Villagers near Loei mine hit by health woes

[Strangebrew]

Simple to solve get former mine before the courts ask if his mining operate used proper safety feautures if yes get a huge pich of water offer him a drink of it after he drinks it just say hope your right that water is fromm creek by your old mine.

[makkam]

Q1. Who owns the mine?

Q2. What urgent measures were taken so far by appropriate authorities?

Answers (multiple choice):

A1. Foreigners.

A2. Thais.

A3. None. No orders were made against the Mining Co.

A4. Mining Co was fined 6,000 Bt

A5. Mining Co was closed and the owners cannot be found.

A6. Mining Co was ordered to close but is operating.

A7. Mining Co was ordered to clean up the mess.

A8. Order to clean up does not specify the affected area.

A9. Mining Co has no funds to comply with any orders.

A10. Owners of Mining Co are outside Thailand and orders cannot be enforced.

A11. This river falls into the sea.

A12. This river falls into another (bigger?) river.

A13. There are no more villages affected by this contaminated water.

A14. Downstream of this river water is not used for irrigation.

A15. "Loei Crystal" is a drinking water brand using the water from this river.

Please tick any number of Answers you think are suitable.

By law there must be thai equity in this company otherwise it wouldn't be allowed to operate.

Re Foreigners..so what

Do you think eg the UK or USA would defend any of their nationals if they knew they were complicit in this vile act?

[lostmebike]

It's so sad how long this has been happening though. How sick do people have to be before some 'Somchai' will realize kick backs and brown envelopes are not as important as the people you expect to vote for you are.

Back to those two infamous words, responsibility and accountability I suppose.

[Doc Blake]

Ha, this poisoning and pollution are an investment in the future of medicine in Asia, just like the USA.

The USA Polluted enough to have autoimmune diseases go from 65 to over 150 plus, Obesity epidemic, Autism epidemic, Diabetes epidemic, 90% of the population on medication for incurable diseases, cancer rates for men 1 in 3 and women 1 in 2, FDA created superbugs like MRSA from overdosing farm animals on antibiotics and on and on, BS!!!

The business and government people behind this have committed crimes against humanity including murder. They need to be tried and spend the rest of their lives in chains, cleaning up the pollution and pulling up GMO's. What ever fortunes they made needs to be pulled from their accounts and out of their property. And then, a cleaning and a pulling and a pulling and a cleaning until they are in their graves!!!

Until they fear what can happen to them if they play the game by cheating and killing, they will continue down the same path, cheating and killing.

Happy Healthy Trails
Doc Blake

Edited June 2, 2014 by Doc Blake

[pumpuy]

Another ruthless abuse of mother earth without any concern for anything or anybody.

Greed leads to destruction , same story everywhere .

Let the responibles for this drink their own polluted water !

[FRR]

i think its time for a bit of military intervention.please..

Yes, although the armed men mentioned in the report were said to be lead by a military officer. Hopefully for the villagers sake he doesn't have ties to the powers that be.

I think a little research would be helpfully to find out who really is behind this mine. Try googling something like: "bangkok pundit not some white knight who is going to solve all the problems"

All those clowns on this forum cheering the exit of democracy and the constant refrain of the PTP corruption may want to reconsider what the other parties will actually do get their hands on some baht!!!

[davidmann]

Meet The owner one time ,he is swiss drives a Range Rover should not be hard to find him hold him to account ,thats what would happen in the normal world

[eddie61]

Follow the money trail, and I think you will arrive at some pretty big companies with good connections in Thailand ( which means that they can do what they want) and connections in the international mining scene where scandals like this can sink a business.

They need a Robert Amsterdam, but he wont work for poor people!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jonmarleesco]

'... the after-effects of contamination would remain elusive as long as state agencies remain indifferent to the issue.'

Well, the NCPO has already shown willing to take action over the shortcomings at numerous agencies. Here is a golden opportunity for it to address yet another corruption-linked scandal, and to task the requisite agencies with doing their job.

[tetleythedog]

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Another ruthless abuse of mother earth without any concern for anything or anybody.

And as long as the mining company grease the right palms, nothing will be done about it........................TIT !

[Ragzilb]

Digging for gold or fracking there is not much difference, its destructive no matter how you mine the energy.

[mikemac]

I think a little research would be helpfully to find out who really is behind this mine. Try googling something like: "bangkok pundit not some white knight who is going to solve all the problems"

All those clowns on this forum cheering the exit of democracy and the constant refrain of the PTP corruption may want to reconsider what the other parties will actually do get their hands on some baht!!!

No thanks, I would rather gouge my own eyes out with a carrot than read anything by that red moron "Bangkok Pundit".

Anyone who believes anything written by this clown should be nailed to the back of a dunny door, which is also where his writings belong.

[wileycoyote]

Terrible

[SanSaiExPat]

Never stand between the elite and a easy baht, this seems to be the case the world over .

Would that be the Red elite or the Yellow elite or in the case of the Army the Green Elite?

[ableguy]

Pretty simple to find the cause and fix it if the government had the will.

Go in and inspect the mining operation's procedures, test the river for cyanide and other contaminates. It would seem pretty simple to lay blame where it belongs if the river is contaminated. If it is contaminated then issue a stop order until all problems are fixed and extract a very heavy penalty paid to the villagers and threaten with closure if the problem is not solved so it would require a followup investigation or two or three.

Great post but futile, you and I know this will not happen. Life is nothing number one is money, sometimes I really despair living here.

[flyingdoc]

The mine in question is now closed, but what about any residual liability?

[Jimbolai]

They need help from a law firm like the one taking on Dole banana pesticide sprayers in South America or the ones taking on the tobacco companies. The mining company must be taken to court in Thailand as well as in their home country. Mining can be done safely but they will maximize profits whenever they can.

[Mitker]

Quote: "...for which the authorities have not held anyone responsible..."

The most important line in the OP

[ABCer]

Poisoning of environment along with all kinds of environmental negative impact of human activities is a Global phenomenon.

It takes place in any country. In some countries it is more prominent. In some countries there is more rigid control and steeper penalties.

But the result is always the same: Co makes money. People living around get jobs, sickness and pollution. And are thankful for getting the jobs.

This situation is unfair, criminal and cruel. Is it inhuman? Absolutely not! It is exactly typically HUMAN behavior. Not only in Thailand.

makkam, thanks for explaining the 51/49 rule. I know it. I also know how to get around it. But in this particular instance my question was not an attempt

on 'Thai bashing' but to emphasize that this sort of things happen to Farang done by Farang too.

And do not get too political about these things. The Disastrous levels of environmental crimes in Russia and China speak loud enough. Capitalism is not the only culprit.

It is us, the HUMANS, who destroy other humans and the whole ecosystem, the Earth. Not counting thousands of other species on this Earth.

Environment protection? - Bull!

Remove the HUMANS from the Earth! All of us. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly! We are not from this world. We are bad for this world.

[Doc Blake]

Pollution problem in Bali, Indonesia turned around by locals, government, spiritual leaders and tourists.

1. Surfing In Trash: Indonesia Trash Tubes - YouTube

   www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDGpn_wknzc
   
   Doc Blake