Last Thursday (28 September), local communities in Chiang Mai’s Omkoi District marched from the local municipal stadium to the District Office auditorium to protest against a coal mining project sited near their communities, while concerns have been raised of the risk of contamination of local farmland and air and water pollution if the mining project is allowed to go ahead.

<p>50 residents of Kaboedin village, Omkoi district, Chiang Mai, filed a lawsuit with the Chiang Mai Administrative Court on Monday (4 April) to revoke an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for a coal mine project sited near their community.</p>

<div> <div>A prosecutor has indicted 16 villagers who joined an anti-coal protest from Thepa District, Songkhla Province.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On 12 January 2018, the Songkhla public prosecutor indicted 16 villagers for joining the protest against plans to build a coal-fired power plant in Thepa. </div></div>

<p>The military officers in northern Thailand have attempted to prevent a group of villagers from submitting a complaint to the provincial governor, saying that the act might breach the Public Assembly Act recently enacted. &nbsp;</p>