Cambodian journalists Thlang Tao and Hang Chenda were targeted by a shooting while returning from reporting on illegal logging in north-west Cambodia. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the authorities to bring those responsible for this murder attempt to justice. This marks a further escalation in the violence against environmental journalists reporting in the country.
On 5 June 2025, Thlang Tao and Hang Chenda were ambushed and came under gunfire from assailants hiding by the roadside as they travelled by motorbike at night through Stung Treng province in north-eastern Cambodia. Fortunately, both journalists escaped the attack unharmed.
Both reporters work for the online news outlet Norkor Achhariyak and were returning from an investigation into illegal logging in the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary. The assault came soon after they reported the illegal activity of loggers to the authorities. Two suspects of the attack were arrested at their homes the following day and placed in custody.
Thlang Tao told RSF that he suspects individuals linked to the illegal logging industry orchestrated the attack. He also denounced the authorities’ conduct, saying they refused to show him the investigation report and asked him to sign it with a fingerprint without reading its contents aloud. "I am very worried for my life and for the safety of my family. This was an attempted murder – the shooters didn’t fire into the air as the authorities claimed. They chased us for nearly a kilometre. They only missed their shots because we were riding fast," he said.
“This chilling attack illustrates the climate of violence that prevails in Cambodia towards journalists covering environmental issues. RSF calls on the Cambodian authorities to identify and bring to justice those responsible for this shooting, and more broadly to end their campaign of repression against the independent press, which fuels acts of violence against journalists.”
Violence against journalists covering deforestation in Cambodia has been rising at an alarming rate in recent months. In December 2024, environmental journalist Chhoeung Chhoeng, of the outlet Kampuchea Aphivath, was shot dead by an illegal logger whose activities he had exposed. The killer was sentenced in May 2025 to 12 years in prison.
Environmental reporters are also routinely subjected to judicial harassment by the Cambodian authorities. In May, journalist Uk Mao of Eagle News was arbitrarily detained for several days and currently faces around fifteen complaints in retaliation for his investigations into deforestation. In January 2025, British investigative journalist Gerald Flynn was expelled from the country and banned from entering Cambodia – a retaliatory measure for his environmental reporting.
In just three years, Cambodia dropped 19 places in the RSF World Press Freedom Index and now ranks 161st out of 180 countries and territories, falling into the category of nations where the press freedom situation is considered “very serious.”
