Environmental news from Thailand — climate, air quality, conservation and sustainability, in English from Thai PBS World.
Environmental and human rights groups have accused the Thai government of using excessive force against peaceful protesters outside the Chinese Consulate-General in Chiang Mai, where two protesters were injured on Monday.
Fruit orchard owners in Thailand’s northern province of Lamphun are expressing grave concerns that their fruit trees, especially longan (lamyai), may wither and die due to a shortage of water, as the Li River, which is their main source of water for agricultural purposes, is steadily drying up, despite it now being the middle of the rainy season.
The Senate Committee on Human Rights, Rights and Liberties, and Consumer Protection has urged the Thai government to respond to questions raised by United Nations independent experts about transboundary pollution in northern Thailand originating from unregulated mining activities in Myanmar.
The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation is closely monitoring coral bleaching in Mu Ko Surin National Park in the Andaman Sea off Phang-nga province, particularly at Suthep Bay, where about 50% of the corals have bleached.
Members of civic groups in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces rallied today in Chiang Mai to protest against the unregulated discharge of heavy metals and toxic chemicals into the Mekong River and its tributaries.
Chonburi Governor Naris Niramaiwong has ordered an investigation into the operator of a recycling facility in Si Racha district, after floodwaters swept large amounts of waste insulation foam from the facility into an adjacent residential area when the estate's perimeter wall collapsed.
Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suchart Chomklin has ordered officials from the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources to urgently investigate reports of invasive blackchin tilapia near the Bang Saphan deep-sea port in Prachuap Khiri Khan province, following a tip-off from a local fisherman.
An aging tiger was released into the forest in the Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary in Uthai Thani province on Sunday night, after had undergone treatment and rehabilitation for three months at a wildlife breeding station in the sanctuary.
A US expert in the rehabilitation of contaminated environments is currently in Chiang Rai province to advise and share his experience with Thai counterparts on how to cope with toxic substances being discharged into the Kok and Sai rivers by mining activities in Myanmar, which are flowing into Thailand.
Maritime researchers and volunteer divers are planning to remove a huge abandoned trawl net stretching across the channel between Kra Lek and Kra Klang islands off Nakhon Si Thammarat province.
The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) has reassured the public that the rare appearance of thousands of pink sea cucumbers on a local beach poses no threat to the marine ecosystem, attributing the phenomenon to recent strong winds and rough seas.
Driving three-wheeled vehicles, scavengers and informal garbage pickers, colloquially referred to as saleng in Thai, navigate narrow streets inaccessible to larger vehicles to collect garbage from waste bins.
