Sia was born into an Akha migrant family along Thailand’s border, where she grew up witnessing her father’s abuse toward her mother—violence met with silence because her mother could not speak Thai and had nowhere to turn. Through education, healing, and personal growth, Sia came to believe that her experiences could be transformed into strength for others.

In Thailand’s border communities, domestic violence is widespread and often normalized, while Myanmar migrant women and children face heightened risk. Without legal status, language skills, or financial independence, many survivors have little access to protection systems or shelters and remain trapped in abusive situations for fear of detention, deportation, or losing their children.

In 2017, Sia founded the Freedom Restoration Project (FRP), a survivor- and women-led organization providing the only long-term shelter and holistic support for migrant survivors of gender-based violence along the Thai–Myanmar border. Serving primarily undocumented Myanmar migrants, FRP has supported over 400 women and children through safe housing, counseling, mental health care, and vocational training—helping survivors rebuild their lives with dignity and independence.