CHIANG RAI – In late 2025, a series of disturbing photos and videos flooded social media. They showed fishermen in northern Thailand holding up their daily catch from the tributaries of the Mekong River. The fish were covered in deep, red lesions. Some had physical deformities, with twisted spines and missing scales. At first, local […]

The post Poisoned Rivers: How China’s Demand for Rare Earths is Killing Thailand’s Waterways first appeared on Chiang Rai Times.

BANGKOK - On Friday, Chulalongkorn University hosted a seminar about the current contamination problem facing Chiang Rai's Kok, Ruak, and Mekong Rivers, and the rare earth mining taking place in the upper part of Shan State, Myanmar, by China.

The post Legal Committee Pushes for Immediate Halt to China’s Rare Earth Mining in Myanmar first appeared on Chiang Rai Times.

Kachin researchers warn that it could take fifty to one hundred years to restore nature from the damage caused by toxic rare earth mining. They point out that China focuses only on profits, often ignoring how neighbouring countries are affected.

The post Academics in Chiang Rai Discuss the Impact of China’s Rare Earth Mining first appeared on Chiang Rai Times.