Rare Earth Mines Pollute Mekong, Threaten Thai Livelihoods

In northern Thailand's Chiang Saen, a fishing hub along the Mekong River, 75-year-old Sukjai Yana sorted a meager catch from his longtail boat, voicing concerns over falling demand due to fears of contamination. Toxic runoff from unregulated rare earth mines in upstream Myanmar and Laos has introduced heavy metals into the Mekong and its tributaries, endangering the livelihoods of 70 million people across mainland Southeast Asia who depend on the 5,000-kilometer river for fishing and farming.

The contamination stems from a mining boom fueled by global demand for rare earth elements used in smartphones, electric vehicles and military technology. Satellite analysis by the U.S.-based Stimson Center identified nearly 800 suspected sites along Mekong tributaries in Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, many in Myanmar's conflict zones. Mining processes, which involve digging rock or washing chemicals through soil, generate waste laden with arsenic, mercury, lead and cadmium. These toxins have appeared in elevated levels in recent water, fish and sediment samples from tributaries like the Kok, Sai and Ruak rivers, according to researchers at Thailand's Naresuan University.