Cambodians, activists cheer Thai court’s move to allow lawsuit against Asia’s largest sugar firm

A Bangkok court ruled that about 3,000 Cambodians could proceed with a class-action suit against Mitr Phol, the world’s fourth-largest sugar producer

Farmers in Oddar Meanchey province are seeking compensation after the Cambodian government allocated land to the company for sugar plantations

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A farmer works in a field in Cambodia. At least 3,000 people were displaced from their land after it was allocated to local subsidiaries of Mitr Phol for sugar plantations. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 3:00pm, 6 Aug 2020Updated: 3:02pm, 6 Aug 2020

For Mai Hoy, a mother of eight children in rural Cambodia, seeking justice from an overseas company might previously have been unthinkable. But after 12 years, she finally got a little taste of it.

Mai, who was jailed for eight months while pregnant after staging a protest in 2009, is one of thousands of Cambodians in the northern province of Oddar Meanchey who say their lands were seized and homes bulldozed for sugar plantations belonging to Mitr Phol, the world’s fourth-largest sugar producer, and the largest in Asia.

The Thai firm, which is also a bioenergy producer, has operations and investments in China, Laos, Vietnam and Australia.

On July 31, the Bangkok South Civil Court ruled that 712 families or about 3,000 people who were displaced from their homes could proceed with filing a class-action suit against Mitr Phol.

A lower court had earlier thrown out the lawsuit application, citing the plaintiffs’ lack of Thai language skills and the complicated logistics of sending court notices to rural Cambodia.

Human rights activists hailed last Friday’s ruling, saying it showed corporations would need to stay accountable even beyond their national borders.

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