News

The Nation 11 June 2018 | PRATCH RUJIVANAROM

Waste policies encourage wrong choices; reducing, reusing and recycling should come first, say environmentalists.

EXPERTS on waste management and environmental protection are warning that Thailand could become the garbage bin of the world, as the government’s policies to promote the waste-to-energy industry have already resulted in plastic waste imports to the Kingdom.

Bangkok Post 10 June 2018 | Apinya Wipatayotin

Private sector joins enterprising state efforts to tackle single-use bags and bottle caps as rubbish volumes increase

'Beat Plastic Pollution", a campaign kicked off by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to mark World Environment Day on June 5, brought into focus the global community's efforts to deal with single-use plastic bags that are now posing a threat to the environment, especially the sensitive marine ecological system.

Bangkok Post 10 June 2018 | Dumrongkiat Mala

Chachoengsao village splits after one group succeeded in having illegal polluting factories shut down, only to throw other locals out of work

Until a month ago, Somsri Wichianchai, a villager of Ban Klong Song in Chachoengsao's Plaeng Yao district, had to keep the windows of her house sealed to escape the acrid smell caused by waste recycling factories nearby.

THE SUNDAY NATION 10 June 2018 | PIYAPORN WONGRUANG

FAILURE TO PASS TOUGH LAWS, REGULATIONS HAS MADE THAILAND AN EASY TARGET

 A 100-RAI (16-hectare) recycling plant in Chachoengsao province had been reported as having some of its lead furnaces engulfed in a fire a few months ago, and that’s how the country was exposed once again to a shocking fact – that Thailand has become a critical hub of transboundary electronic waste transport due to its weak laws and poor e-waste management regime.

Bangkok Post 10 June 2018 | Sutthiwit Chayutworakan & Apinya Wipatayotin

Plant suspected of smuggling scrap

Samut Prakan: A garbage factory where scrap electronics were allegedly smuggled from abroad for recycling will be closed by authorities amid fears of pollution spreading to nearby waterways.

Bangkok Post 08 June 2018 | CHAIYOT PUPATTANAPONG

CHON BURI: Large piles of imported hazardous electronic waste have been found at an illegal plastic recycling factory in Bang Lamung district run by Chinese nationals employing illegal workers from Myanmar.

A team from the Department of Industrial Works, police and soldiers on Friday inspected the D.K Plastic (Thailand) factory in tambon Takhian Tia following complaints it was operating illegally and storing hazardous waste posing a health threat to local residents.

The Nation 08 June 2018 | PRATCH RUJIVANAROM

New waste tech firms offer better ways to convert them into fuel but critics say prevention and segregation must come first.

NEW ADVANCED waste-to-energy techniques are being touted to the Thai business sector and related government agencies as being more efficient and less environmentally damaging choices to manage the country’s waste.

The Nation 07 June 2018  

Authorities warn of health danger in Kalasin, Ubon Ratchathani and Buri Ram.

People in the three northeastern provinces of Kalasin, Ubon Ratchathani and Buri Ram were at risk of harm from electronic garbage as many families there were involved in trash processing and disposal – often without protective gear – due to the lure of high monthly incomes, Department of Disease Control director-general Dr Suwanchai Wattanayingcharoen said.

Bangkok Post 06 June 2018 | Taam Yingcharoen

About 150 representatives from 686 civic groups held a rally at Government House to demand Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha ban two controversial pesticides, and limit the use of a third, by the end of the year.

The protesters say that paraquat and chlorpyrifos have been shown to harm the environment and people's health. They also urged the government to strictly monitor the use of glyphosate.

The Nation 06 June 2018

PROTESTERS YESTERDAY welcomed an assurance by the government that it would reconsider banning farm chemicals paraquat, glyphosate and chlorpyrifos.