands were reflected, which violations remain insufficiently addressed and what Thai authorities must do next. Journalists will hear directly from speakers working on refugee protection, civil and political rights, self-determination in Patani or Thailand’s Deep South, bodily autonomy, environmental justice and the rights of marginalised communities.
About the Organisers
Manushya Foundation is a women-led, decolonial and intersectional feminist organisation building cross-border safety nets of protection, solidarity, and accountability across Asia. We strengthen the political power and decision-making leadership of feminists, youth movements, and frontline communities. Our work shifts power by bridging emergency protection for activists facing repression and transnational repression, movement lawyering to confront corporate abuse and false climate solutions, defense of digital rights and civic space in increasingly surveilled environments, and grassroots-led advocacy engaging international accountability systems to advance structural justice. For more, see https://www.manushyafoundation.org/.
Amnesty International Thailand is part of a global human rights movement campaigning for a world where everyone can enjoy their human rights. It works with activists and communities to expose violations, defend rights and demand accountability. For more, see https://www.amnesty.or.th/.
Asylum Access Thailand (AAT), established in 2007, provides legal counsel and representation to refugees seeking asylum in refugee status determination proceedings conducted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Bangkok. Our clients come from over 40 different nationalities. AAT helps refugees to assert their fundamental human rights through using integrated tools, such as legal representation to UNHCR Refugee Status Determination process, community legal empowerment, policy advocacy and strategic litigation in domestic legal system. For more, see: https://asylumaccess.org/thailand/.
Tamtang Foundation is a frontline feminist group led by women with abortion experience and LBI, dedicated to advancing access to safe and dignified abortion services in Thailand. Committed to building a society that understands bodily autonomy, Tamtang focuses on their 4 main missions: 1) providing counseling and service referral, 2) empowering women with abortion experiences, 3) mobilising a feminist abortion-friendly movement, and 4) encouraging policy advocacy to challenge and eliminate the stigma surrounding abortion. For more, please see https://www.facebook.com/SafeAbortionThailand.
Isan Democracy Movement (IDM) is a grassroots pro-democracy movement based in northeastern Thailand (Isan), advocating for social justice, democratic participation and the rights of marginalised communities. The movement brings together civil society networks and local communities to challenge centralised state power, defend land and natural resource rights, and advance environmental justice. Through community mobilisation and public advocacy, IDM calls for a people-led constitution, greater local self-determination, and policies that prioritise the rights and livelihoods of rural communities. For more, see https://www.facebook.com/IsanDemocracyMovement/.
The Patani Working Group for Monitoring on International Mechanisms comprises activists from Southern Thailand, coming together under the umbrella of the Thai CSO Coalition for the UPR and UN Mechanisms, and the Thai BHR Network, to connect and communicate between international mechanisms at the regional and global levels, with the Southern Border Provinces of Thailand.
Indigenous Women’s Network of Thailand (IWNT) was founded in 1996 as a part of the Inter Mountain Peoples Education and Culture in Thailand (IMPECT) to provide a gender perspective to development activities affecting indigenous peoples in Thailand. In 2011, IWNT was established as an independent organization to work towards improving the lives of indigenous women in Thailand, working with the following groups or “chon paos”: Karen, Lisu, H’mong, Lahu, Akha, Dara’ang, Taiyai or Shan, Lua, Kachin, Mien, Moken, Urak Lawoi. IWNT aims at advancing indigenous women’s rights as Women and as Indigenous Peoples, promoting national and international instruments for women’s protection, strengthening indigenous women’s participation in local government, natural resource management sector and other decision-making bodies, for them to acknowledge and support indigenous women’s rights and traditional knowledge. Over time, the network has expanded to include members from more than 26 Indigenous communities/groups across all regions of the country.
MovED (People’s Movement to Eliminate Discrimination) in Thailand working with vulnerable and marginalized groups to advance the elimination of discrimination through evidence-based advocacy, policy engagement, and community participation. Established in 2023, the network brings together 103 organizations representing diverse populations, including women, children and youth, persons with disabilities, people living with HIV, LGBTQ+ persons, migrant workers, informal workers, Indigenous peoples, and others affected by discrimination. MovED works to address structural inequalities by advocating for a comprehensive anti-discrimination law, while also promoting public awareness, monitoring discrimination, and strengthening community voices to ensure that responses are grounded in human rights principles and empirical evidence. For more, see https://move-d.org/.
Young Pride Foundation, founded in 2018, is a youth- and LGBTQ+-led organisation supporting human rights, gender equality, and democracy through online learning, events, and meetings. We dedicate ourselves to supporting and maintaining relationships among youth leaders through communication support and resource sharing. We also aim to promote understanding of diversity and inclusion at universities and monitor cases of unfair discrimination. For more, please see https://youngprideclub.com/.
The Thai CSOs Coalition for the UPR and UN Mechanisms, established during Thailand’s Second UPR cycle, is a people-led, intersectional feminist movement bringing together local communities and national civil society organisations across all human rights sectors. As one of the largest intersectional grassroots-led movements in Thailand, it engages with the UPR and UN treaty bodies, connecting struggles from Indigenous Peoples’ rights, land and environmental justice, and labour rights to digital rights, freedom of expression, transnational repression, and the protection of human rights defenders, migrants, political refugees, youth, LGBTIQ+ individuals, and communities facing systemic marginalization. It fosters solidarity among communities facing shared challenges and strengthens collective action to demand accountability from the state and companies for international human rights obligations.
