Protests and Pandemics: Civil Society Mobilisation in Thailand and the Philippines during COVID-19

COVID-19 has led to the use of emergency powers that shrink civic space globally. Southeast Asia is no exception. Yet, emergency powers have varying effects in controlling the pandemic and civil societies have also responded to such constraints differently. Moreover, there are few detailed studies that examine the implications of broadened emergency powers for human rights defenders and democracy activists during COVID-19. This policy brief tackles the issue by drawing from two country contexts from Southeast Asia—Thailand and the Philippines. It analyses the influence that emergency powers have in shaping civil society activism. It further compares and contrasts these two countries by highlighting: 1. How emergency powers create diverging outcomes in managing the pandemic. 2. How civil society activism shapes and is shaped by national pandemic response.