Chinese Gold Mining in Myanmar’s Shan State Blamed for Arsenic in Kok River

People living along the Kok River in Thailand’s Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces have been advised not to use water from the river for consumption due to the excessive amounts of arsenic it contains.

The poison is believed to originate from extensive gold mining in Mong Hsai town in Myanmar’s Shan state.

Arveera Pakamat, director of the Environment and Pollution Control Office in Chiang Mai, said officials took water samples on March 19 from the Kok River in Mae Ai district for testing which revealed that the arsenic content was twice the safe level.