Pita Limjaroenrat, former leader of the Move Forward Party, on Thursday joined a protest by Karen villagers against a proposed coal mine in Omkoi district, Chiang Mai.
The group marched in the rain from a sports field to the Omkoi district office to submit a letter of protest to the district chief. Mr Pita was joined by a number of MPs and members of Move Forward Party.
The march followed a public forum held earlier in the day and attended by a number of human rights activists, lawyers and environmentalists.
The panelists included representatives of the Kaboedin village community, a network of people opposed to the mine and others who stand to be affected by the project.
A private company first applied for a 10-year concession to operate a coal mine on a 284-rai site in tambon Omkoi of Omkoi district in 1999. However, local residents only learned of the plan in 2019. That was when the indigenous Karen people of Kaboedin village started to campaign against the project.
Since the planned mine would be located by a stream that is considered the lifeline of the village, residents are afraid the water would be polluted by the mining operation and affect their way of life.
In July 2020, the National Human Rights Commission found human rights violations in an environmental impact assessment report on the project and recommended the plan be revised.
