"Cambodian Land Disputants Head to Thai Court, Coca-Cola Documents in Hand", 4 November 2023

Hoy Mai sits on the floor in her spare brick house in Oddar Meanchey province in northern Cambodia.

Spread out on a hammock, playing on a cell phone behind her, is her son. He was born 13 years ago while Mai was in prison after fighting back against a Thai sugar company taking control of her community’s land…

The case is historic: it’s the first transboundary class action human rights lawsuit in Thailand, with Cambodian farmers seeking justice for lost land, forced evictions and stunted livelihoods from the Thai corporation Mitr Phol, one of the largest sugar producers in the world…

… Another Cambodian community affected by a Thai sugar producer has pursued cross-border human rights litigation in U.K. courts, seeking justice and accountability from a multinational corporation. But this case in Thailand could set a new standard in the region, as some of the most marginalized people in Cambodia fight back in their neighboring country against Mitr Phol, which has supplied brands including Nestlé, Mars and Coca-Cola.

The plaintiffs’ lawyers have utilized the U.S. Foreign Legal Assistance statute to get access to private documents from Coca-Cola. A federal court in the state of Georgia ordered the release of documents that were then authenticated for the purposes of the ongoing Thai litigation.

At the Monday hearing, these documents may be presented in court as evidence. The records could reveal what the most iconic U.S. beverage brand knew about Mitr Phol’s actions in Cambodia, and what came out of Coca-Cola’s 2014 internal investigation of its Thai supplier…