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Photo: Bangkok, Thailand - Ninara
In a landmark class action ruling on March 24, 2026, the Bangkok Civil Court ordered Akara Resources — a subsidiary of Australia-based Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd. — to pay compensation to 382 villagers affected by land and water contamination from the Chatree Gold Mine, Thailand's largest. The court also ordered the company to clean up contaminated areas and take additional remedial measures. Human Rights Watch called the ruling a strong signal to multinational corporations that local communities can seek effective remedies through Thai courts.
Years of Contamination
The Chatree mine is located approximately 280 kilometres north of Bangkok. Blood tests conducted in 2014 and 2015 on hundreds of villagers found that the majority of children and adults tested had unsafe levels of arsenic, manganese, and cyanide — common byproducts of gold-mining operations with serious health consequences. Akara Resources disputed the test results.
In 2017, Thailand's then-military junta ordered a nationwide suspension of gold-mining operations. Kingsgate subsequently launched international arbitration, claiming the closure violated the Thailand-Australia Free Trade Agreement. In 2023, Thai authorities permitted the Chatree mine to resume, and in November 2025, the Thai government and Kingsgate agreed to end the dispute. Akara Resources contested the class action throughout, and following the ruling stated only that it would "consult its team before taking any further action."
Significance and Ongoing Concerns
The court ordered compensation of up to THB 200,000 (approximately USD 6,250) per person for each of the 382 affected villagers. Villagers expressed ongoing concerns about water quality and the potential contamination of their crops despite the mine's resumption of operations. Human Rights Watch urged Akara Resources to comply promptly with the judgment and called on Kingsgate to disclose the outcomes of the proceedings that led to the mine's reopening.
The organisation also called on the Australian government to include enforceable human rights, labour, and environmental chapters in its trade agreements. The ruling is expected to have wider significance for future corporate accountability litigation in Thailand and the Asia-Pacific region, where communities affected by extractive industry operations have historically struggled to access effective remedies.
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