Environment and natural resources
Pollution and waste
The Price of Recycling Old Laptops: Toxic Fumes in Thailand’s Lungs
Crouched on the ground in a dimly lit factory, the women picked through the discarded innards of the modern world: batteries, circuit boards and bundles of wires. They broke down the scrap — known as e-waste — with hammers and raw hands. Men, some with faces ...
Hannah Beech and Ryn Jirenuwat
7kg plastic waste found in dead wild deer
The stomach of a wild deer discovered dead in the Khun Sathan National Park in northern Nan province was found to contain seven kilogrammes of plastic waste, along with underwear. The office of the national park reported on Monday that park rangers found the adult deer ...
Apinya Wipatayotin
New approach to reduce plastic waste in Vu Gia-Thu Bồn River
Up to 9.1 tonnes of potential plastic waste was being dumped into the Vu Gia-Thu Bồn River basin, one of nine largest river systems in Việt Nam, each day, equating to 2,600 tonnes each year. The information was included in a report on waste management released by ...
Thailand joins EU in bid to tackle marine litter
Thailand is joining hands with six other Asian countries to try and tackle the issue of marine pollution, amid increasing criticism about plastic use in the region. Under a project called “Rethinking Plastics: Circular Economy Solutions to Marine Litter”, Thailand — along with China, Indonesia, Japan, ...
Thana Boonlert
Southeast Asian countries need tougher plastic policies to curb pollution - U.N.
Southeast Asian countries, among the world’s worst ocean polluters, need tougher regulations for plastic packaging to curb leakage, a United Nations report said on Wednesday. Southeast Asia is a major contributor to land-based plastic waste leaking into the world’s oceans, with more than half of it ...
Patpicha Tanakasempipat
Big brands and plastic pollution
The oceans face a growing threat from plastics. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the world produces approximately 300 million tonnes of plastic waste every year, and most of this plastic ends up in the world’s oceans. Oceana, an international organisation focused on ocean ...
Liyana Hasnan
ASEAN Waste Crisis (Video)
Thailand, Chair of ASEAN in 2019, successfully gained the agreement of all 10 member states for “The Bangkok Declaration on Combating Marine Debris in the ASEAN Region” at the 34th ASEAN Summit in Bangkok. The aim of the joint declaration is to address the problem ...
Hanoi's pollution exposes growth risks
A major mercury leak, tap water contamination, and “alarming” levels of haze: several pollution crises in Hanoi have sparked public fury and accusations that communist Vietnam is putting the economy ahead of the environment. Long tapped as an investors’ paradise thanks to its low-cost labour and ...
Tackling Thailand's food-waste crisis
When one-third of all food produced globally is thrown away while nearly one billion people go hungry, food waste is not only a moral travesty, it’s also a crime against nature. Each year 1,300 tonnes of food waste in landfills around the world contributes 8% of ...
Thanthip Srisuwannaket & Caratlux Liumpetch
Concerns rise over microplastics in stomachs of mackerel
The discovery of microplastics in the stomachs of mackerel caught in Trang Sea have raised concerns, but the 3rd Marine National Park Operation Centre urged Thais on Wednesday to refrain from panicking and shunning mackerel. The centre urged people to instead get full awareness of the ...