Villagers around a gold mine in three provinces have asked the prime minister to set up a central body to systemically solve their problems, claiming they have been poisoned by toxic substances due to the mining operation.
The Chatree mine straddles Pichit, Phitsanulok and Phetchabun provinces. (Company file photo)
Wanphen Promrangsan, representative of the villagers living near Akara Resources Plc's gold mine straddling Pichit, Phitsanulok and Phetchabun provinces, submitted a letter to the People's Service Centre at Government House on Monday.
They asked the prime minister to implement three measures urgently to relieve their problems.
First, they want the Justice Ministry's Central Institute of Forensic Science and Rangsit University to conduct more tests to find toxic substances in the villagers surrounding the mine, as well as scientific proof of toxicity in the area.
Second, they want new water sources after preliminary tests found existing ones were contaminated by heavy metal.
Third, they want a review of the expropriation of the land they had been living on for decades. It was seized to become "natural resources" but apparently its right was later given to Thailand's largest gold miner to explore, she said.
On Jan 13, the Industry Ministry ordered Akara to suspend its operation in Pichit province for 30 days and to examine whether its activity adversely affected the health of villagers there.
Akara, a 48%-owned subsidiary of Australia-based Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd, owns the Chatree mining complex in the three provinces.
It was granted a metallurgical licence for its Chatree processing plant in November 2012. The expanded plant has an annual nameplate capacity of 5 million tonnes per year and is currently operating at 6.2 million tonnes per year, according to its website.
It has faced complaints and lawsuits filed by communities and villager groups over the years, mainly related to the environment and health.