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12 images Created 16 Jul 2020

Thailand's radical grandmothers

In a village of Northeast Thailand, a group of resilient women weaves bright-colored scarves to fund their fight against the mining company that poisoned their land. In 2006, the Thai mining company Tungkum Limited started extracting copper and gold less than 1 km from the village of Na Nong Bong, in Isaan. Soon afterward, government tests revealed unsafe levels of cyanide, arsenic, and mercury in soil, water, and residents’ blood. The villagers started protesting for the closure of the mine and the restoration of the environment. Ranong Kongsean, one of the social pillars of the village, had a vision: funding the fight against the mine through the sale of traditionally weaved textiles. This is how the Radical Grandmothers’ collective was born. In their decade-long struggle for environmental justice, the Radical Grandmothers faced threats, violent intimidations, harassments, and criminal prosecutions, both from the mining company and the Thai authorities. As of today, the villagers finally won the court cases against Tungkum Limited and the mine has been closed. Still, nothing has been done to restore the environment. But the Radical Grandmothers don’t give up.  
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  • Ranong Kongsaen, founder of the Radical Grandmothers' collective in the village of Na Nong Bong. The women of the collective weave traditional textiles to fund villagers' fight against the mining company that poisoned their land. 
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  • View of Na Nong Bong. Before the mining activities started, the villagers were living a simple and quiet life.
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  • View of the mine site. In 2006, the Thai mining company Tungkum Limited started extracting copper and gold less than 1 km from the village of Na Nong Bong, in Isaan.
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  • Detail of one of the offices inside the mine site. The sign "cyanide liquor" is read below the screens. Soon after the mining activities started, government tests revealed unsafe levels of cyanide, arsenic, and mercury in soil, water, and residents’ blood.
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  • Kan Jutano, one of the villagers, stares out of the window as she carries her nephew in her arms. Her husband died of lateral amyotrophic sclerosis five years ago. Blood analyses revealed an abnormal concentration of mercury in his blood, likely caused by the environmental pollution linked to mining activities.
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  • Wanpen Kunna stands by a sign meaning "Weaving against the mine center" in Na Nong Bong. When she was 15, Tungkum Limited filed a criminal defamation complaint against her. The charges related to her narration in a news clip, in which she claimed that the villages and the water resources close to the mine had been environmentally affected by the mining activity.
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  • Tam Laem Saichumloem, one of the radical grandmothers, weaves at her loom. The women of Na Nong Bong founded the Radical Grandmothers' collective to fund the fight against the mining company through the sale of traditionally weaved textiles.
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  • Detail of a radical grandmother's hands while she weaves.
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  • Sompong Lamsiri poses with a scarf weaved by one of the radical grandmothers. She owns the land where the weaving center has been built and chose to donate it to the community. Behind her, weaving tools are seen.
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  • Detail of Ranong Kongsaen's hand placed on scarves weaved by the radical grandmothers. Ranong is the founder of the Radical Grandmothers' collective.
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  • Detail of the scarves weaved by the radical grandmothers.
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  • Ranong Kongsaen, founder of the Radical Grandmothers' collective, holds her nephew's hand at the entrance of Na Nong Bong. The sign in the background reads "Close the mine. Restore. This village does not want the mine."
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