Na Nong Bong- The village that gold devastated

Two days ago I spent the night in a village called Na Nong Bong in the Loei Province of the northeastern part of Thailand. The community is being demolished f all rights to their livelihood by a near by mine, owned by Tong Kah Harbour Limited, a mining company that was originally based out of Australia. The mine itself has caused enormous amount of problems for the people in the area, and is likely to cause even more in the near future.

The mine that resides on a mountain top, sticking out like a blatant sore thumb as it is surrounded by lush greenery all around it. The Mine is situated on what is called the golden belt, a strip of land running through Cambodia, Laos and Thailand that has large gold quarries in the rock. The company claims to have " the cheapest method of goldminining int he world" which in turn matriculates to a huge effect on the surrounding population. Chemicals used in the mining process such as cyndide, and arsenic seep in to the water supply and in turn has drastic effects on te villages in the area. To put things in to perspective, I used the water in the village just to wash my hands and feet, and they were tingling for the whole day afterwards.

It was pretty incredibile going to visit this community for a day. In what seems like a impossible battle for their own rights due to the huge ammount of corruption, and governement stake in the goldmine company, the villagers have made a point to come toghtehr and protest for their rights time and time again. The day that we got to the village, they were already going to work making headbands and planning out the protest at the local governmennt office the next day.

After an incitful conversation with a NGO the next day concerning the village, we came back to the village in the afternoon to seem people happy, eating and drinking Lao Kao ( white whiskey, made only in Issan.... not aweful, but it has a kick, and leave a taste in your mouth). Apperently they made such a commotion outside the office that the government couldn't vote on creating another mine in the area.