All that glitters is not gold. This old saying can aptly apply to Thailand's gold mining industry or, for that matter, the mining industry in general.
The history of mining in Thailand is full of riches for a few, suffering for many and devastation for the natural environment.
In the late 1980s, more than 1,000 people in Ron Phibun district of Nakhon Si Thammarat were found to have suffered from arsenic contamination. Years of tin mining had contaminated the surface and underground water in the area for decades.
Wasant Techawongtham is former news editor, Bangkok Post.
In Mae Moh district, Lampang province, lignite mining and the lignite-fuelled power plant caused sickness and death among the human population and animals, the effects of which still linger.
In a fertile forest in Kanchanaburi province, years of lead mining rendered the resident Karen hill tribe people's only water source unconsumable. The villagers' years of demands for clean-up operations remain unfulfilled.
In Mae Sot district, Tak province, a zinc mining operation left vast areas of paddy fields contaminated with cadmium. Rice cultivation there is no longer possible.
In the provinces of Phichit, Phitsanulok and Loei, many villagers have been found to carry high levels of arsenic, manganese and cyanide in their blood stream.
The litany of destruction inflicted on the natural environment and people's health by the mining industry makes for boring reading were it not for its deadly repercussions.
What makes this tale so very sad is the fact that the people most responsible for the country's natural resources and people's health fail utterly to carry out their duties.
What has led to this epic failure could be the lure of financial benefits that they would receive either directly or indirectly from the industry, their disregard of villagers' lives and environmental well-being, their lack of moral integrity and courage, or simply their ignorance.
Over-exploitation of natural resources is a common occurrence throughout the country, but government officials seem not to have noticed.
They are roused from their slumber to pay attention only when residents, sometimes also their animals, around mining areas begin to get sick before some die in unusual circumstances.
But instead of trying to get to the core of the problem and restore the people's health and trust, officials seem more intent on being industry apologists.
One of the central excuses that mining operators often make when contamination around mining areas surfaces is that it is a natural occurrence.
Some of the most knowledgeable people in these stuations are local doctors who are the first to notice unusual incidents of illnesses and are usually the first to provide blood tests to villagers.
These professionals often fall into one of two categories.
The first includes those who sound warnings to authorities on possible contamination affecting people's health. They actively try to identify the root causes. Sometimes, it leads to them being intimidated by dark influences.
Other doctors are more timid. They perform their duties to help relieve villagers' illnesses but are disinclined to stand up and voice the knowledge they have in their hands.
The situation often leaves affected villagers to their own devices. Most villagers, however, are not up to the task and are resigned to accept the cards that are dealt them.
Those who persevere and stand up to fight to save their land, health and livelihoods face an almost insurmountable task.
Without necessary resources, how can you prove contamination results from mining operations in the neighbourhood?
Assistance is hard to come by from relevant government agencies, whose involvement, if it happens, is often awkward or unhelpful.
If villagers are lucky, they might find help from public-minded academics, certain individual officials or non-governmental groups.
In the case of the villagers around the Chatree mine, the country's first and largest gold mine in Phichit, they have help from a group of academics from Rangsit University.
The group provided blood tests to the villagers and found high levels of contamination of arsenic, cyanide and manganese among many of them.
But the mine operator, a subsidiary of Australian company Kingsgate Consolidated, hired a consultant to conduct its own tests. The consultant declared, to no one's surprise, that the mine was not the cause of the contamination. The cause is natural contamination.
It seems odd that this line of defence gained firm credibility among government officials.
If there is natural contamination to the extent that it could cause illnesses, shouldn't they have happened before -- not after -- mining operations began?
In other instances, intimidation is the tool of choice to silence mining opponents.
In Loei province, Tungkum Limited filed defamation suits against villagers opposing its gold mining operation amounting to hundreds of millions of baht. One of the defendants was a 14-year-old girl.
Two years ago, some 200 thugs, allegedly commanded by an army lieutenant general, raided Na Nong Bong village in the dead of night and injured villagers opposing the mine.
There has been no progress on the villagers' complaints against the perpetrators.
Currently, a new Minerals Act is being proposed.
Critics say it would open up even the most environmentally sensitive areas, including watershed areas, to mining.
The proposed legislation is certain to heighten social tensions, contrary to the coup makers' pledge to bring peace and reconciliation to the country.