Hand-painted banners reading “Protect the Kok River” and “Bring Back Clean Water” waved above a crowd of farmers, fishers, scientists, and environmental activists as they walked along northern Thailand’s Kok River. For five days, hundreds of people marched 68 kilometers from Tha Ton in Chiang Mai province to Chiang Rai city, demanding action over toxic contamination flowing downstream from unregulated gold and critical minerals mines across the border in Myanmar (Burma).

As the march passed through riverside villages, participants stopped to discuss the issue with residents who have lived in harmony with the river for generations and whose livelihoods depend on it. In recent years, however, the river has become a source of worry rather than life.

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