Provincial authorities plan to ask the government to provide new water resources and organic vegetables for villagers who say they are suffering from health problems from the gold mine in Pichit province. The mine is operated by Akara Resources Plc.
Speaking after a committee meeting yesterday, Pichit governor Surachai Khan-Asa said a provincial panel had agreed to seek help for villagers in Pichit, Phitsanulok and Phetchabun provinces.
The committee was made up of representatives from villages, gold mine operators, academics, state authorities and soldiers. Mr Surachai said the government should provide new water resources for locals to use and water filters should be installed in villages with contaminated water, he said.
The committee also suggested the government should provide villagers with organic vegetables because toxic substances were also found in the soil, making vegetables harmful to eat, Mr Surachai said.
Meanwhile, Cherdsak Atta-Arun, who represents Akara, said the company yesterday held a session for locals living within a 500-metre radius of the mine to tell them how to protect themselves against toxic exposure. The seminar, led by Witchayuth Thapwong, an expert in environmental toxicity, was reportedly attended by 150 villagers.