CHIANG RAI: Artists from 11 countries staged a live performance along the Kok River on Saturday, highlighting growing concern over toxic contamination linked to upstream mining in Myanmar and calling on authorities to address the crisis and restore the river.
The event took place on March 14 at the Kok River bank near Ban Pha Kwang School in Mae Yao subdistrict, Muang district, coinciding with the International Day of Action for Rivers, Water and Life. It formed part of the Chiang Rai International Performance Art Project 2026, bringing together international artists to communicate the environmental crisis affecting the river.
Organisers said the Kok River has been increasingly contaminated by toxic substances believed to originate from rare-earth and gold mining operations in upstream areas of southern Shan State, Myanmar.
The event featured performance art, with each participating artist presenting a piece centred on environmental themes and the condition of the river.
Satadru Sovan, an artist from India, said he felt deeply disturbed after witnessing the situation firsthand.
“I feel very saddened to see this river contaminated with toxic substances. It reminds me of my own country, where we also have a major river — the Ganges — facing chemical contamination that can cause cancer,” he said.
“The Kok River is also contaminated with arsenic and heavy metals that are known to cause cancer. Today the world is filled with industries that destroy the environment. It is heartbreaking to see nature being destroyed by powerful economic interests, and restoring it to its original state will be extremely difficult.”
Nongrat Mayoe, an Akha artist from Chiang Mai, said she had heard about the Kok River while living in Chiang Rai, but seeing the situation with her own eyes was deeply unsettling.
“The river still appears powerful and abundant, yet it cannot be used for daily consumption. At the same time, some state agencies appear to be downplaying or concealing the scale of the contamination crisis in order to preserve a positive image,” she said.
“In reality, such actions amount to indirectly harming the people.”
Dr Michael Barrett, a lecturer at the University of Montana in the United States and one of the project’s curators, said local communities were facing significant hardship as a result of the pollution.
“A river that once served as the lifeline of the community can no longer be used. Villagers now have to rely on water from other sources,” he said.
“The way people are forced to live here has become unnatural. The river is right in front of them, yet they must rely on limited water sources from the mountains instead. All of this is caused by the greed of a small number of groups who seek to turn natural resources into commodities while destroying the resources that sustain many others.”
Anuchit Hemmala, an artist from the Bangkok-based Jaran collective, said art should serve as a voice of society and convey urgent messages to those in power.
“The crisis we see today is not only a problem for Chiang Rai. It could become a national issue,” he said.
“Many farmers and residents may still be using water from contaminated rivers, and agricultural products from these areas are distributed to consumers across the country. This is therefore not merely a local problem in Chiang Rai or Chiang Mai, but a national issue that everyone should recognise and that the government must urgently address.”
Following the performances, participating artists issued a joint statement expressing concern over river contamination across the region caused by mining activities in upstream areas of Myanmar.
The statement noted that the crisis has affected several major rivers, including the Kok, Ruak, Sai and Mekong rivers. Over the past year, the rivers have changed visibly, with water that was once clear becoming persistently murky — even during seasons when it would normally run clear.
Such conditions reflect serious ecological damage and have significantly affected the livelihoods of communities across the river basins, the statement said.
“The crisis has not yet been addressed seriously by the authorities. Instead, there have been explanations that attempt to minimise public concern, while the reality of the rivers continues to deteriorate,” the artists said.
“We, artists from Chiang Rai and Thailand, together with international artists, call on the authorities to address the toxic contamination in the rivers with sincerity and urgency, so that the rivers can once again become clean and safe.”
The statement outlined three key demands:
- an immediate halt to mining activities that are the source of toxic contamination in the river basins;
- fair compensation for affected communities, including health impacts, loss of income, livelihoods and damage to traditional ways of life;
- and the restoration of rivers so that they can once again become clean and safe.
“We call for serious action to stop the destruction of headwaters and to restore the rivers so that they can once again serve as sources of life for local communities,” the statement said.
This is a translation of original Thai article https://transbordernews.in.th/home/?p=45417
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