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Pulitzer Center Update January 21, 2025

Thailand Teen Wins $500 for Social Media Post on How Heat Crisis Impacts Workers

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SEA Outreach hosted a contest aimed at inspiring young audiences across Southeast Asia to spark meaningful conversations about today’s most critical, emerging environmental issues.


The "Interconnected Webinar Series: Too Hot To Work — Progress and Challenges in Heat Legislation for Worker Protection," held on October 4, 2024, brought together journalists, environmental and social leaders, policymakers, and members of affected communities to discuss heat legislation and worker protection. 

In a contest inspired by the webinar series, young people in Southeast Asia who attended the webinars were tasked with creating compelling and impactful environmental content for their social media platforms. The creator of the most engaging entry won a $500 prize.

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Too Hot to Work

Contest submissions ranged from comic strips to short reels and social media blog posts. 

The winner was James Damon Chaingam, a 17-year-old from Thailand who produced a comic strip series highlighting rural-to urban migration driven by drought and the trap all labourers fall into in the climate crisis. The teen, an anime creator with a passion for the environment, grew up in the farms of northeastern Thailand and migrated to Bangkok.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Vyclops (@avomavomy)

The Thai Workers’ Union, a civil society organization advocating for informal workers' rights, was named first runner-up for a blog post. The group interviewed outdoor workers affected by rising temperatures and shared their experiences.

Second runner-up was Indonesian college student Anisa Salsabila, whose reel called for protection for workers affected by climate change.

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