Mines, rivers, and a regional crisis

When I was a child, the Kok River and the Mekong were clear and alive.

- Tuenjai Deetes

We drank directly from the river.Women and mothers gathered along the banks, hauling in fishing nets fully loaded with heavy fish, which we cooked and ate the same day. We were happy. We lived without fear — fear of toxins, fear for our health.

"Today, we can no longer use our rivers at all. That happiness is gone. Everything has changed. We live with anxiety — fear of contamination, fear of illness, fear for our children."

These are the words of Mae Nuansri, 76, recalling how life has transformed since the Kok, Sai, Ruak, and Mekong rivers became contaminated with toxic heavy metals. The source is unregulated mining — gold, rare earths, and other critical minerals — operating upstream in neighbouring countries.

For nearly a year, communities along these four rivers in the Upper Mekong Basin have joined forces with civil society organisations, academics, and journalists to call on the government to address a crisis threatening the lifeline of more than one million people. From Tha Ton in Chiang Mai, through Chiang Rai, and down to the Mekong in northern and northeastern Thailand along the Thai-Lao border opposite Vientiane, the message has been clear: the contamination originates from unregulated mining.