CityNews – Villagers in Mae Hia rallied to remove a mobile phone base station in their neighborhood, which they believe has been causing fatal illness.
On July 1st, people in the town of Ban Pa Jee rallied at a mobile phone base station. They rallied to remove a transmitter from the neighborhood, as they believe it has been causing cancer. They claim to have over 10 fatalities, and many patients aging from children to senior citizens. The rally was to urge the land owner, who rented out the area for the antenna, to end the land contract. The land contract will expire this August.
Mae Hia municipality and local authorities, who were also at the rally, promise villagers to seek out the truth. However, in May last year, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (NTBC) has confirmed that exposure to the mobile phone frequency does not have any negative effect on health. The official release cited a study done by the World Health Organization, who responded to the inquiry of NTBC on the 6th of May in 2018.
In the letter, WHO cited a publication in 2010 entitled “Systematic reviews on the health effects of exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields from mobile phone base stations,” which noted that “in conclusion, our review does not indicate an association between any health outcome and radiofrequency electromagnetic field exposure from MPBSs at levels typically encountered in peoples’ everyday environment.”