In December 2025, Mekong Eye released a report series titled “Fast and Dubious: How Electric Cars Are Tiring the Mekong,” examining the rapid expansion of rubber plantations in the Mekong River basin, a large portion of which were exported for tire production in electric vehicle industries based in China.

The reports indicate that Cambodia’s rubber plantation expansion has inflicted a series of negative impacts on local communities. Rubber concessions for multiple rubber companies overlap with the traditional farming and living spaces of indigenous communities, including the Kuy, Kreung, and Brao. This has resulted in the loss of land and forest resources, forcing some residents to relocate from their original homes. Having lost their traditional livelihoods, some indigenous residents have been compelled to take low-paying jobs tapping rubber on plantations, where they face health risks such as malaria. The loss of land has also triggered other social impacts, with girls compelled to drop out of school and seek jobs elsewhere.

In Myanmar’s Kok and Ruak river basins, large-scale rubber plantations have created monoculture landscapes. Intensive pesticide and fertilizer use has degraded soil fertility, further exacerbating soil erosion and increasing flood and landslide risks. Research indicates that as extreme rainfall events intensify, soil degradation heightens the risk of casualties and property damage. Moreover, the extensive use of chemicals in rubber cultivation and processing has elevated heavy metal concentrations in river water. Pollutants discharged into transboundary rivers threaten water bodies along the Thai–Myanmar border.

In Laos, rubber industry expansion has been accompanied by unregulated deforestation and land redistribution. Some indigenous communities have lost traditional farmland and forest resources, undermining their food self-sufficiency and forcing them to relocate or become low-income laborers.

The Business and Human Rights Center had reached out to Goodyear, Michelin, Bridgestone, Kumho Tires, Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd., Mainland Group, Jinyu Tires, Triangle Tyre, Hiep Thanh Rubber Industries Corporation, Maxxis International, BYD, Geely, Great Wall Motor, Toyota, Giti Tire, Hankook Tire and Kunlun Tire for response. Their response and non-response can be found below.