Luke Duggleby Photography

12/05/2026

The time has finally come and today we are proud to have launched our Kickstarter crowd-funding pre-launch page to help us realise our book project. Years of research and field trips are finally being assembled into what will become a very important book.

The only way we can do this is with the help of you guys! Here is the pre-launch link where you can follow our campaign page and be notified when we officially launch on 26 May.

Please do check it out and share!

A photo-book telling the untold story of Pornpet Muensri — a woman's four-decade fight for land and a legacy no one can agree on.

10/04/2026

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s Pornpet Muensri climbed a series of trees in protest. One was a tamarind tree outside Government House in Bangkok where she stayed for seven days, megaphone in hand, demanding the return of her land.
She had already spent months protesting in the capital. She had ridden a buffalo dressed in a shirt and tie around Government House. She had been seconds away from self-immolation. And still the government refused to listen.

The Siam Rath newspaper covered her protest — this clipping is one of many Pornpet kept across decades in her personal archive.

On that occasion Police Captain Trairong Chitbundid finally persuaded her to come down from the tree. 30 years later, journalist Nicha Wachpanich and I tracked him down and he agreed to be photographed standing in front of that very tree — which still stands outside Government House today.

For the last few years Nicha and I have been re-investigating the story of Pornpet from working through her archive to tracking down those connected to her story. Working between Bangkok and Nakhon Sawan, our aim was to re-tell her remarkable story.

More coming soon…

catfish.books Kickstarter

30/03/2026

When Thai professor Sinith Sitirat visited the home of Pornpet Muensri after her death, what she found was extraordinary.

Pornpet had documented everything. Every petition she had ever submitted to the government. Diaries spanning decades. Every newspaper clipping ever printed about her struggle. Hand-written notes. Photographs. Maps. Even an unpublished autobiography written across eleven notebooks — all kept on the second floor of her rural wooden house.

The archive has since been preserved and being digitised by Sinith and her team. A copy will be kept at the International Institute of Social History — recognition that what Pornpet left behind is not just a personal record but an important piece of Thai history.

Developed at LERT's

23/03/2026

This is the last place Pornpet Muensri was ever seen alive. On 31 May 2004 she was struck on the head by an unknown assailant whilst walking on her land in a rural corner of Nakhon Sawan Province in central Thailand. She died instantly and alone, a tragic end to a woman who had fought for land rights justice since the 1960s.

Her struggle had featured in scores of Thai and English newspaper articles, a rare occurrence at that time for a rural woman fighting for land rights. During those years of protest she had ridden a buffalo to the Office of the Prime Minister in Bangkok, climbed a tamarind tree outside Government House staying up there for 7 days and was seconds away from self-immolation. In total, her struggle spanned four decades before she finally got her land back, ultimately receiving a national award as a hero and champion of human rights.

Then she was killed. And her memory began to fade.

catfish.books

07/03/2026

New work published today on HaRDstories is an epic and intimate story by the talented Veerapong Soontornchattrawat about people and land rights in Chaiyaphum province. A complex issue that will continue to be argued and debated whilst impacting many who live in or on the peripheries of forests and national parks.

I began photographing this issue in Chaiyaphum, a province where the problem is extremely acute in 2019, piece by piece chipping away at the topic, so a real pleasure to have these images finally out there and able to help tell the story.

Its long, but if you have a free 20 mins this weekend, do take a read.

When Thai officials created many of the country's national parks in the 1970s, they overlooked one detail: villages already existed inside the new boundaries. Decades of evictions followed, scattering families and sparking legal battles that have displaced thousands. But one community in Chaiyaphum....

27/03/2025

For the latest story on HaRDstories I had the pleasure of taking portraits of three very impressive people. The story looks at Thailand's ongoing problem related to its air pollution and the regular occurrence of dangerous levels of PM2.5, the fine particles that are basically really bad for you.

Realising that the only way to improve things would be to write a bill that punishes polluters, a group of Thai volunteers formed the Thailand Clean Air Network (Thailand Can เครือข่ายอากาศสะอาด) to write a draft bill called the Clean Air Act.

7 years later, its now being discussed and debated in Parliament, with lobbyists forming a formidable opponent. But the network, which includes Dr. Kanongnij Sribuaiam, an associate professor of law at Chulalongkorn University, Dr. Wirun Limsawart of the Ministry of Public Health and Weenarin Lulitanonda, a senior consultant at the World Bank, refuse to give up until the Act becomes law and polluters are held accountable.

Read their inspiring story by Rebecca L. Root at https://hardstories.org/stories/environmental-justice/when-breathing-became-dangerous-in-thailand-they-rewrote-the-rules

Photos copyright Luke Duggleby/Redux

21/03/2025

Every once in a while a travel photography assignment comes along. And sometimes they even come in print! This assignment for in Germany involved the tough job (sarcasm noted) of spending 4 days in Khao Sok, a stunning area of lakes, rocky outcrops and national parks. Published last month.

A stunning place and a pleasure to photograph. Would highly recommend a trip.

Copyright Luke Duggleby/Bergwelten

10/02/2025

Out now on HaRDstories is a story I worked on with journalist Nicha Wachpanich with support from Pulitzer Center about Thailand's potential mega-project locally known as the land-bridge. The project aims to connect the Gulf of Thailand at Chumphon to the Andaman Sea at Ranong with 87km's of transport networks for shipping containers. This ambitious project which has been discussed for hundreds of years is the closest its ever been to realisation and would create a new shipping route that would eliminate the need to round the Strait of Malacca, knocking off around 4-5 days per trip.

Proponents of the project look at the economic potential it could have on the area. Opponents, particularly local communities living in its path are less impressed and worry about the potential environmental impact on an area that relies heavily on fisheries and agriculture.

To read the full story visit

Proponents say the land bridge will boost Thailand's economy and cement its position as a global trading hub. Critics warn it could be a costly mistake.

05/09/2024

Really proud of this year long collaboration with Thai journalist Pod Nathaphob about the problems facing Thais who are the victims of forced criminality after being trafficked to work in scam compounds in Myanmar.

Thank you to the International Center for Journalists for the support. International Center for Journalists

It's a long, incredible piece so do take the time to read this important story.

Lured by false promises, trapped by ruthless criminals, and then punished by a system meant to protect them. The twisted tale of Thailand's cybercrime victims.

06/03/2024

A Fragile Coexistence - Humans and Elephants in Eastern Thailand will be exhibited at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand - FCCT, supported by the Pulitzer Center, until March 24.

Details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1889292191506020?ref=newsfeed

Do pop by if you are in Bangkok.