Municipal officials and workers from the Muang district of Ang Thong Province are building a two-metre high wall, to prevent polluted water from a flooded landfill from flowing into the town.

Water from the Lam Tha Daeng Canal, which connects with the swollen Noi River, has already breached an embankment into the landfill, in Thewarat sub-district in Chaiyo District.

About 300,000 tonnes of rotting garbage are in the landfill, covering an area of about 42.3 hectares, which has the capacity to take another 25 tonnes of trash per day. In fact, however, over 110 tonnes are dumped there every 24 hours.

Backhoes are being used to build an earthen wall around the landfill. Water is, however, emerging through fissures in the ground of a nearby housing estate, Piamsuk Place, prompting municipal officials to advise residents there to evacuate elderly people from the estate for their safety and to move their valuables to higher ground.