Yet the Department of Primary Industries and Mines is pushing for a law to help the mining industry expand without heeding environmental and social concerns.
Most areas rich with mineral deposits are in mountainous terrain covered with forests. But if the department has its way, it will no longer matter if those potential mining sites are in protected forests or not........
When state concessions are not involved, the environmental impact assessment required by law can then be bypassed. The constitutional mandate which requires community approval for any projects that affect the environment and residents' way of life will also be trampled upon. This is simply wrong.
Thailand has witnessed far too many environmental and health disasters from mining. After three decades, the Mae Mo villagers in Lampang are still suffering from respiratory problems caused by lignite mining.
Klity creek in the Kanchanaburi forests is still contaminated by 10,000 tonnes of toxic residues, 14 years after pollution in the creek first made news.
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