Yesterday was three days after DSI officials visited Akara Resources’ gold mine to inspect it following four allegations about its operations.

The charges alleged that some of Chatree gold mine operations were illegal, that the mine did not meet official standards, that it encroached on public land and that the mine had affected local people’s health and the environment.

Director of the DSI’s Bureau of Consumer Protection and Environmental Crime, Pol Lt Col Prawut Wongseenin, said yesterday the investigation team would be just to both sides, and for now it was doing its best to find the truth.

In the latest stage of the probe, Phichet Thongsrinun, director of the DSI’s Centre of Marine Crime Suppression, led a team to look at highway 1301 from Wang Kanak to Wang Pong in Phichit’s Tap Khlo district. Local people complained that the gold mine threatened to extend its operation onto land for the road, and increase mining on public land to 16 areas.

“We have received a complaint that the gold mine may encroach upon public land, as the mining operation is near the highway and the mine has built an alternative road to replace the closed highway. People suspect the mine may take gold ore from the highway land, so we have to investigate this issue,” Phichet said.

Prawut said the DSI team used military Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) to inspect the mining area from the sky to see if there was any encroachment on public land.

“We are investigating whether the company totally complies with all conditions of the mining permit. If we find that the mine is wrong, we will litigate against them. We insist that we are listening to both plaintiffs and the mine,” he said.

For the investigation into the mine’s impact on the people and environment, he admitted this work could take a year to complete because there was a lot of information to collect and analyse.

In January, the DSI accepted the Chatree mine case as a special probe, following complaints from villagers around the mine, who claimed their lives and livelihoods were seriously harmed by the gold mine.

The Chatree mine will have to close down by the end of this year according to a recent Cabinet decision.