Environmental news from Thailand — climate, air quality, conservation and sustainability, in English from Thai PBS World.
Sleepless nights and days have already begun for the Fire Hawk Team. February to May is the peak period for forest fires and that means no rest, no leisure, no get-togethers with family and friends for those firefighters who put their lives on the line every day. “The forest fire trend is alarming this year,”
Officials from the Chon Buri Provincial Industrial Works Office collected water samples for tests today (Friday), from a ditch along the 331 Highway in Ko Chan, after they received complaints from villagers of illegal dumping of industrial waste in the ditch. A CCTV system, installed in front of a steel dealer’s store in Tha Boonmee
The Thai cabinet decided today (Tuesday) to ban the import of all plastic waste, effective from January 1st, 2025. Additionally, the import of plastic waste this year and next will be regulated. For the 14 recycling plants located in the tax-free zone, the amount of waste to be imported this year must not exceed their
A complaint was lodged with Bang Khen police today (Monday), by Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, accusing the owners of 27 trawlers of encroaching on and illegal fishing in Tarutao National Park, in the seas off the southern province of Satun. In January, a group of sea gypsies living on Lipe
Scientists warned on Tuesday that controversial seabed mining could significantly threaten ocean ecosystems, especially blue whales and other cetaceans already stressed by shipping, pollution and climate change. A study in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science found that commercial-scale extraction of valuable minerals from the ocean floor, which could begin for the first time later
Thailand’s Meteorological Department has advised 50 provinces to brace for thunderstorms, strong winds and falling temperatures, by 1-3oC, with hailstorms in some areas from today (Wednesday) until Friday. Meanwhile, in Bangkok this morning, 60% of the capital was lashed by heavy rain, with poor visibility being reported by motorists on the expressways, forcing them to
PM2.5 dust in the atmosphere in most areas of the north and north-east today (Tuesday) has exceeded the national safety level, according to the Centre for Air Pollution Mitigation. The centre has advised people living in those areas to reduce their outdoor activities and to wear face masks if necessary. Provinces in the north and
PM2.5 dust levels in the atmosphere in 16 northern and north-eastern provinces have exceeded the 50-micron safety standard, but the fine dust in three areas of Chiang Mai and Lampang have reached a health-threatening level in the past 24 hours, according to the Pollution Control Department (PCD). The PCD’s air quality report at 7am Saturday
Long-term exposure to air pollution raises the risk of depression, according to a pair of new studies published in the JAMA network of scientific journals. A study published on Friday in JAMA Network Open found that long-term exposure to elevated levels of air pollution increases the risk of late-onset depression among the elderly. The other
Despite making Thailand’s haze crisis national agenda in 2019, the government has made little progress in meeting people’s need for clean air. The slow response has allowed seasonal PM2.5 dust – the most dangerous form of haze pollution – to choke many parts of Thailand in recent years. Earlier this month, PM2.5 levels soared so
As devastating storms pounded California, nature lovers feared for endangered monarch butterflies that winter there as part of a seemingly magical migration pattern. The colorfully winged insects that travel vast distances over the course of generations have been closely watched in the US state since they neared extinction just three years ago. As the sun rose
“If the Mekong were a human, she would be half-dead, because everything has completely changed,” said Niwat Roykaew, a Goldman Environmental Prize recipient who has been leading the movement for river conservation for over 20 years. “This is big. The change of water level, the disappearance of sediments and the increasing level of waste. These
