Ecologists are warning that mainland Southeast Asia faces a looming ecological disaster unless urgent steps are taken to address the
rare-earth mining boom in war-torn Myanmar. According to Global Witness, a London-based watchdog, Myanmar has become the world's largest source of heavy
rare-earth elements. These minerals are essential for manufacturing high-tech products like wind turbines, electric vehicles and medical devices.
Most of these mines are located in Shan state, where civil war has raged since the
2021 military coup.
Earlier this year, Thailand's Department of Pollution Control found arsenic levels nearly four times higher than
World Health Organization (WHO) limits in parts of the Kok River, a Mekong tributary flowing into
Thailand from
Myanmar. Other toxic metals were also detected at dangerous levels.
