Since 2024, villagers in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai living along the Kok, Sai, Ruak and Mekong rivers have suffered water pollution caused by runoff from gold and earth mines in Shan State, northern Myanmar.
In August that year, Mae Sai residents in Chiang Rai saw their town buried under foot-deep mud carried downstream by the Sai River from open-pit mines and deforested mountains in eastern Shan State. Toxic residues, including cyanide from mineral extraction, have reportedly flowed from rudimentary mines and been found in these rivers and sediments.
