Myanmar: In Myanmar, a Rush for Rare Earth Metals Is Causing a Regional Environmental Disaster

Jul 12, 2025 | Michael Sullivan
NPR
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The Wat Tha Ton Temple sits high above the tourist town of Tha Ton, with a magnificent view of the Kok River valley to the south and an equally impressive view of the river winding its way out of the mountains of Myanmar from the north. Prasert Guytuan, a local school worker, says people here first started noticing a problem with the river about two years ago, when a mine just across the border in Myanmar started production and the water got a little murky and itchy. But it wasn't too bad, he says, until this February, when the water didn't clear as it normally would during the dry season.