The Isaan Record - English

The Isaan Media for The Isaan People. Follow us on Twitter

Based in Khon Kaen, The Isaan Record focuses on the social and political movements redefining the Northeast region, known as Isaan, and the country at large. Today, the 21 million inhabitants of the poorest region of Thailand have political and social critiques of their own, but almost no voice in popular media. By reporting on the grassroots movements of the region, The Isaan Record offers more insight into the lives of those Northeasterners who are fighting for institutional change in Thailand. We deliver stories from Isaan in the earnest belief that a better-informed populace is the foundation of a healthy democracy.

27/08/2026

The rains that once gave rice farmers hope have become unpredictable. The rainy season arrives, yet rains pause; at times heavy downpours cause floods, while at other times paddies dry out and rice plants suffer from lack of water. For farmers in the Northeast, climate variability is more than a seasonal shift — it means higher costs, uncertain yields, and incomes that may not cover expenses for the year.

In 2026 the worry grew sharper when rains subsided in May and June, leaving farmers without enough water for rice cultivation. Although cloud-seeding efforts were made to ease the problem, rainfall remained insufficient. At the same time, changing weather created new farming challenges, from w**d outbreaks to the risk that rice plants cannot adapt quickly enough to rapid shifts in conditions.

Amid rising production costs, unstable rice prices, and uncontrollable weather, Northeastern farmers are calling on government policy for answers — to what extent will the state help share the risks they bear, so that farming is not left to chance?

Read: El Niño brings unpredictability and hardship for farmers in Isaan, rethinking policies for farmers
https://theisaanrecord.co/2026/08/27/el-nino-brings-unpredictability-for-farmers/
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Author: Theerapong Janpeng

25/08/2026

No one expected that the road to the Oulainen–Owluntia area in Oulainen, Finland, on 16 June 2023—the route to the wild berry-picking camp—would become the last road for Vachara Bussaba, known as “M.”

Before his death he worked as a scale operator for wild berry pickers and was only 32 years old. A rollover accident took the life of the eldest son of the Bussaba family and for more workers.

Bringing his ashes home cost as much as 60,000 baht, but the compensation received from social security amounted to only 40,000 baht.

More than three years later, M’s father continues to demand compensation from government agencies, the insurance company, and the employer, but so far he has still received no assistance.

Read - Silenced news of the worker’s death in Finland. Three years on, no compensation.
https://theisaanrecord.co/2026/08/25/silenced-news-of-the-workers-death/
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Author: Phongsathon Tancharoen

21/08/2026

When the body becomes a sacred space, yantra tattoos are not merely decorative designs on the skin. They are a fusion of faiths that unites body and spirit, shaping a person’s identity.

In Thai society, yantra tattoos have served as symbols across many eras, reflecting beliefs, devotion, and the relationship between the human world and the sacred realm.

In the past, many people believed that yantras could protect them from danger or grant certain powers—whether luck or psychological security. Thus yantra tattooing is not viewed merely as bodily art but as a cultural process that connects body, mind, and faith.

Read - Yantra characters through the needle’s edge Faith and magic fused together Becoming one with the self
https://theisaanrecord.co/2026/08/21/isaan-yantra-characters/
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Author: Kamoltip Wichai
Photo: Ardchawit Inha

05/08/2026

“Because I wanted a job” was the simple answer one woman gave when asked why she packed a few clothes, left her home and children, and boarded a long-distance bus that day.

But if it were only about finding work, a monthly income of 20,000 baht would not have led her to end up inside a walled compound in a Cambodian coastal city — guarded below by security preventing workers from escaping, and crowded above with people from many countries, both legal and illegal.

This is the story of people deceived into working in Cambodia’s scammer towns, a tale that links poverty, cross‑border labor, gray‑area businesses, and global scammer networks.

Read - Memories from the kitchen in Sihanoukville, the memory of a scam victim
https://theisaanrecord.co/2026/08/05/the-memory-of-a-scam-victim/
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Author: Teerasak Maneewong
Cooperator: Ardchawit Inha
Thumbnail photo: Way Magazine

28/07/2026

Last month, more than 1,400 Thai workers were denied visas by Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs, preventing them from travelling to pick wild berries when the season began in mid‑July.

The key factor was convictions in Finnish courts that sentenced a former executive in the berry industry and a Thai broker for human‑rights violations, and ordered them to pay more than 22 million baht in compensation.

Those verdicts directly affected another group of experienced wild‑berry pickers, who reflected:

“If we can’t go pick wild berries this year, our household finances will be immediately affected, because our lives depend on the berry forests.”

Read more: https://theisaanrecord.co/2026/07/27/picking-wild-berries-is-their-lifeline/

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Author: Phongsatorn Tancharoen
Photo: Hathairat Phaholtap

18/07/2026

Friends and former colleagues remember former MTV host and veteran Bangkok reporter Dave Kendall on Friday night in Bangkok at Phra Khanong’s Arcadia, a venue deeply shaped by his musical influence.

A Southeast Asia correspondent and MTV tastemaker was remembered by friends and colleagues Friday night in Bangkok, one week after he died in Indonesia at 63.

Dave Kendall, a widely influential MTV host and longtime Bangkok Post reporter who lived in Thailand from 2005 to 2024 was celebrated by those who admired him professionally and personally at a venue in the Thai capital where his creativity was deeply felt.

“Dave had a heart five sizes too large,” said Todd Ruiz, an LA goth who grew up watching Kendall on MTV and owner of Arcadia, an ‘80s themed game bar in Bangkok. “I’m not the only one of my generation who tuned into Dave’s show for the music that would define our lives.

Nonetheless, he cared little for all the ‘cool' he inspired. Leaving the world in a better place was the mark he wanted to leave.”

Best known as the creator and host of MTV’s groundbreaking “120 Minutes” (1986–1992), Kendall wove together seemingly unrelated subgenres of music that would soon become the dominant ‘90s fare of “Alternative Rock.”

Dave interviewed and showcased artists such as R.E.M., The Smiths, The Cure, Nine Inch Nails, the S*x Pistols, and many others, moving the needle of “alternative” into the mainstream. In 1991, he famously presided over the world premiere of then up-and-coming band Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” cementing his place in music history.

After several years in Los Angeles, Kendall made a home in Thailand in 2005. He long struggled with mental health, and he came to Thailand as a volunteer in search of a simpler life.

Before long, he drifted back into media production and news features and a network travel show at Thai network MCOT before ultimately joining the Bangkok Post in 2017 as a subeditor and video journalist. His features and podcasts included the “Deeper Dive” news show, where he provided authoritative coverage of politics and pressing social issues.

Laid off by the newspaper in late 2025, he remained active in broadcasting and had dedicated his time to developing a website on a topic of keen interest – the outsize impact of livestock on climate change at climatechangefacts.com

After the Post, Dave was a regular contributor to The Isaan Record’s English edition. He is survived by his sister, Jill Kendall.

14/07/2026

The Tokyo International Cinema Awards in Japan named the documentary “Blood Berries” the winner in the Best Human Rights category on July 10, 2026.

The film follows the lives of Isaan workers who became victims of human trafficking while picking wild berries in Finland and Sweden. The Isaan Record received funding from the European Union under the Asian Migration to/within the EU (AspirE) project and filmed the story from 2023 to 2025 and turned the footage into a 52-minute documentary.

Earlier this year, the director, Hathairat Phaholtap, won the nomination for Best Human Rights Director at the Montreal Women Film Festival in Canada. The documentary was screened in Belgium, Germany, Finland, and Greece late last year and was recently screen in Vancouver, Canada, and will be shown in Madison, Wisconsin, Chicago, and Seattle in the United States.

In Thailand, Thai PBS has acquired broadcasting rights for online streaming; it is available to watch for free at Vipa.me

09/07/2026

Two human trafficking cases—one resulting in a conviction by a Finnish court in September last year and another in May—led to prison sentences of more than five years for a Finnish company executive and Thai broker Kanyakorn “Durian” Pongphit. As a result, Finnish authorities have tightened measures for importing workers from Thailand to pick wild berries for the season beginning in mid-July.

These stricter procedures have caused the Finnish embassy in Bangkok to reject visa applications from about 1,400 of over 3,200 Thai workers, leaving most of the wild-berry pickers from Isaan unemployed.

Pongsathon Tanjaroen, a reporter for The Isaan Record, obtained information that previously, several Thai brokers and private companies paid bribes to government agencies to speed up document processing for sending workers to pick wild berries, with bribe amounts totaling tens of millions of baht.

Read on the website: https://theisaanrecord.co/2026/07/09/wild-berry-human-trafficking-case-wreaks-havoc/

08/07/2026

On 8 July 2026, The Isaan Record received an email from the organizers of the Tokyo International Cinema Awards in Japan informing us that the documentary “Blood Berries” (หมากไม้) has been selected as a nominee for the Best Human Rights award. Winners will be announced on 10 July 2026.

The documentary, produced by The Isaan Record, was funded by the European Union under the Asian Migration to/within the EU (AspirE) program and took more than three years of filming and research to produce.

Lately, Blood Berries won a nomination for the Best Human Rights Documentary award at the Montreal Women's Film Festival in Montreal, Canada.

The film follows the journeys of Isan workers who traveled to pick wild berries in Sweden and Finland, revealing the exploitation behind the industry, human‑trafficking, and the impact of debt and poverty. It has already screened in several European countries including Belgium, Germany, Finland, and Greece, and is scheduled for screenings in Canada, the United States, and Scandinavia.

07/07/2026

The Isaan Record, a non-profit organization promoting transparent and community-engaged journalism in northeastern Thailand, will visit Seattle for a public screening of its award-winning documentary film “Blood Berries”. At the SIFF Film Center on August 8th, attendance is free and all are welcome.The hope is that the film screening will be a chance for related groups and activists to connect and engage in discussions at the SIFF Center during Q&A following the 52-minute screening of the film. The film’s director, Hathairat Phaholtap, will be present and answering audience questions afterwards.

“Blood Berries” follows the story of a migrant worker supply channel, abetted by the Thai government for many years, and facilitated by companies that have since been prosecuted or are under criminal investigation in Scandinavian countries. The network targeted Thailand’s Isaan region, which has a decades-long history as a main supplier for migrant labor both domestically and abroad. Many thousands of workers from Isaan took out loans to pay for a chance to travel to Finland or Sweden to pick berries in the forests, with promises of European-standard earnings during the berry-picking seasons. They hoped to return home to Isaan in a position to pay off their debts and restart their lives supporting their families.

Many thousands of Isaan people were lured with a carefully-crafted social media campaign on Facebook and Tiktok portraying people with large wads of cash to illustrate the earnings they could supposedly bring home after just a few months in Europe. Unfortunately, despite months of grueling work in the Scandinavian forests, many of those workers were sent back home with nothing but debt. Until now, they are yet to be compensated.

Many of the workers were embarrassed by their lack of earnings and afraid of repercussions from speaking out against the apparent scam that involved fellow Thais and their own government. The story reached the attention of The Isaan Record after workers were driven to desperate measures to try to free themselves from crippling debt collection, some forced to put their belongings up for loan collateral. There were even reports of suicides among the region’s returning migrants. The people who were promised an opportunity to change their lives, had instead returned home heavily indebted and ashamed of their callous exploitation.

“Blood Berries” is the result of multiple years of journalistic investigations by The Isaan Record into the lives and stories of migrant workers affected by this berry-picking scandal. Whereas many were scared of repercussions, a critical mass of former migrant workers agreed to record interviews with the Isaan Record and started a movement to fight back for their rights. The investigations uncovered cases of rapacious bribes involving government officials at the highest levels, and the film shows the impacts of such corruption on the daily lives of people who were simply looking for a way to support their families.

The creators of the film were attacked with SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) lawsuits by a top official in the Thai government, attempting to silence The Isaan Record for its reporting on the scandal that allegedly exploited over one hundred thousand migrant workers from Thailand. The journalism that led to this film was supported by the European Union’s ASPIRE Programme and leading academics from Mahidol University. We hope you will join us for this free public screening on August 8th, at 1PM.

For more information, please contact The Isaan Record: [email protected]

Read on website: https://theisaanrecord.co/2026/07/06/blood-berries-a-public-screening-of-the-award-winning-documentary-at-the-siff-film-center-in-seattle-on-august-8th/