In a landmark verdict, the Bangkok Civil Court last month held the operator of a gold mine liable for environmental and health damages, ordering it to compensate nearly 400 villagers. But the company is appealing against the ruling, which will likely delay payouts and prolong a decade-long legal fight, reports contributor Kannikar Petchkaew for Mongabay.
The case against Akara Resources Plc, operator of the Chatree gold mine, is Thailand’s first environmental class action lawsuit, enabled by a 2015 legal amendment. It was filed in 2016 by affected residents in Phichit and Phetchabun provinces, in central Thailand, where the Chatree mine, the country’s largest gold mine, is located.
The court recognized that for more than 10 years, residents suffered from elevated levels of heavy metals such as manganese and cyanide in their blood, alongside chronic health issues like skin disease, linked to mining operations. The court further said that Akara Resources had failed to prove the contamination was unrelated to its mining operations, and ruled the company was liable for the environmental damage and health impacts.
The court mandated direct compensation of $2,300 to $7,200 per person, plus small medical expenses. It also ruled that Akara Resources must shut down a leaking facility holding mining sludge, and bear the full cost of environmental rehabilitation.
Both Akara Resources and its Australian parent company, Kingsgate Consolidated, are appealing the ruling, citing “inconclusive evidence.” This move effectively freezes any compensation for the foreseeable future.
Advocacy groups like the Manushya Foundation argue the court-ordered amounts are insufficient to cover the villagers’ 25 years of suffering.
“The amount proposed to the court was already cut by half from what the villagers sought,” said Emilie Palamy Pradichit, founder and executive director of the Bangkok-based Manushya Foundation, which has supported the residents in their case from the beginning.
One villager noted that even a million-baht settlement (about $30,000) would fail to account for two and a half decades of living with contamination.
The mine’s operations were previously suspended, but it resumed operations in 2023. When Mongabay visited Ban Khao Mo village, in Thailand’s Phichit province, after the court’s recent ruling, gold mining was in full swing.
The 10-year litigation has taken a toll on plaintiffs like Log Paobua, who died by suicide in 2023 after feeling “exhausted to the core” by the legal ordeal. Another resident, Manit Lampason, who had recorded toxic levels of cyanide in his blood, died in March 2025, exactly one year before the verdict was finally reached.
Read the full story by Kannikar Petchkaew here.
Banner image: Work was ongoing at the Chatree gold mine during Mongabay’s visit in March 2026. Image by Kannikar Petchkaew for Mongabay.