Environmental news from Thailand — climate, air quality, conservation and sustainability, in English from Thai PBS World.
About 600 residents from Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces began a “peace walk” pilgrimage today to highlight the hardships caused by toxic contamination of rivers linked to gold mining operations in Myanmar and to urge the government to seriously address the problem.
A special task force, known as “Phaya Sua” (the king of tigers), has been dispatched to Nakhon Nayok, Chanthaburi and Kanchanaburi to investigate the deaths of three elephants whose tusks had been removed.
Environment groups in Chiang Rai province have voiced serious concerns over a plan by the Chiang Rai municipality to dredge sections of the Kok River, fearing that the work could adversely impact the river’s ecosystem and its tributaries.
Khao Kheow Open Zoo announced today Thailand’s first successful artificial hatching of a greater adjutant chick, an endangered member of the stork family that has not been seen in the wild in the country for more than 40 years.
Authorities have launched an urgent investigation after a large number of invasive blackchin tilapia were discovered along Pattaya Beach, sparking fears over their impact on the local marine ecosystem and the livelihoods of fishermen.
Civic groups in the southern provinces are mobilising support from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to oppose the proposed land bridge and Southern Economic Corridor (SEC) projects.
A campaign against the government’s controversial land bridge infrastructure project has gained significant momentum, with over 100,000 individuals and organisations signing a petition to demand a comprehensive review of the 1-trillion-baht investment.
An environmental group has launched a petition drive against the government-backed land bridge project, drawing more than the required 50,000 signatures overnight.
Two decades after declaring an official war on air pollution, Thailand is losing the battle. Despite a flurry of committees and high-profile promises, crucial indicators show that the sources of the smog and its deadly health impacts are rising once again. What began as a seasonal nuisance in the northern highlands has metastasised into a year-round national health crisis that threatens the very fabric of Thai society.
Thailand’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has announced plans to engage Australia and Japan as neutral intermediaries in efforts to address toxic heavy metal contamination of the Kok, Sai, Ruak, and Mekong rivers. The pollution is believed to be from rare earth mineral mining in Myanmar’s Shan State.
Samples of the Bagarius fish, a catfish species caught in the Mekong River in Thailand’s northeastern province of Loei, have been found with blisters or lumps similar to samples caught and tested in rivers in the northern province Chiang Rai.
Park rangers in Kaeng Krachan National Park in Phetchaburi province have stepped up patrols in a bid to curb illegal hunting after two gaurs were found shot dead.
