Shaping Traditional and Modern Approaches to Mitigate Impacts of Mining Industry: A Case Study of Karen Village, Lower Klity Creek, Thailand

Abstract

Shaping Traditional and Modern Approaches to Mitigate Impacts of Mining Industry: A case study of Karen Village, Lower
Klity Creek, Thailand aims to analyze the effectiveness of mitigation measures, in the past and at present, for solving the problems of
contamination of lead in waste water releasing from mines into the creek. Secondly, this project also aims to present mitigate measure
that is the hybrid of traditional folk wisdom and modern technology in solving the problem. The study is carried out under documentary
research, interview approach and participant observation. The descriptive analysis is designed to analyze the data. As the villagers
have to rely on the creek not only as their main food source but also in other consumer activities, they are poisoned by lead
contamination in the creek. This resulted in both physical and mental illness, especially in children; some children died from such
contamination, while some became disabled. As for the environmental aspect, the ecosystem is severely damaged. This impact resulted
in mitigation measures from various sectors to tackle the issue. However, these mitigation measures were not successful due to lack of
consistency in operations and follow-up, lack of long-term relief budget plan, failure to understand the villagers’ ways of life, and lack of
integration and extension of further knowledge and practice. Thus, the measure presented in this research is that of a hybrid between
the folkways and modern technology in order that the villagers and responsible organizations will be able to adapt it to achieve the
effective solution of the problem in the future.