News

VietNamNet Bridge 12 January 2018

Dr Le Viet Phu, a lecturer at Fulbright University, says the damages caused by air pollution to Vietnam in 2013 could be assessed up to $10 billion. 

The figure was calculated based on WTP approaching method, which considers the willingness to pay for reduction in air pollution.

Myanmar Times 11 January 2018 | Su Phyo Win

Hpa-An locals are objecting against the construction of coal-fired power plant project in Thone Eain village. Su Phyo Win/The Myanmar Times

Objections against a multi-billion dollar coal-fired power plant project in Hpa-An township, Kayin State, are mounting despite assurances of reliability from experts. 

The $3 billion plant is to be constructed by Toyo Thai Power Myanmar Co Ltd in Thone Eain village of Wutt Kyi Ward, Hpa-An township. The plant was originally slated for construction in Ye township, Mon State, but the project was cancelled amid protests from the local community. 

The Nation, 02 January 2018 | Michelle Chen

An investigation of two Samsung factories in Vietnam shows the darker side of the global tech supply chain.

Where did the slick smartphone you got for the holidays come from? You might imagine a remote futuristic industrial park, with robotic assembly lines whirring in ultra-efficient silence. But the workers assembling your phone are actually real people, and the conditions in which they work are far from humane.

Kyodo News 30 December 2017 | Takuya Okamoto

Most Saturday nights, a group of patients with the congenital form of Minamata mercury-poisoning disease dine together to discuss the challenges they face in coping with the ailment now that they are mostly in their 60s.

The focus on a night in early September was Shinobu Sakamoto, who three weeks later was scheduled to speak at the Minamata Convention on Mercury held in Geneva, Switzerland. It was to be her second trip abroad to tell her story to the world, having also made a visit to Stockholm in 1972.

Farming UK 15 December 2017

The dangers of asbestos has been highlighted after an inquest heard that a pig farmer died from years of exposure.

91-year-old Robert Seymour from Ringwood, Hampshire inhaled the dangerous material while building pig stys and roofs between 1958 and 1988.

The Nation 08 December 2017 | Pratch Rujivanarom

Local residents have expressed suspicions that unidentified people tried to transport gold ore from a suspended gold mine in Loei province on Thursday night.

Wiron Rujichaiwat, a resident of Ban Na Nhong Bong village, reported the presence of a truck and two lorries driving in the direction of Thung Kham gold mine in Loei’s Wang Saphung district.

The Nation 03 December 2017 | Pratch Rujivanarom

NGOs call for law forcing industry to declare discharge of toxic substances

Recent research has disclosed that serious contamination from persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and herbicides in food and the environment poses health threats to the Thai public.

The research, from Ecological Alert and Recovery–Thailand (EARTH) and Thailand Pesticide Alert Network (Thai-PAN), found that Samut Sakhon had the highest levels of dioxin contamination. The level of contaminants known as polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans (PBDD/Fs) was 33 times higher than EU ...<

The Nation 30 November 2017

The United Nations has criticised the Thai government for the suppression of a peaceful demonstration against Thepa coal-fired power plant, while domestic human rights groups have stressed that the authorities’ action violated many articles of the current constitution.

The UN Human Rights Office released the statement on Wednesday denouncing the protest crackdown by the police and the arrests of prominent coal-fired power plant opponents. It called on the government to drop charges against all those arrested.

The Nation 29 November 2017

Prayut denies human rights at stake as Songkhla power plant dispute continues

CONSERVATIONISTS and local residents in southern Songkhla province gathered in front of the provincial court yesterday demanding the immediate release of 15 anti-coal-fired power plant protesters arrested on Monday as they attempted to submit a petition to Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha.

The Nation 28 November 2017  

All 16 activists arrested on Tuesday for protesting against the planned Thepa coal-fired power plant face four charges and will remain in detention at Songkhla Provincial Court, unless they are granted bail.

Provincial Police Regional 9 acting commander Pol Lt-General Ronnasin Phusara disclosed that the 16 prominent anti-coal-fired power plant activists, who were currently in police custody, had been arrested on four charges after staging a protest without permission.