Southeast Asia’s rivers, people at risk amid Myanmar mining surge: study

More than 2,400 mines – many of which are operated by Chinese companies – are draining waste into river waters, researchers say

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Tip Kamlue works in her fields on the banks of the Kok River, where she irrigates her crops with groundwater instead of the Kok’s water. Photo: Reuters

Published: 11:06am, 24 Nov 2025Updated: 5:13pm, 24 Nov 2025

For most of her life, 59-year-old farmer Tip Kamlue has irrigated her fields in northern Thailand with the waters of the Kok River, which flows down from neighbouring Myanmar before joining with the Mekong River that cuts through Southeast Asia.

But since April, after authorities warned residents to stop using the Kok’s water because of concerns over contamination, Tip has been using groundwater to grow pumpkins, garlic, sweetcorn and okra.

“It’s like half of me has died,” Tip said, standing by her fields in Tha Ton subdistrict, and looking out at the river that she is now forced to shun.

Across mainland Southeast Asia, more than 2,400 mines – many of them illegal and unregulated – could be releasing deadly chemicals such as cyanide and mercury into river water, according to research from the US-based Stimson Centre think tank released on Monday.

A sign reading “Shut down the mines, stop the sediment trap, and restore the river and people’s lives”, put up by residents of Tha Ton subdistrict, hangs from a bridge over the Kok River on November 11. Photo: Reuters

“The scale is something that’s striking to me,” said Brian Eyler, senior fellow at Stimson, pointing to scores of tributaries of major rivers, like the Mekong, the Salween and the Irrawaddy, that are probably highly contaminated.

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