This webinar explores what it means for a community to celebrate the 2026 Songkran Water Festival when their local water source has become contaminated. In Tha Ton, a community on the Kok River in northern Thailand, residents must avoid contact with river water amid growing concern about contamination linked to upstream mining in Myanmar. With support from a small grant from the Stimson Center, the Romphoti Foundation helped Tha Ton celebrate Songkran safely by securing clean ceremonial water, coordinating with community partners, and providing drinking water and filtration.
Building from these community experiences, the webinar will zoom out to a wider transboundary challenge affecting the Kok River and other northern rivers. Keynoters and panelists who are advocating for government response in the Kok River and Mekong will share insights from recent work on river health, community impacts, and the policy responses needed to reduce pollution risks.
Together, speakers will connect cultural resilience with evidence-based action to protect shared waters.
Saeng Mounglee, River campaigner, Tha Ton Resident, and Vice President of the Romphoti Foundation
Saeng Mounglee is vice president of the Romphoti Foundation and a prominent advocate for the rights of indigenous people and northern Thai hilltribes, particularly focusing on issues affecting stateless individuals. She is affiliated with the Network of Indigenous Women in Asia and involved in regional efforts regarding indigenous rights, including collaboration with the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP).
Pai Deetes, Executive Director, Rivers and Rights
Pianporn (Pai) Deetes is the Executive Director of Rivers and Rights. For more than two decades, Pai has been at the forefront of campaigns to defend transboundary rivers—particularly the Mekong and Salween—and the rights and livelihoods of riparian communities who depend on them. Before co-founding Rivers and Rights, Pai served as the Southeast Asia Campaigns Director for International Rivers, where she led cross-border advocacy on transboundary water governance, accountability, and community participation in natural resources. Her work bridges local voices with regional and global policy platforms, bringing community perspectives into spaces where decisions about rivers, rights, and natural resources are made.
Kathrin Schilling, Assistant Professor, Columbia University
Kathrin Schilling is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University and Director of the Multi-Element Trace Analysis Laboratory (METALab). Her research focuses on advancing both metal measurements and isotope metallomics to uncover how essential and toxic elements influence human health.
Suebsakun Kidnukorn, Lecturer, Mae Fah Luang University
Dr. Suebsakun Kidnukorn is a lecturer at the School of Social Innovation, Mae Fah Luang University. He is also a cofounder of The People’s Network for the Protection of the Kok, Sai, Ruak, and Mekong Rivers based in Chiang Rai, Thailand. Dr. Kidnukorn is also a member of the triparty (official, CSO, academia) committee on transboundary river pollution in Chiang Rai province.
Brian Eyler, Senior Fellow and Director, Southeast Asia Program, Stimson Center (Moderator)
