Udon Thani - Asia Pacific Resources

The Canadian mining map was produced by the Halifax Initiative during the National Roundtables on Corporate Social Responsibility and the Canadian Extractive Industry in Developing Countries. The Roundtables, which took place between June and November of 2006, fulfilled one of the recommendations made in the groundbreaking report, Mining in Developing Countries and Corporate Social Responsibility, tabled by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade (SCFAIT) in June 2005.

By Sara Schaumburg

April 2006

Boonlert – a slight and unassuming man wearing a bright yellow hat – hardly looks like someone wanted by the police. Neither, for that matter, does La-iat, who lies on a nearby mat. Five months pregnant and visibly uncomfortable in the stifling midday heat, La-iat munches irritably on sour mangoes.

Boonlert Lekkhieo, 56, and La-iat Onsa-art, 38, are two leaders of the Udon Thani Conservation Club, a group of villagers who are fighting plans to construct a multi-billion baht potash mine beneath their farmland.

Peter McCaslin's article High Stakes, Hard Lines Pose Threat to Peace in Northeastern Thailand and his paper Somboon Mining Project: A Failure of Democracy in Thailand were also posted by the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre. The Centre asked the company to respond, and Asia Pacific Resources sent this letter to the Centre.

A case study by independent researcher Peter McCaslin.