Hundreds of residents, civil society groups, and environmental activists gathered in northern Thailand’s Wat Fang Min, Chiang Rai Province, on March 22 to demand urgent action to stop cross-border mining pollution that has contaminated the Kok, Sai, Ruak, Mekong, and Salween rivers.
The event was called the People’s Fair for the Protection of Rivers. Organizers told DVB that once pristine waterways have been contaminated by unregulated gold and rare-earth mining in Myanmar’s neighbouring Shan State.
“These toxins are entering the food chain, the biodiversity, and our own bodies,” Pai Deetes, the executive director at Rivers and Rights, told DVB.
Recent tests by Thailand’s Pollution Control Department confirmed arsenic contamination in the Kok River at levels up to five times higher than safe limits. Health officials have already detected arsenic accumulation in the hair and nails of residents, raising fears of long-term health impacts.
The Provincial Waterworks Authority faces an estimated 100 million THB ($3,062,600 USD) bill to treat contaminated water, while proposals for new water sources could cost between $61,252,000 to 183,756,000 USD.
Twelve demands were presented to the Thai government, including increased transparency on all mineral imports from Myanmar, risk mapping of heavy metal contamination, as well as regional negotiations with China, Myanmar, and its various ethnic armed groups, to shut down polluting mines located near the Thai-Myanmar border.
The event featured music and poetry alongside the Kok river, but the message was clear: the communities of the Mekong Basin refuse to be a “sacrifice zone” for the global supply chain for critical minerals.
The Mekong Basin refers to the entire catchment area of the Mekong River and its tributaries, spanning China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
It is home to over 70 million people who rely on these interconnected waterways for food security, livelihoods, and survival. The contamination of Thailand’s rivers is not just a local problem, but a threat to the integrity of the entire regional ecosystem.
