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At the top <\/a>of Doi Hua Mae Kham, a mountain rising 1,850 meters above sea level in northern Chiang Rai, the border between Thailand and Myanmar is little more than a ridge of red earth and grass. From here, one can look across into Myanmar\u2019s Shan State and see vast scars of exposed soil \u2014 open-pit mines glinting under the sun, some no more than a few kilometers from Thai soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n These mines \u2014 gold and rare earth \u2014 have multiplied in recent years, eating into the mountains that cradle the Kok and Sai rivers, two tributaries of the Mekong. From the Thai side, they are easy to see. But on paper, they barely exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey\u2019ve been digging for about five or six years,\u201d said a Hmong villager from the small settlement known as Ban Hmong 8 Houses, which sits on the winding road toward Hua Mae Kham. \u201cNow they\u2019re expanding closer to us. There are Chinese workers, trucks moving all day and night, and Lahu soldiers guarding the area. No one from outside is allowed in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n