Human feces dumped in watershed contaminates Karen people’s drinking water

Caitlin AshworthPublished: 14:32, 13 November 2020| Updated: 14:32, 13 November 2020

207 1 minute read

Human feces dumped in watershed contaminates Karen people’s drinking water

PHOTO: one31

A truck allegedly dumped a tank of human feces in a watershed that drains into water sources used by a group of Karen people, leaving the community in Northern Thailand’s Tak province with no clean drinking water. Around 200 Karen people gathered at a police station in the Phop Phra district to file a complaint.

For generations, water drained from the watershed has been used by the Karen people. Recently, there have been other incidents involving waste dumped in the watershed and locals have been concerned that the polluted water could affect their health.

Caitlin Ashworth

Caitlin Ashworth is a writer from the United States who has lived in Thailand since 2018. She graduated from the University of South Florida St. Petersburg with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and media studies in 2016. She was a reporter for the Daily Hampshire Gazette In Massachusetts. She also interned at the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia and Sarasota Herald-Tribune in Florida.