Villagers from Phichit and Phetchabun are celebrating a court victory after the Civil Court's Environmental Division ordered Akara Resources Public Company Limited to pay compensation to nearly 400 residents affected by heavy metals in their bodies caused by gold mining. The operation led to contamination of public water and dust pollution in the air.
At courtroom 310 of the Civil Court's Environmental Division on Ratchadaphisek Road, at 09:00 on 24 Mar 2023 GMT+7, the court read its judgment in case number S.W.2/2559. Ms. Suekanya Theerachatdamrong and three others, representing villagers from Phichit and Phetchabun provinces, filed a group lawsuit against Akara Resources Public Company Limited, the operator of the Chatree gold mine. The case concerned tort claims seeking damages for harm to life, body, health, property, or other rights due to the villagers' long-term exposure to the mining operations over 20 years. Approximately 50 villagers attended the hearing to hear the verdict.
The plaintiffs alleged that the defendant's mining operations caused the spread of toxic heavy metal dust beyond the mine, carried by the wind, vibrations from rock blasting, leakage of cyanide stored in tailings ponds, and dispersion of other heavy metals such as arsenic, manganese, and iron. These contaminants spread into the plaintiffs' agricultural areas and communities around canals and reservoirs.
The plaintiffs and community members used canal water for agriculture, leading to the accumulation of toxins in crops like rice and corn. Consumption of rice and food from these contaminated water sources contained cyanide, arsenic, and manganese, causing illness and harm to the plaintiffs' lives, bodies, health, and mental well-being.
The plaintiffs therefore requested the court to order the defendant to compensate the plaintiffs and group members for medical expenses related to toxic exposure, physical health deterioration, mental health impairment, living expenses, and lost benefits from natural resource use.
The court considered the evidence persuasive, concluding that heavy metal leakage from Tailings Pond 1 flowed southward into lowlands through natural water sources, resulting in heavy metals found in the canals and residents having heavy metals in their bodies. They were also affected by dust from mining blasts and noise from the defendant's mining activities. The court thus ordered the defendant to pay damages to the four named plaintiffs and 382 group members.
The court ordered compensation for health deterioration as follows: for residents aged 15 and under, 200,000 baht each; for those over 15, 100,000 baht each; for those aged 15 and under with heavy metal levels below thresholds, 100,000 baht each; and for those over 15 with levels below thresholds, 50,000 baht each.
For mental health deterioration due to fear and anxiety, individuals with heavy metal levels exceeding thresholds are to receive 20,000 baht each, and those below thresholds 10,000 baht each. Medical treatment costs are set at 5,000 baht per person. Compensation for expenses buying drinking water and food due to inability to consume from natural water sources is 5,000 baht per person. Loss of benefits from natural water use and lifestyle disruption is also compensated at 5,000 baht per person.
Additionally, the court ordered the defendant to rehabilitate the surrounding public canals to be free of contaminants, fully bear responsibility for treating contaminated soil and water in canals and reservoirs, and to fill in Tailings Pond 1 and cover all soil, under the supervision of relevant committees ensuring safety. Other claims were dismissed.
