Thailand is set to host a meeting of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) in Chiang Rai from Nov 25-27. The choice of location couldn’t be more appropriate — for over a decade, local civic groups have been using the northern province as a base for their campaigns against major infrastructure projects, which they believe could harm the region’s rivers.
This time, the meeting will focus on mining activities in the Mekong River’s upstream reaches, which are polluting downstream rivers with toxic residues generated by mineral extraction processes.
Several communities along the Kok River, a major tributary of the Mekong that begins in Myanmar’s Shan State and courses through Chiang Rai province, have been on high alert since the start of the year, when the Pollution Control Department (PCD) said they found excessive levels of arsenic in the river.
The finding prompted the MRC — an intergovernmental organisation that works with governments in the Lower Mekong Basin — to analyse water samples collected from the Mekong before it joins the Kok. In July, the MRC said arsenic levels exceeded safe limits in four out of five samples taken in Thailand and Laos.
More recently, a research team from Chiang Mai University said samples collected along the Salween River, which runs along the Thai-Myanmar border, were also contaminated with arsenic beyond acceptable standards.
While no one has claimed responsibility for the contamination, all eyes are now on gold and rare earth mining operations in Myanmar’s Shan State, which shares a border with both Thailand and China. The semi-autonomous area is currently under the control of the United Wa State Army (UWSA), a powerful regional ethnic militia.
Dealing with these mines won’t be easy, given the current situation in Myanmar. Since the coup in 2021, the country has been in a state of civil war, with many territories under the control of ethnic militias. To fund their operations, these militias make money through scams, trafficking and, recently, rare earth mining, which is backed by Chinese investors.
So far, the government hasn’t been able to get either the junta in Nay Pyi Taw nor the UWSA to cooperate. The military, which at one time held sway over Myanmar’s military and ethnic rebel groups along the border, seems to be powerless.
But the problem requires urgent action.
This week, the Ministry of Environment was forced to halt its plan to build small check-dams along the Kok River to trap toxic sediments after local residents resisted the plan. Local residents simply do not trust that the government will be able to scoop up all sediments.
The big question now is, how will the government and the MRC react to the threat?
Thailand must make use of the meeting in Chiang Rai and other regional mechanisms, including Asean, to raise awareness on the risks posed by upstream mining activities, especially since the industry is making inroads in the region.
Thailand, for example, has been trying to expand its rare earth processing capacity, so it is just a matter of time before the Thai and Lao governments start promoting rare earth exploration. The region is in serious need of a good environmental protection framework to deal with such a highly polluting industry. The government must push all stakeholders concerned to establish a greener supply chain for rare earths, before it is too late.