News

CGNT 27 October 2018 | Martin Lowe

Southeast Asia has become a dumping ground for plastic waste from the world's richest nations. That's the claim of environmental groups, who say poor countries are being exploited.

Since China – previously the world's biggest recycler – halted plastic waste imports on environmental grounds at the beginning of the year, it's mostly been diverted to its less-prosperous neighbors.

Financial Times Magazine 25 October 2018 | Leslie Hook and John Reed

China’s refusal to become the west’s dumping ground is forcing the world to face up to a waste crisis

Meanwhile, hundreds of scrap-processing facilities have sprung up near the port, often triggering complaints from locals about the pollution they produce. One woman keeping tabs on these plants – not all of which are fully legal – is Penchom Saetang, the head of Ecological Alert and Recovery Thailand, a non-profit group. She counts more than 1,300 companies involved in recycling, landfills or processing electronic waste in the eight provinces around the port.

UN Environment 24 October 2018

As Miremba enters her classroom in the morning, little does she know that the walls of the one place that should help her secure a better future are, in fact, poisoning it. As she playfully chips the hallway paint before going into class, she exposes herself, and her fellow schoolmates, to the irreversible toxic effects of lead.

Reuters 23 October 2018 | Rina Chandran

NA NONG BONG, Thailand (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - They came in the night - about 150 men wearing masks and wielding sticks, knives and guns who swarmed the village of Na Nong Bong in Thailand’s northeastern province of Loei, firing into the air while threatening and beating residents.

Premium Times 18 October 2018 | Ebuka Onyeji

The World Health Organisation has warned against exposing children to lead from paints containing the substance urging countries to ban lead paint by 2020.

The health body gave the warning ahead of the 2018 international lead poisoning prevention week between 21 to 27 October with focus on eliminating lead paint.

New Release 02 October 2018

New report reveals decade of violations against environmental defenders in Loei Province

Thai authorities and a Thai gold-mining company have targeted and violated the rights of local environmental defenders involved in opposing a gold mine in northeastern Thailand for more than a decade, Fortify Rights said today in a new report. The Government of Thailand should investigate and prosecute perpetrators who attacked local community members and provide remedies and reparations for those whose rights were abused and violated.

Arnika 27 September 2018

KRAKÓW – The Thai province of Samut Sakhon is highly contaminated with hazardous chemicals. At the international conference on halogenated persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in Poland, an expert on toxic pollution, Akarapon Teebthaisong, from Ecological Alert and Recovery – Thailand (EARTH) presented a recent study showing one of the highest levels on record. The health-threatening dioxins contaminate the food chain of the local inhabitants.

Al Jazeera English 25 September 2018 | Wayne Hay

Thailand will stop importing most types of electronic waste within six months.

So far this year, it has seen an influx of waste arriving in the country, after China enforced a similar ban.

The Nation 15 September 2018 | PIYAPORN WONGRUANG

Thailand is getting more serious with the new climate mitigation obligation under the UN framework.

As Thailand leaps towards economic development with an ambitious goal to become a developed country over the next 20 years, it has become more committed to address climate change in the hope that it would help sustain future economic growth.

The Nation 10 September 2018 | PRATCH RUJIVANAROM

UN CONFERENCE HEARS NEED FOR MITIGATION MEASURES AND STRONG HEALTH SYSTEM

CLIMATE CHANGE is causing serious health threats and is capable of triggering a deadly global pandemic, doctors have warned.