In the village of Tha Ton, nestled in the hills just 3km from Thailand’s border with Myanmar, there is little to life without the Kok River.
For hundreds of years, it has provided fish for families in the village, water for their crops and, in the stifling summer heat, a place for their children to cool down.
It’s where 42-year-old Gob Kotekham has been making rafts all his life. But he says, lately, something strange has been happening.
“Every year when I make the rafts, I might get a rash or two, but within a week it would go away,” Kotekham says.
“I felt unusual because, this time, there were a lot of rashes and they kept spreading. It was itchy; I had never felt that before.”
Gob Kotekham has been making rafts in the Kok River almost all his life. It’s never made him sick until now. Credit: SBS News / Claudia Farhart
He says initially he thought he was having an allergic reaction, but then others working on the rafts got sick too.
“My friend got cut, and his wound wouldn’t heal,” Kotekham says.
Another person went into the water and felt feverish. Then, after two months, it still hadn’t gone away, so I went to see the doctor.
By that point, the Kok River had taken on a strange shade of orange, and the reports of illness were becoming difficult to ignore.
Two children — aged two and six years old — became sick after eating fish from the river. Test results showed abnormally high levels of arsenic in their bodies.
Fish began washing up dead, and fishermen were reporting odd deformities among their daily catch. Elephants that had long been bathed in the river started to develop unusual skin rashes and boils.
Officials from Thailand’s Pollution Control Department came to test the water and discovered arsenic levels three times higher than the safe limit.
Gob Kotekham developed this rash across his body. He says it lasted more than two months. Credit: Supplied
Local authorities ordered everyone in the village, which is in the Mai Ai district of Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, to stay out of the water, putting its largest source of income off-limits.
“When I made the rafts, I had to buy wood,” Kotekham says.
“I invested around 50-60,000 baht [$2,300-$2,800], and this year, there is no one coming — not a single customer.
“So, we are all in debt. Not just me; the whole village.”
Unregulated mining thrives in war
Eight successive rounds of testing have now confirmed dangerously high levels of arsenic in the Kok River.
At first, it was widely blamed on mineral waste from gold mining, a long-known cause of arsenic contamination in nearby waterways.
That was until researchers at the Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) discovered two rare earth mining sites over the border in Myanmar’s southern Shan State, where the Kok River originates.
“We also compared them with the rare earth mining in Kachin [a state in northern Myanmar], and the layout of the leeching pools are the same,” an SHRF spokesperson, Sai Hark Jet, says.
“So, we said that this is not just ordinary mineral extraction or mining; this must be tied up with rare earth mining in Kachin State.”
One of the rare earth mining sites in Myanmar’s Shan State in satellite images seen by the Shan Human Rights Foundation. Credit: Shan Human Rights Foundation
The two sites are located just 2 and 3km from the river’s banks in territory controlled by the United Wa State Army, which is widely considered the most powerful militia in Shan State.
The group did not respond to SBS News’ requests for comment.
“Local people in Shan State have limited access to the areas around the mining sites, but we believe there is a huge impact, not just for the environment, but also for the community living beside the river,” Jet says.
“We also have heard from local people that all the water is very brown and they cannot use it anymore, but they have to because they have no other water source. But the community in Shan State dare not speak up, because of the local authority.”
Rare earth mining uses chemicals to separate the valuable minerals from their ore. The process leaves behind highly contaminated liquids that often find their way back into waterways if care is not taken to contain them.
Thai authorities say they are working on plans to urgently install sediment traps in the Kok River to stop the arsenic from flowing downstream.
But local leaders in Tha Ton fear that sediment traps alone will not solve this crisis. They want to see Bangkok engage directly with Myanmar’s military leaders in the capital Naypyidaw to end all unregulated mining across the border.
“If we just try to solve the problem by reviving the river without closing the mines, we cannot solve the issue,” local monk Phra Mahanikom tells SBS News.
“If it cannot be fixed, then the community will change. Our way of life will change.”
What’s behind the surge in rare earth mining?
Many of the rare earth mines identified by SHRF are close to Myanmar’s border with China, which imported a record high of nearly 42,000 tonnes of rare earths from the country in 2023, according to Global Witness, an NGO that reports environmental and human rights abuses.
Beijing’s dominance over the valuable minerals is well-documented; China controls roughly 70 per cent of rare earth mining operations globally, and accounts for 90 per cent of processing.
And global demand for the 17 chemical elements that comprise ‘rare earths’ is growing. Once processed, they can be used in a wide range of modern technologies, including smartphones, weapons systems and rechargeable batteries.
Environmentalist Pianporn Deetes says Myanmar’s internal conflict means rare earth mining is largely unregulated. Credit: SBS News / Claudia Farhart
Thai activists believe Chinese investors are largely behind the surge in mining in Shan State and, by extension, the contamination coming from it.
“We’ve learned in Kachin State there are 300 rare earth mines, legal and illegal, with Chinese-speaking investors,” says Pianporn Deetes, the Southeast Asia campaign director at global not-for-profit International Rivers.
“On our river headwaters, there are just a few. But there will be more and more coming if there is no action from governments.”
China’s embassy in Bangkok responded to accusations in June, writing on Facebook: “China has instructed Chinese companies operating abroad to comply with the laws of the country and operate legally at all times.”
But environmentalists argue that the mining sites identified are beyond the state’s control, making it impossible to enforce environmental regulations.
“It’s happening in an area where there are no laws or even rules on safety standards. They are exploiting the situation in Myanmar,” Deetes says.
The costs are being paid by our rivers, our forests, our lands, and our futures.
Testing shows the contamination has already spread beyond the Kok River. After it passes through Tha Ton, the river empties into the Mekong — Southeast Asia’s most important waterway — where abnormally high levels of arsenic have now been detected.
Environmentalists warn a regional crisis is coming
So far, Thai authorities have taken water samples from three locations spanning a roughly 20km stretch of the Mekong River.
All have shown arsenic levels exceeding the safe limit.
In the small village of Ban Sob Kok, about 15km downstream from the border with Myanmar, fishermen are now finding deformed fish in their daily catch.
“There were some fish with scars. We saw them, so we didn’t eat them,” local fisherman Somdet Thanatulayakul says.
“But they took them for testing, and when they came back, they had the arsenic.
“Buyers are now afraid to eat the fish because of the news. Before, I could earn more than 1000 baht [$48] per day, but now, we can’t even get 300 baht [$14] in a week.”
The arsenic levels detected in the Mekong are currently far lower than those found in three of its tributaries (smaller streams that flow from a larger river), which originate in Shan State: the Kok, Sai and Ruak rivers.
But scientists believe the full impact is yet to be revealed.
Associate professor at Thailand’s Naresuan University, Tanapon Phenrat, explains: “Pollutants take time to transport.”
“When we say arsenic, lead, they are in particulate format — small sediments that form in the river. These things do not transport as fast as water,” Phenrat says.
“But if upstream mining keeps discharging this in the same fashion, it will form more particulates, more sediment and will transport, wave by wave, there will be more impact for sure. This is not at a steady state yet.”
Thai fishermen are reporting finding deformed fish in the Mekong River and its tributaries. Credit: Supplied
Thailand, Laos and Myanmar all meet on the Mekong River. It then continues downstream into Cambodia and Vietnam, supporting 60 million people through fisheries, agriculture and drinking water before emptying into the South China Sea.
That is how far environmentalists are warning the contamination could spread if it is not contained.
“This is the largest environmental crime I have ever experienced,” International Rivers’ Pianporn Deetes says.
“You can do rare earth mining in an accountable manner. But this is open mining.
They are just allowing everything to spill into the waterways. It is unacceptable.
Studies have shown long-term exposure to high levels of arsenic is linked to increased rates of cancer and skin disease.
The World Health Organization says in utero and early childhood exposure has also been associated with negative impacts on cognitive development and premature death.
“It is long-term violence,” Deetes says.
The Mekong River supports 60 million people as it makes its way through Southeast Asia. Credit: SBS News / Claudia Farhart
“The result might not be seen within a year or two, but it might show itself in the next three, five or 10 years in newborn babies.
“Public health is the biggest issue for us. We don’t want our future generations to be sick. So I think it is important for the government to recognise the level of the crisis as it is, and fix the problem immediately.”
Mounting evidence of illegal mining
The Thai government denies it is ignoring the issue, and says it is engaging with Myanmar’s military government to find a solution.
Its own mapping also points to a recent surge in mining activity. Bangkok’s Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency has now detected 60 disturbed earth sites across Shan State with suspected links to mining, 21 of which it says are newly active this year.
It doesn’t distinguish between regular mines and rare earth mines, but mapping conducted by the SHRF has detected a total of 47 rare earth mining sites across Shan State.
Samples taken from the Kok River by Naresuan University in a study commissioned by the Thai government, led by Phenrat, have only added to the weight of evidence that rare earth mining is behind the contamination.
“We took water, soil, sediment and some edible plants together with fish from five stations in Chiang Rai [Thailand’s northernmost province],” Phenrat says.
“We quantified around 15 types of elements or ions in water samples.
“Then we compared the ‘fingerprints of chemicals’ — which is the ratio of different elements — with water samples we got from rare earth mining in Kachin State in Myanmar. The concentration in Thailand is lower, but the ratio of chemicals is similar.
“This should lead to the conclusion, or at least the identification, that the contamination has to do mostly with rare earth mining.”
Phra Mahanikom was born and raised on the Kok River. He says the water is their way of life. Credit: SBS News / Claudia Farhart
Way of life under threat
Phra Mahanikom was born and raised in Tha Ton. After moving away to study, he returned to preside over Wat Tha Ton; a temple perched on a hilltop that overlooks the village and its river.
“I bathed in the Kok River on the day I was born,” he says.
“When I heard the news, I went onto the bridge and I looked out onto the river. It was muddy, very muddy.
“That day, I felt like my mother was in the ICU and I was behind the glass doors. I couldn’t speak to her, I couldn’t touch her, I couldn’t give her support – even one bit. That’s how I felt.”
That, Mahanikom says, is the reality of his community’s connection to the river.
La Boonruang has lived in this house by the Kok River for more than 50 years. Credit: SBS News / Claudia Farhart
Tha Ton is a village of less than 20,000 people. Almost all of them rely on the river in some way for their survival.
“They grow vegetables and they need the Kok River to water them. Now, we don’t know for sure if these vegetables can be eaten,” he says.
Some people say they can, but if you can avoid it, you should avoid it. And what if they sell the vegetables and something bad happens afterwards? These are their worries.
Right now, during the wet season, there is enough water running off the region’s mountains to keep their crops watered. But soon, the village will once again need to rely on water from the river.
La Boonruang has lived in the same house right beside the Kok River for more than 50 years. He says farming and fishing are all he has ever known.
“Now, I feel like I cannot breathe properly, because when I wake up, I see this and I don’t know what else will come,” he says, pointing to the river.
“Before, if we didn’t have enough water, we could just go get it from the river and carry it to our farms. But now, it is very dangerous.
“It impacts everyone. Not just one person, not just the whole village, the whole river.”
