The Wat Tha Ton Temple offers impressive views of the Kok River valley. Local residents have observed deterioration in river quality, notably since mining activities began in Myanmar. Initially the changes were subtle, but recent contamination has made the river unsafe, resulting in skin rashes among villagers. Testing by the Department of Pollution Control revealed arsenic levels nearly four times higher than WHO guidelines. Activists attribute this pollution to unregulated mining activities in Myanmar, which affects essential local resources for agriculture and cultural practices.
Prasert Guytuan, a local school worker, says people here first started noticing a problem with the river about two years ago, when a mine just across the border in Myanmar started production and the water got a little murky and itchy.
When it cleared, people would come down to bathe in it and use it for cleaning and other things. But after people started getting skin rashes, we realized it was unsafe, and people started avoiding it.
It's not safe anymore. And this is the water source that people are using for irrigation, for farming, for fishing and for their cultural activities.
Activists blame unregulated gold and rare earth mining in Myanmar's neighboring Shan state for the transborder pollution.
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