CNA Insider – 15-5-2026
In late 2025, images of deformed fish caught in Thailand’s rivers made headlines around the world. The strange lesions on the fish have been linked to rare earth mines upstream.
Driven by soaring global demand for rare earths, mining operations in Myanmar are sending toxic metals into tributaries of the Mekong River, contaminating waterways that millions depend on. War-torn Myanmar, where regulatory oversight is weak, has created the conditions for such mines to proliferate — unchecked and unregulated.
As toxic chemicals pour into the waterways, high levels of arsenic and other metals have been detected downstream by Thai communities living along the river. They are grappling with health fears and economic losses.
With limited cross-border enforcement and growing geopolitical competition over critical minerals, can the contamination be stopped before the damage becomes irreversible?
WATCH MORE Insight: 
• Insight | Full Episodes
00:00 Introduction
01:05 Fish no one wants to eat 03:23 The toxins in Thailand’s rivers
05:03 Hidden boom in Myanmar’s war zones
10:51 What’s causing the fish deformities?
12:51 A look from space into rare earth mines
15:03 Who wants Myanmar’s rare earth?
19:12 How pollution flows downstream
23:39 “They found arsenic in my urine”
34:03 A ticking time bomb?
38:37 Why is stopping pollution so difficult?
CVD 