Map Ta Phut Studies

The Nation 27 November 2009

Leakage claims one life as families evacuated; mobile medical unit dispatched to neighbouring community as 191 locals queue up for treatment for exposure.

Bangkok Post 30 September 2009

Pollution in some areas takes turn for the worse

The Administrative Court has issued an injunction suspending the operating permits of 76 industrial projects - including many at Rayong's Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate - which have been granted government approval.

Bangkok Post 02 October 2009

The country's industrial giants gathered yesterday to discuss the court-ordered suspension of permits at Map Ta Phut and whether the private sector could petition the court to relax its orders.

Bangkok Post 11 September 2009

Villagers want industry permits put on hold

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva says he is willing to hold talks with villagers affected by pollution and now protesting in front of Map Ta Phut industrial estate in Rayong province.

Bangkok Post 03 October 2009

The government agency in charge of the Map Ta Phut industrial area hopes to obtain a legal interpretation within the next week of a court ruling that has halted 76 industrial projects at the complex in Rayong province.

Bangkok Post 05 March 2009 | EDITORIAL

Belated though it is, the Rayong provincial administrative court's ruling on Tuesday that areas surrounding the Map Ta Phut industrial estate be declared a pollution control zone, is indeed welcome news. It represents a breeze of clean air not only for the 27 Map Ta Phut residents who took the case to court, but also for their neighbours who have for years been suffering from the toxic chemicals released into the environment by factories in the industrial estate.

Bangkok Post 28 August 2009 

Villagers seek an order to stop project permits

The Central Administrative Court has ordered eight agencies to provide it with details of 76 industrial projects planned for development in Rayong's Map Ta Phut area.

Bangkok Post 13 February 2009  

Twenty-seven workers of PTT Chemical Public Company Limited (PTTCH) reportedly became unconscious after gas leaked from a factory located in Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate in Rayong on Friday.

The Nation 04 July 2012

Environmental activists and Map Ta Phut residents yesterday lodged a complaint against a mayor, accusing him of ignoring questionable practices at a coal processing plant despite more than five years of complaints by the community.

The Nation 19 September 2012 | SUPALAK GANJANAKHUNDEE

Thailand's Map Ta Phut industrial estate cannot be considered a good model for Myanmar's Dawei project because it created a lot of industrial pollution in the area, Bangkok-based conservationists said yesterday.

The Nation 07 December 2012  

Some 114 local residents in Rayong's Map Tha Phut district have decided to file a lawsuit against the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT), demanding that it give them Bt160 million in compensation for environmental and health damages.

The Nation 05 May 2012

Firefighters and police still could not control a blaze at a tire factory in Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate in Rayong province on Saturday.

The Nation 06 May 2012

Some 47 people were injured - seven of them critically - after a fire broke out yesterday at the Bangkok Synthetics factory in Map Ta Phut.

The sky over the Rayong industrial estate was covered with thick black smoke from chemicals burnt during the blaze. Deputy Public Health Minister Dr Surawit Khonsomboon warned people in Rayong not to store rainwater for consumption, as it may be contaminated by toxic chemicals released by the fire. 

The Nation 06 May 2012

Bangkok Synthetics Plc's operations in Map Ta Phut, Rayong has been suspended, following the explosion at its synthetic tyre furnace on May 5. 

Industry Minister Pongsawat Svasti said today, before accompanying Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's helicopter ride to Rayong, that he has also ordered a throrough check of security systems at all facilities in the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate as well as the air condition. 

The Nation 07 May 2012 | Chumphon Nikhomruk, Pongphon Sarnsamak

Toll of 11 dead, 129 injured after Bangkok Synthetics factory fire in Map Ta Phut; industry minister says air quality in Rayong normal, but health officials suspect toluene leak played role in deaths

A tripartite committee to be set up to gauge the extent of chemical contamination after a plastics plant burst into flames in Rayong on Saturday, killing 11 people and injuring 129.

Bangkok Post 19 September 2009

Map Ta Phut residents single out 55 projects

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has vowed to look into the environmental impact of industrial projects in Rayong's Map Ta Phut area after getting first-hand information from locals.

Bangkok Post 28 August 2009

A list of harmful industries will take effect next week as authorities hope to allay investors' concerns about requirements for environmental and health impact assessments, Industry Minister Chanchai Chairungruang said yesterday.

The Nation 25 November 2009

The obstacles to the 76 industrial projects in Rayong could be cleared by February so some of them could resume construction, a special panel looking into the situation said yesterday.

The Nation 18 November 2009 | Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul

PTT Group's consolidation is set to be delayed until the Supreme Administrative Court rules on the fate of 76 industrial projects in Map Ta Phut and nearby areas that have been suspended.

The Nation 20 November 2009 | Pongphon Sarnsamak, Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul 

The government yesterday decided to withdraw draft amendments to Environment Protection Act that comply with the Constitution's Article 67 (2) as recommended by the four-party panel, which is promising to end the Map Ta Phut controversy within five months.

29 September 2010

Map Ta Phut in Rayong district is a long-standing major industrial and manufacturing area along the eastern seaboard of Thailand. In June 2009, Map Ta Phut villagers and the Stop Global Warming Association sued eight Thai state agencies in relation to the ongoing health and environmental effects caused by heavy industry and manufacturing.

Bangkok Post 20 November 2009 | Vichaya Pitsuwan, Chatrudee Theparat and Apinya Wipatayotin

Business leaders feel panel can restore trust

Business executives and community representatives are cautiously optimistic a four-party panel will help break the deadlock over new investment projects at Map Ta Phut.

Bangkok Post 19 November 2009 | Vichaya Pitsuwan and Mongkol Bangprapa  

The People's Eastern Network is threatening further court battles over the Map Ta Phut dispute unless the Supreme Administrative Court stands by a lower court's injunction order.

Bangkok Post 13 November 2009 | Vichaya Pitsuwan and Mongkol Bangprapa  

Most of those affected by the environmental problems at the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate are confident the government's latest initiative to resolve the impasse will result in a breakthrough.

Bangkok Post 03 November 2009 

Activists ready to fight investors on pollution

More than 180 major investment projects are hanging in the balance after activists vowed to seek a special court order to halt them under a constitutional article covering health and environmental impacts.

Bangkok Post 10 November 2009 | Apinya Wipatayotin

Pollution to be fixed 'within three months'

RAYONG: Deputy Prime Minister Korbsak Sabhavasu has told people affected by industrial pollution in Map Ta Phut he will improve the environment within three months.

Bangkok Post 29 October 2009 | Yuthana Praiwan

RAYONG : PTT Plc, the country's largest energy conglomerate, faces potential opportunity losses of 262 billion baht per year due to delays in completing its 25 ongoing projects in Map Ta Phut.

Bangkok Post 23 October 2009 | Apinya Wipatayotin

The amount of cancer-causing substances found in industrial estates in Rayong is dangerously high, according to air-quality checks by green groups.

Ecological, Alert and Recovery-Thailand (Earth) and US-based Global Community Monitor visited industrial sites in the province on Wednesday to measure air pollutants.

The Nation 14 October 2009  

The Cabinet yesterday approved draft amendments to the Environmental Protection Act of 1992, to comply with Article 67 of the Constitution.

Bangkok Post 13 October 2009  

The cabinet on Tuesday approved a draft amendment to the 1992 Enhancement and Conservation of National Environmental Quality Act as proposed by the Council of State, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said.

Bangkok Post 14 October 2009

The cabinet yesterday approved changes to environmental legislation despite claims by activists that they would do little to solve the problems associated with the Map Ta Phut industrial estate.

The Nation 08 May 2012 | ACHARA DEBOONME  

The disaster last weekend at Map Ta Phut, the country's largest petrochemical complex, is not the first and will probably not be the last as long as good safety measures are not put in place and strictly enforced.

The Nation 08 May 2012  

The Eastern People's Network plans to file lawsuits against Bangkok Synthetics over the fatal explosion and fire at its subsidiary BST Elastomers' facility in Rayong's Map Ta Phut area on Saturday, in a move that strengthens industrialists' fears over

The Nation 09 May 2012 | PONGPHON SARNSAMAK, ACHARA VI

The massive explosion at the factory of a Bangkok Synthetics subsidiary that killed 11 and injured another 129 people on Saturday has prompted the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) to examine 65 hazardous factories in Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate.

Exposing Unsustainable Industries and the Case for Community Right To Know and Prevention [Thailand Bucket Brigade]

By Campaign for Alternative Industry Network (CAIN), Greenpeace Southeast Asia (GPSEA), Global Community Monitor (GCM), October 2005

This report gives fresh evidence that the proposed ‘Community Right To Know Law’ and the ‘National Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTR) System’ are essentially needed along with better environmental monitoring and direct involvement of affected communities in environmental decision-making with the aim to achieve environmental justice and sustainable society.

By Arpa Wangkiat, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rangsit University, November 2006

The study evaluated variations in elemental compositions of water quality affected by large anthropogenic emission sources in Eastern Thailand: Map Ta Phut Industrial Estates which have housed over 90 industrial facilities including oil refineries, petrochemical and chemical facilities and hazardous waste landfills and treatment facilities. Eighty water samples were collected from water-well of 25 communities in Map Ta Phut during November 2005 and February 2006.

By Marco Peluso,  Petcharin Srivatanakul, Armelle Munnia, Adisorn Jedpiyawongse, Aurelie Meunier, Suleeporn Sangrajrang, Sara Piro, and Marcello Ceppi, and Paolo Boffetta, 1 November 2007

The genotoxic effects of air pollutant exposures have been studied in people living and working in Map Ta Phut, Rayong province, Thailand, a site where is located the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate (MIE) one of the largest steel, refinery and petrochemical complex in the South–Eastern Asia. This was done by the conduction of a transversal study aimed to compare the prevalence of bulky DNA adducts in groups of subjects experiencing various degree of air pollution.

National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 11 August 2009

Humans living near industrial point emissions can experience high levels of exposures to air pollutants. Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate in Thailand is the location of the largest steel, oil refinery and petrochemical factory complexes in the South–Eastern Asia. Air pollution is an important source of oxidative stress and reactive oxygen species, which interact with DNA and lipids, leading to oxidative damage and lipid peroxidation, respectively.

Presentation by Dr. Ruediger KUEHR, United Nations University

At the Conference of Parties - 2015 Geneva, 11 May 2015

Presentation by Dr. Jaco Huisman, United Nations University

14 April 2016

Climate-KIC/UNEP  2016

Presentation by Dr. Jaco Huisman, United Nations University

April 2016

Bangkok Post 20 May 2012 | Tunya Sukpanich

The utter lack of warning and evacuation measures during the recent twin disasters at the industrial estate has galvanised nearby communities to insist on the right to have a greater say in how they are protected

By Decharut Sukkumnoed – Kasetsart University, and Penchom Tang – Campaign for Alternative Industrial Network

November 2003

The Eastern Seaboard Development Program” is the most obvious case showing “the Two Sides of the Coin” from the Thai development experience. An issue worthy of a great concern here is that the Thai government still uses this program as the development model for other regions of the country despite serious complaints by the local people on their negative impacts. To develop the Health Impact Assessment (HIA) to be a tool or mechanism for influencing the healthy public policy in Thailand, “the Eastern Seaboard Development Program” could be used as one of the inevitable butread more...

By Penchom Saetang - Ecological Alert and Recovery – Thailand (EARTH)

23 September 2015

By Penchom Saetang, Director, Ecological Alert and Recovery – Thailand (EARTH), December 2015

Since 1994, communities started their fighting with the government’s industrial investment projects in the eastern, northern, northeaster regions. This situation has prompted growing conflicts and clashes between communities and the government, meanwhile the polluters have been enjoying their privileges of investment and making profits in the country.

Prachatai 25 March 2015 | Ecological Alert and Recovery - Thailand

More than 40 residents from Ban Laeng rural municipality, Rayong province travelled to Bangkok and submitted a human rights violation complaint to Dr. Niran Pitakwatchara, National Human Rights Commissioner. Residents were recently attacked and threatened by men who claimed to represent TPI Polene Public Company Limited, which plans to construct a plastic pellet storage facility near the source of public drinking water for 7 villages in Ban Laeng rural municipality, Rayong province.

By Nicha Rakpanichmanee, Dawan Chantarahasdee and Kanis Pongnavin - Researchers at Ecological Alert and Recovery – Thailand (EARTH), February 2013

Thailand in a time of rapid industrialization has witnessed increased risk from chemical accidents and industrial pollution. The objective of this study is to review the existing approach of risk communication and chemical accident management in Thailand. We analyze risk communication in practice according to the principle that risk communication is not a product of scientific calculation, but a process of negotiation and deliberative agreement in society.

By Denny Larson, Global Community Monitor and its National Refinery Reform Campaign, 2005

In the early 1940’s, Richmond, California, became a large hub for shipbuilding as part of the World War II effort. Thousands of African Americans from the South migrated to Richmond to take advantage of the jobs and opportunity. Many settled along the less inhabited areas of the region, mainly near the fencelines of industrial developments. The largest industry was Chevron’s Richmond refinery that occupied over 300 acres in the northeast corner of Richmond. Studies have documented the proximity of African American and people of color neighbors to industrial pollution sources in Richmond.

By Kevin Brigden, Iryna Labunska & David Santillo: Greenpeace Research Laboratories, November 2004

Vinythai and Thai Plastic & Chemicals (TPC) operate separate polyvinyl chloride (PVC) manufacturing facilities within the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate, in Rayong Province, Thailand.  Canals flow through the estate and receive discharged wastewaters from many facilities prior to discharging into the Gulf of Thailand.  Both PVC manufacturing facilities discharge wastewaters to one of these canals herein referred to as the east canal.  Within the Vinythai and TPC facilities, PVC is produced as well as the raw materials used in its manufacture, namely chlorine, ethylene dichloride (EDC) and vinyl chloride monomer (VCM).  

The Nation 10 May 2012 | EDITORIAL

The weekend explosion at Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate shows that safety concerns are still being taken too lightly by the govt and authorities. 

The accident at Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate last weekend is unfortunate indeed. The explosion should have been preventable but it happened because of industries’ carelessness and lax enforcement by the responsible authorities.

The Nation 14 May 2012 | Pongphon Sarnsamak, Sirinart  

People living near Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate in Rayong province are demanding that the government create an early warning system for chemical related accidents and are insisting that manufacturers reveal information about all chemical substances they use.

The Nation 16 May 2012  

A group of protesters rallied outside Government House yesterday to demand that the authorities urgently start assisting those affected by the recent factory explosion in Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate in Rayong province.

The Nation 24 June 2012  

A Bangkok Synthetics Co (BST) affiliate whose toluene plant at Rayong's Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate was hit by a fire and explosion that killed 11 people and wounded 194 others on May 5 presented Bt16.6 million assistance money for remedial measures to Rayong Governor Seni Jittakasem received the money, which will fund community-development projects, from company executives in front of community representatives.

The Nation 02 June 2012  

A rubber-processing company located in Rayong's Map Ta Phut industrial estate yesterday founded a Bt10million fund for residents affected by a chemical fire at a factory last month.

The Nation 02 July 2012  

Residents near Thailand's Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate on Sunday submitted a letter of complaint to Rayong's governor calling for the speeding up of compensation payments following the explosion at a petrochemical factory in May. 

The Nation 24 August 2012  

A fire raged through a polyester factory in Rayong's Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate late Thursday night, with firefighters taking 15 minutes to control the blaze. No casualties were reported.

BLOOMBERG / The Nation 04 May 2012

Myanmar President Thein Sein's top political adviser has questioned Italian-Thai Development's ability to oversee a planned US$8.6-billion (Bt265 billion) industrial zone in the country, raising doubts about the Dawei project's viability.

Bangkok Post 30 October 2015 | Jumphol Nikomruk

Fishermen in Rayong are strongly opposed to the planned expansion of the port at the Map Ta Phut industrial complex, saying dredging would cause the water to change direction and affect marine life and their livelihood.

Bangkok Post 06 May 2012  

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has set up a tripartite committee to examine possible toxic contamination in the Map Ta Phut area following the chemical explosion at a factory which killed 12 people.

Bangkok Post 03 July 2014 | Ploenpote Atthakor

It has been a nice surprise to see the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) seeking to take an active role in solving the environmental problems surrounding the Map Ta Phut industrial estate in Rayong.

Bangkok Post 09 June 2014  

Rayong - More than 300 people living near Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate in Muang district were evacuated on Saturday night following concerns about a strong gas-like smell blanketing the area.

Bangkok Post 09 May 2012

Negligence claimed at Map Ta Phut factories

Civil groups will file lawsuits against state agencies and petrochemical firm operators for alleged negligence that led to two accidents in Map Ta Phut.

Bangkok Post 17 May 2012

A Bangkok-based NGO says people evacuated from the environs of a Rayong estate earlier this month should not have been allowed to return to their homes so quickly

Environmentalists have criticised the authorities for their handling of a recent explosion and fire at BST Elastomers Co Ltd in Map Ta Phut industrial estate and for deliberately downplaying the fact that residents of 18 nearby communities are still being exposed on a daily basis to toxic levels of a noxious substance.

The Nation 08 February 2007 | Pennapa Hongthong

Map Ta Phut medical staff fear for their lives after reports of high cancer rates

The alarming levels of cancer emerging in Map Ta Phut communities have sparked fear among Map Ta Phut Hospital medical staff who are waiting for the facility to be relocated away from the heavy-industry complex.

MYANMAR ELEVEN 10 March 2016
KHINE KYAW | YANGON

CIVIL SOCIETY organisations (CSOs) and local residents living near the Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ) have called for action from the Japanese, Myanmar and Thai governments to tackle human rights violations before allowing the project to resume.

Bangkok Post 15 July 2010 | Nareerat Wiriyapong

Japanese executives yesterday expressed frustration over further delays in resolving the Map Ta Phut environmental regulation issue, and also pressed the government to intervene with insurance firms to speed compensation to businesses affected by the May political riots.

Bangkok Post 01 July 2010 | Nareerat Wiriyapong

Poor water supply threatens investment

RAYONG : Legal uncertainties surrounding regulations of industrial projects at Map Ta Phut should be cleared up within two weeks, but inadequate water supply poses a new threat to local operators and future investments in the area, says Industry Minister Chaiwuti Bannawat.

Bangkok Post 07 June 2010  

Map Ta Phut residents say safeguards still missing

RAYONG : The four-party panel working on solving Map Ta Phut's pollution problems has finalised a draft list of activities it considers harmful to the environment and public health.

The Nation 02 June 2010 |  JANJIRA PONGRAI

Toxins from Rayong's Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate could cause about 16 per cent of pregnant women living within less than four kilometres of the estate to give premature birth, a report revealed yesterday.

The Nation 09 June 2010   

Due to the leak, 299 people were hospitalised. Dozens of them were still in hospitals as of press time yesterday.

The factory is located inside the Hemaraj Eastern Industrial Estate in Rayong.

In the wake of the incident, Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand governor Monta Pranootnorapal ordered the suspension of the factory's operations and an investigation into the incident.

The Nation 29 April 2010   

A subpanel will propose measures on tackling pollution in Rayong's Map Ta Phut area before the end of next month.

The subpanel would work under a fourpart committee that is chaired by former prime minister Anand Panyarachun and was established after the Central Administrative Court suspended dozens of industrial projects in the heavily polluted Map Ta Phut area.

Bangkok Post 23 February 2010  

Central Administrative Court judges have visited industrial projects in Rayong's Map Ta Phut area whose construction has been suspended after the public prosecution sought permission for them to go ahead.

Bangkok Post 20 February 2010 | Thanida Tansubhapol

Japanese investors have confirmed they are still ready to boost investment in Thailand but have asked the government to come up with a clear timeframe for resolving the Map Ta Phut impasse.

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya yesterday invited Japanese investors to the ministry to clarify the Map Ta Phut pollution problem, which led to the administrative case filed by local villagers against eight state agencies.

The Nation 19 February 2010   

A roadshow led by Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij will leave for Japan on March 11 and spend two days explaining solutions to the Map Ta Phut crisis to the government and investors, a Finance Ministry source said yesterday.

The Nation 17 February 2010 | Chularat Saengpassa, Hassaya Chartmontree

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is trying to mediate between the Council of State and the four-party panel seeking solutions to the Map Ta Phut deadlock over changes to the panel's draft law to establish an industrial watchdog.

This independent organisation is expected to play a key role in striking a balance between ecological soundness and rapid industrial development."I have already talked to the secretary-general of the Council of State about the matter," Abhisit said yesterday.

The Nation 10 February 2010 | Pongphon Sarnsamak

The National Economic and Social Development Board will submit its eco-town guidelines to the Joint Public-Private Sector Consultative Committee on February 22.

It hopes they will become the model for Map Ta Phut or a new industrial zone for upstream steel projects.

The Nation 02 February 2010 | Pongphon Sarnsamak

The Map Ta Phut four-party panel yesterday set up a subcommittee to study how to revive the buffer zone, which would separate the residential and industrial areas to avoid future crises.

The panel, chaired by former prime minister Anand Panyarachun, has learned that the Map Ta Phut city plan, as conceived by the local authorities, will expire next year. The local authorities are hiring a private consultant to draft a new city plan.

The Nation 06 February 2010 | Petchanet Pratruangkrai 

Japanese investors have called for the Thai government to announce a clear road map for solving the Map Ta Phut problem as soon as possible.

They say doing so would ensure investment remained in the Kingdom and that companies affected would have to carry a financial burden from the episode for only six months.

The Nation 29 January 2010 | Nalin Viboonchart  

About one-third of the members of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce (JCC) are deeply concerned about the Map Ta Phut impasse, with many of those affected considering relocating their planned investments to other Asean countries if it is not resolved within six months as promised by the prime minister.

Bangkok Post 01 September 2010

Cabinet approves list of harmful industries

The government has taken another step towards ending the Map Ta Phut saga by approving a list of 11 industrial activities deemed harmful to the environment.

Bangkok Post 15 September 2010

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva says he has "cleared the air" over the Map Ta Phut debacle during a surprise visit to the four-party panel which is looking into the issue.

Myanmar ITV, 07 March 2016

A Dawei Development Association-DDA report released Monday suggests, the Dawei Special Economic Zone has caused some negative impacts to locals, especially on the lack of transparency, consistency, and negotiations on compensation for affected lands.

Bangkok Post 19 Mar 2016 

RAYONG — Fishermen and activists in this eastern province want an investigation into the exact cause of mass fish deaths, which authorities insist are part of a natural phenomenon that occurs every year.

However, some local people suspect waste discharged from factories at the Map Ta Phut industrial estate could be linked to the thousands of dead fish that have washed up on Ta Kuan beach.

Bangkok Post 04 March 2009 | APINYA WIPATAYOTIN  

The Administrative Court has ruled in favour of villagers in Rayong province, ordering the National Environment Board to declare the area near Map Ta Phut industrial estate a pollution control zone.

Twenty-seven villagers from 11 communities around the industrial estate in Muang district filed the case in October 2007, accusing the NEB of negligence for failing to designate the area as a pollution control zone.

Thai News Agency 29 September 2009

BANGKOK (TNA) – Thailand’s Central Administrative Court on Tuesday ordered 76 industrial projects in Map Ta Phut industrial estate in the eastern province of Rayong to temporarily halt operating amid continual concern about critical environmental and health impacts.

Bangkok Post 05 March 2009 | VICHAYA PITSUWAN AND YUTHANA PRAIWAN

Delays in investment by state-owned energy giant PTT Plc could jeopardise the national economy, warns Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

PTT's investment plans were thrown into disarray this week when the Rayong Administrative Court ruled the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate in Rayong should be designated a pollution-control zone.

Bangkok Post 22 August 2016 | Jumphol Nikomruk

RAYONG -- A wastewater tank exploded and started a fire inside the factory of PTT Phenol Co in the Hemaraj Eastern Industrial Estate, Muang district, early on Monday. Pol Lt Maitree Pakul, the duty officer at Map Ta Phut police station, said the incident occurred about 2.17am. A 537 cubic metre tank containing wastewater contaminated with hydrocarbon exploded and caught fire. The fire spread quickly, sending a foul smell throughout the factory, which produces phenol and acetone.

Kyodo  07 September 2016 | Keiji Hirano

Victims, researchers and academics will on Saturday gather in Bangkok for a seminar marking the 60th anniversary since the discovery of mercury poisoning malady Minamata disease.

To be held at Chulalongkorn University, speakers will include Shinobu Sakamoto, a Kumamoto Prefecture native who contracted Minamata disease, which paralyzes the central nervous system and causes birth defects, in the womb.

EARTH 12 September 2016

The organizers of the “MINAMATA@60: Learning from Industrial Disaster towards Sustainable Society and Environment”, including academics from Thailand and Japan, and Ms. Shinobu Sakamoto, a Minamata Congenital disease patient, met with the Director General of Pollution Control Department (PCD), Dr. Wijarn Simachaya, and the group also met with the representative of the Office of the Permanent Secretary, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Deputy Director of Disease Control Department, the Bureau of Occupational and Environmental Diseases of the Ministry of Health, and the Chair of the Health Committee of the National Legislative Assembly, to urge the related state agencies to ratify the Minamata Convention on Mercury.

A small stream that turned vividly blue for a few hours in the industrial Map Ta Phut sub-district of Rayong province raised environmental concerns on Wednesday.

The strange colouring occurred in a small public waterway in Ban Nong Fab community of Muang Rayong district's Map Ta Phut sub-district at about 10am. The area houses the giant Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate which has been subject to incidents of pollution many times in recent years.

The Nation 6 May 2012  

The death toll in the massive factory five in Map Ta Phut rose to at least 9 and 120 people were reported injured, Rayong Governor Seni Jittakasem said Sunday.

The massive fire that broke out at the Bangkok Synthetics factory in Map Ta Phut Saturday.

The Nation 01 March 2011 | Pongphon Sarnsamak

A new city plan has been proposed for Map Ta Phut which would see the area's industrial zone cut by half and the buffer zone between industries and the community increased to cover nearly 10,000 rai.

The plan, proposed by the Map Ta Phut municipality, will be studied by the Interior Ministry's Civil Works Department and City Planning Committee today.

"If the committee approves this draft, it will mean that only clean industrial activities will be allowed in the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate," said Preecha Ronnarong, a member of a subpanel studying the use of the city plan to resolve pollution problems iread more...

Emergency response authorities were struggling early Sunday to contain about 50,000 litres of crude oil that spilled into the sea off the eastern province of Rayong, threatening a major tourist beach.

The oil leaked from PTT Global Chemical Plc's pipeline at 6.50am Saturday, PTTGC said. A company spokesman said it was possible some of the oil could reach Mae Ramphung Beach, a popular tourist site in Muang Rayong district.