News

The Nation 13 July 2018

The Supreme Court on Friday sentenced absconding former deputy interior minister Vatana Asvahame to three years in jail in connection with the Klong Dan scandal, reversing a verdict by the Appeals Court that had acquitted all the 18 defendants in the case.

Bangkok Post 13 July 2018

The Supreme Court has sentenced fugitive politician Vatana Asavahame and 10 others to between three and six years in jail in connection with the Klong Dan wastewater treatment project, one of the largest and longest-running corruption cases in the country’s history.

The decision, read out on Friday in the Dusit District Court, overturned a 2013 Appeal Court ruling that had reversed convictions handed down by a lower court in 2009 -- 14 years after the corruption saga began.

Sky News 01 July 2018

Authorities in Thailand say their country is becoming the new dumping ground for the world's illegal electronic waste.

"It could be the cause of different kinds of cancer diseases. And the situation like here, the chemical smell could cause or damage to respiratory system of the human", said Penchom Saetang, Director of EARTH.

Prachatai 28 June 2018 | Kobkul Rayanakorn

In the past weeks, one of the big news stories that received much media and public attention was the police raid on an electronic waste sorting and recycling plant in Chachoengsao Province. The incident was the first of a number of raids on many other similar plants in Chachoengsao Province and Latkrabang Industrial Estate, including seven containers in Laem Chabang seaport with smuggled electronic waste from Hong Kong and Japan.  

Asia Times 28 June 2018 | Jim Pollard

Thai officials have been scrambling to deal with a waste scandal after discovering thousands of tons of plastic and electronic waste has been imported since China banned foreign waste last year; other states have been warned 'it is coming your way'

The Guardian 28 June 2018 | Hannah Ellis-Petersen  

Thailand has been swamped by waste from the west after Chinese ban on imports

At a deserted factory outside Bangkok, skyscrapers made from vast blocks of crushed printers, Xbox components and TVs tower over black rivers of smashed-up computer screens.

Bangkok Post 28 June 2018 | Wichit Chantanusornsiri

Proposal envisions levy on imported gadgets

The Finance Ministry has floated the idea of imposing an environmental tax in a bid to reduce electronic waste. For example, imported mobile phone handsets should be subject to an electronic scrap disposal tax, said finance permanent secretary Prasong Poontaneat.

The Nation 27 June 2018 | ACHARA WISETSRI

IMPORTERS FAIL TO HIT COLLECTION DEADLINE AMID CRACKDOWN ON ILLEGAL HANDLING

ABOUT 400 cargo containers full of electronic waste, plastic scrap and discarded metal have been left unclaimed at Thailand’s two major ports as authorities crack down on illegal e-waste handling.

Bangkok Post 27 June 2018 | Chaiyot Pupattanapong & Wichit Chantanusornsiri

Prohibition aimed at discouraging imports

The Department of Industrial Works (DIW) has promised to ban local factories from recycling plastic and electronic waste.

Department deputy chief Banjong Sukreeta said the proposed ban will effectively discourage factories from importing waste into Thailand and help authorities deal with the increasing amount of waste in the country.

YES! Magazine 25 June 2018 | Enkhbayar Munkh-Erdene & Tracy Matsue Loeffelholz

The fracking boom is flooding the world with Ziploc bags, ketchup packets, and single-use spoons.