2025 has been an eventful year in Thailand: a year of changes political watershed moments, from new laws coming into effect to a border war. Here we look back at the year through the lens of our photographers.

The UN Human Rights Regional Office (OHCHR) for South-East Asia welcomes Thailand’s enactment of its new law on the protection and promotion of the ethnic groups’ ways of life, marking a significant step toward protecting the rights of ethnic groups in the country.

The Thai parliament has voted to pass the Ethnic Way of Life Protection bill, the first law in Thailand to protect Indigenous peoples’ cultural rights and way of life. Meanwhile, the opposition and civil society said work remains to be done to ensure protection for Thailand’s Indigenous peoples.

The Thai parliament approved last week the Ethnic Way of Life bill in its second and third readings, despite opposition from civil society, which withdrew support for the bill following several omissions and changes to core sections, including the use of the term “indigenous” and the exemption of conservation laws in Ethnic Way of Life Protection Areas.

The Thai parliament has voted during the second reading of the Ethnic Way of Life bill not to include indigenous peoples in its definition of ethnic groups despite calls for the bill to ensure the protection of indigenous cultures.