A/HRC/41/43/Add.1 impact assessments, and providing access to effective grievance mechanisms. Merely complying with the legislation of host countries, which might be weak or insufficient, may not be enough to prevent and mitigate adverse human rights impacts in line with the Guiding Principles. In particular, the Government should require businesses to demonstrate an awareness of and commitment to the Guiding Principles as a prerequisite for receiving State support and benefits relating to trade and export promotion. Likewise, the Government should make participation in trade missions, eligibility for trade advocacy and generalized export assistance conditional on such commitments (see A/HRC/38/48). 30. The collapse of a dam on 23 July 2018 at the Xe Pian Xe Namnoy hydropower project in the Champasak province of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, which resulted in more than 30 deaths and the displacement of several thousand people, illustrates the risk of human rights abuses abroad that are linked to Thai businesses. The Working Group was informed that a Thai company owned 25 per cent of the shares in the project, which aimed to generate electricity to be exported mainly to Thailand. 31. Another example of an adverse impact on human rights caused abroad by Thai companies was the filing of a case before a Thai court in March 2018 involving a class action by more than 700 families from Cambodia, alleging that a Thai company had forcibly displaced them from their land to make way for a sugar cane plantation and had destroyed their livelihoods. The case is the first class action filed in a Thai court by plaintiffs from another country. The case is at the stage of the plaintiffs’ petition for class action and case admission. The affected communities filing the case were also calling on consumers to put pressure on the company to assume its responsibility, in line with the Guiding Principles, to redress the harm caused. VI. Human rights defenders and civic space 32. Civil society organizations and human rights defenders have an indispensable role in promoting business respect for human rights and in strengthening corporate accountability. Both the Government and Thai businesses should regard them as “critical partners” and engage with them constructively to prevent, mitigate and remedy adverse human rights impacts. 33. During the visit, civil society organizations and individual human rights defenders brought to the attention of the Working Group various concerns related to the limited space available for exercising their constitutional rights. Their concerns, such as the restrictions on public assemblies, the criminalization of peaceful protests, the practice of “attitude adjustment” and the filing of strategic lawsuits against public participation, stem from the actions of both government authorities and businesses. 34. The Working Group is concerned that the relevant orders issued by the National Council for Peace and Order often result in placing unreasonable and unwarranted restrictions on the rights of people to raise legitimate concerns and protest peacefully. The Working Group heard from community members from across the country that they had been called to meetings by the military for so-called “attitude adjustment” conversations, with the aim of convincing them to stop raising concerns about the adverse impact of business operations and development projects. Such practices create an intimidating environment and hardly serve the purpose of resolving social conflicts. 35. The Working Group received information about several cases that indicated the misuse of legal processes and the courts by business enterprises as a way of silencing civil society organizations and human rights defenders who raise legitimate concerns and grievances related to the adverse human rights impacts of business operations. Such practices are also known as strategic lawsuits against public participation. 36. The Working Group heard at first-hand from 14 workers involved in a defamation case brought against them by the Thammakaset Company. The workers informed the Working Group about their conditions of work, pay and working hours and tasks. The Working Group also met with the owner of the Thammakaset Company to hear concerns from the business owner’s point of view. The workers had filed a lawsuit in September 9