Environment and natural resources
Pollution and waste
Minister denies Thailand ‘importing’ plastic waste
Industry Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit on Monday (August 3) dismissed rumours that the Department of Industrial Works had agreed to import 650,000 tonnes of plastic scrap.The minister said the rumour was untrue because since 2018, the department had not issued a licence for the import of ...
The Nation Reporter
BMA delays hike in waste collection fee
City Hall has put off a plan to raise the refuse collection rates, the first hike in 15 years, until October next year citing the government’s policy to ease financial burdens associated with the economic impact of the new coronavirus pandemic.Bangkok City Council has endorsed ...
Supoj Wancharoen
Report claims air pollution “kills thousands”, costs billions annually
“In mere months, major cities around the world have lost tens of thousands of lives and well into the tens of billions of dollars in economic productivity.”New data released by environmental groups makes claims that air pollution in Bangkok alone has caused some 6,800 deaths ...
Smog returns to southern provinces from Indonesian fires
Smog caused by fires in Indonesia reached the southern provinces of Songkhla, Satun, Narathiwat and Yala on Sunday.Thananchai Suwansuk, head of environment office of region six, said that 19 hotspots had been detected in Sumatra Island of Indonesia on Sunday, up from 12 spots on ...
The Nation Reporter
Agencies told to prepare for haze
The Pollution Control Department has warned that seasonal haze in the southern portion of the kingdom is expected to be worse this year due to a drought in neighbouring countries, prompting the Environment Ministry to call on agencies to prepare measures to limit the damage.According ...
Apinya Wipatayotin
Food deliveries add to Thai plastic headache
Single-use plastic waste in Thailand ballooned during the coronavirus lockdown as demand for home food deliveries soared, activists say, setting back efforts to reduce the country’s dependency on the environmental scourge. The contagion has had mixed outcomes for Thailand’s environment, with dugongs, turtles and otters returning ...
Bang Saen to become Thailand’s First Zero Waste Beach [Video]
Researchers, environmentalists, and administrators from various agencies are working to earn Bang Saen Beach a badge as a zero-waste beach, after years of being considered a venue known for waste pollution.Keep watching ...
Bangkok governor warns of flood threat from mounting garbage in canals
The amount of garbage in Bangkok’s canals is increasing and is starting to block the sewer system causing floods in many areas, the city chief said.Bangkok Governor Pol Gen Asawin Kwanmuang said just the removal of garbage from canals in Lat Phrao district and under ...
The Nation Reporter
Plastic piles up as pandemic sidelines pollution fight
Thailand began the year with a ban on single-use plastic bags that Bangkok office worker Nicha Singhanoi hoped would cut back the waste that puts her country among the world’s top five choking the oceans with plastic.Then the coronavirus pandemic forced school closures and authorities ...
New UN initiative to reduce plastic pollution from ASEAN cities
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), in partnership with the Government of Japan, today launched a new project which aims to reduce the environmental impact of cities in South East Asia by addressing plastic waste pollution in rivers ...