Mae Mo (, ) or Mae Moh is a district (''

amphoe An amphoe (sometimes also ''amphur'', , )—usually translated as "district"—is the second level administrative subdivision of Thailand. Groups of ''amphoe'' or districts make up the Provinces of Thailand, provinces, and are analogous to count ...

'') in the eastern part of Lampang province,

northern Thailand Northern Thailand, or more specifically Lanna, is a region of Thailand. It is geographically characterized by several mountain ranges, which continue from the Shan Hills in bordering Myanmar to Laos, and the river valleys that cut through them. ...

Geography

Neighboring districts are (from the south clockwise): Mae Tha, Mueang Lampang, Chae Hom and Ngao of Lampang Province,

Song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

and

Long Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mens ...

of Phrae province. The Phi Pan Nam Mountains dominate the landscape of the district. Mae Mo is about from Mueang Lampang District.

History

The minor district (''

king amphoe An amphoe (sometimes also ''amphur'', , )—usually translated as "district"—is the second level administrative subdivision of Thailand. Groups of ''amphoe'' or districts make up the provinces, and are analogous to counties. The chief district ...

'') was created on 15 April 1976, when three ''tambons'', Ban Dong, Chang Nuea, and Na Sak, were split off from

Mueang Lampang district Mueang Lampang (; ) is the capital district ('' amphoe mueang'') of Lampang province, northern Thailand. Geography Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise): Mueang Pan, Chae Hom, Mae Mo, Mae Tha, Ko Kha and Hang Chat of Lampang ...

. It was upgraded to a full district on 16 July 1984.

Administration

The district is divided into five sub-districts (''

tambon ''Tambon'' (, ) is a local governmental unit in Thailand. Below district (''amphoe'') and province ('' changwat''), they form the third administrative subdivision level. there were 7,255 tambons, not including the 180 ''khwaeng'' of Bangkok, whi ...

s''), which are further subdivided into 37 villages (''

muban Muban (; , ) is the lowest Administrative divisions of Thailand, administrative sub-division of Thailand. Usually translated as 'village' and sometimes as 'hamlet (place), hamlet', they are a subdivision of a tambon (subdistrict). , there were 74 ...

s''). There are no municipal (''

thesaban Thesaban (, , , Pali: desapāla (protector of region) are the municipalities of Thailand. There are three levels of municipalities: city, town, and sub-district. Bangkok and Pattaya are special municipal entities not included in the ''thesaban'' ...

s''). There are five tambon administrative organizations (TAO).

Economy

Mae Mo is the site of a 2,400 MW

lignite Lignite (derived from Latin ''lignum'' meaning 'wood'), often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35% and is considered the lowest ...

-fueled power plant run by the

Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) (; ) is a state enterprise, managed by the Ministry of Energy, responsible for electric power generation and transmission as well as bulk electric energy sales in Thailand. EGAT, establish ...

(EGAT), and the lignite mine that powers it. The plant has been the target of a series of lawsuits brought by locals who claim that the lignite mining operation and the burning of lignite fuel by EGAT has negatively impacted the environment and the health of those living in the vicinity. A 12-year fight by villagers for compensation for damages ended in victory for the plaintiffs in February 2015. The Supreme Administrative Court in Chiang Mai Province upheld a ruling by the Chiang Mai Administrative Court in 2005. The court handed down a verdict ordering EGAT to pay compensation to 131 plaintiffs, some of them deceased. Plant victims were awarded between 20,000 and 240,000 baht each, commensurate with their suffering. The total amounts to 25 million baht plus 7.5 percent interest. Several days earlier, the court had ordered EGAT to return its Mae Mo golf course, adjacent to the open pit lignite mine, to woodland in order to help clean up the air pollution caused by EGAT's Mae Mo operations. Coal-fired power plants such as Mae Mo can release up to 150 million

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the s ...

s of CO₂ over their design life of 20–25 years, according to Greenpeace-Thailand. Excavations at the

open-pit Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique that extracts rock (geology), rock or minerals from the earth. Open-pit mines are used when deposits of commercially ...

lignite mine revealed what is thought to be the world's largest

freshwater snail Freshwater snails are gastropod mollusks that live in fresh water. There are many different families. They are found throughout the world in various habitats, ranging from ephemeral pools to the largest lakes, and from small seeps and springs t ...

terrace. The terrace, 12 metres deep and covering , is up to 13 million years old. Attempts by organizations to preserve the site were dashed in September 2018 when the Supreme Administrative Court overturned a lower court ruling protecting the site. EGAT claimed that the cost of preservation would amount to 132.5 billion

baht The baht (; , ; currency sign, sign: ฿; ISO 4217, code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 ''satang'' (, ). Prior to decimalisation, the baht was divided into eight ''fueang'' (, ), each of eight ''at'' (, ). The ...

in lost revenue. EGAT began the decommissioning of the Mae Moh lignite mine, the largest coal mine in Thailand, in 2019.

References

External links

amphoe.com
Mae Mo {{Lampang-geo-stub