The Price of Paradise: How tourism in Southern Thailand is stripping the Moken peoples' rights

#SaveChaoLay! On the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, we lay bare how the tourism industry of Koh Lao, Thailand profits off compounding violence against the Moken peoples who call it home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9DmumG_PqE

In this interview, Naowwanit Chaemphit, an Indigenous woman human rights defender and community leader, exposes how the tourism industry of Koh Lao, Thailand profits off compounding violence against the Moken peoples who call it home. She joined Manushya’s workshop, “Turning Collective Voices into Evidence-Based Advocacy: Finalizing Thailand’s UPR IV Civil Society Submissions,” held in Bangkok from 31 March-1 April 2026.

Moken communities are first denied legal recognition as Indigenous Peoples by the state, then stripped of their land and basic rights by the same state working hand-in-hand with tourism businesses.

As Indigenous lands become increasingly attractive for tourism development, communities face relentless pressure to leave their homes. Businesses claim their land with state support, while Indigenous Peoples are forced to provide paperwork proving their connection to the land, which existed long before paper deeds ever existed.

🗣️ Naowwanit Chaemphit, a Moken Indigenous woman leader, testifies:

"The land the state takes for tourism development becomes the land where villagers are continually being evicted... Our lives have become extremely fragile."

As decolonial and intersectional feminists, Manushya Foundation stands with P’Naowwanit and all Indigenous Peoples fighting for legal recognition and the right to land, basic social services, and self-determination. ✊

𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨! 🇺🇳 Ahead of Thailand’s upcoming Universal Periodic Review at the United Nations, follow #WhatsHappeningInThailand as we bring more frontline voices into the spotlight. Witness their truths so their demands cannot be ignored.

#WeAreManushyan ♾️ Equal Human Beings

#IndigenousPeoplesDay #IndigenousRights #PeopleOverProfit