Rare earth mining is poisoning Mekong River tributaries, threatening 'the world's kitchen'

Fisherman Sukjai Yana untangles his net while docked on the Kok River in Chiang Saen, Thailand, on Feb.

Delgado) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) CHIANG SAEN, Thailand (AP) — Perched on ...

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South Carolina Senate debate Follow Rare earth mining is poisoning Mekong River tributaries, threatening 'the world's kitchen' ANTON L.

DELGADO and ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL Updated Wed, April 29, 2026 at 4:04 AM UTC 6 min read Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.

Fisherman Sukjai Yana untangles his net while docked on the Kok River in Chiang Saen, Thailand, on Feb.

Delgado) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) Farmer Lah Boonruang takes a break from harvesting banana bushels on a farm in Tha Ton, Thailand, on Feb.

Delgado) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) Researcher Warakorn Maneechuket dissects a fish at a Naresuan University laboratory in Phitsanulok, Thailand, on Feb.

Delgado) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) Morning mist blankets the Thai village of Tha Ton, where the Kok River enters Thailand from Myanmar, Feb.

Delgado) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) Field workers harvest garlic from a farm on the banks of the Kok River in Tha Ton, Thailand, on Feb.

Delgado) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) Thailand Rare Earth 1 of 6 Fisherman Sukjai Yana untangles his net while docked on the Kok River in Chiang Saen, Thailand, on Feb.

Delgado) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) CHIANG SAEN, Thailand (AP) — Perched on the bow of his long-tail fishing boat, 75-year-old Sukjai Yana untangled a handful of small fish from his net, disappointed by his catch and fretting over whether he can sell them.

Some days Yana earns nothing: demand for fish is falling due to worries over contamination of the Mekong River and its tributaries by toxic runoff from rare earth mines upstream that is threatening millions who rely on those waters for farms and fisheries .

Chiang Saen, a fishing hub in northern Thailand, has been Yana's family's home for decades.

"I don't know where else I'd go," he said.

Yana is one of 70 million people in mainland Southeast Asia who depend on the nearly 5,000-kilometer (3,100-mile) Mekong River.

Rising demand for rare earth materials is driving an unregulated mining boom centered in war-torn Myanmar, to the west, that is spreading to Laos, in the east.