Mekong Region Grapples with Escalating Toxic Crisis from Myanmar Rare Earth Mining
Mekong Region Grapples with Escalating Toxic Crisis from Myanmar Rare Earth Mining Rivers flowing from Myanmar into Thailand, including critical Mekong tributaries, are now dangerously contaminated with arsenic and other hazardous metals, sparking a severe transboundary environmental disaster. The crisis is directly linked to an unchecked boom in rare earth metal mining within Myanmar’s Shan state, driven by insatiable global demand and exacerbated by the region’s ongoing civil conflict and lack of governance. Local residents in Thailand’s Chiang Rai province…