Thai villagers win 10-year lawsuit over mining pollution

BANGKOK – The lawyer for a group of villagers in Thailand who won a 10-year lawsuit against a mining company for polluting their land and water says he is prepared to take further legal action if the company does not pay up.

Surapong Kongchantuk, the lawyer for 151 ethnic Karen villagers living near Klity Creek in Kanchanaburi province, said Tuesday he is not confident that Lead Concentrates Co. will pay the 36 million baht ($1.1 million) in compensation ordered by Thailand’s Supreme Court because its representatives did not even show up for the court’s verdict.

The court on Monday ruled in favour of the villagers, whose lawsuit charged that the company’s mining waste polluted the creek, contaminating soil and harming villagers and aquatic animals.