Pollution Sickens Communities Along Thailand's Kok River

Communities living along the Kok River in Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand, have raised urgent concerns about water contamination that they say is causing skin conditions, digestive problems, and other health issues among residents who rely on the river for drinking water, fishing, and agriculture.

Environmental activists and local health workers report that industrial facilities upstream — including mining operations and processing plants — along with pesticide runoff from agricultural fields, have degraded water quality to dangerous levels in some stretches of the river.

The affected populations include several ethnic minority hill tribe communities, who have fewer resources to access alternative water sources and have historically faced challenges in getting government attention for environmental grievances.

Thai environmental authorities have launched investigations into the complaints, and water quality tests are pending. The case has drawn attention from international environmental organizations, who note that water contamination disproportionately affects Indigenous and rural communities in the Mekong subregion.