People living around a landfill on Samui Island are planning to file a lawsuit to demand compensation from the municipality, the city mayor and the governor of Surat Thani for health threats posed by the landfill.

On July 18^th, the Nakhon Si Thammarat Administrative Court ordered the Samui municipality, the mayor and the governor of Surat Thani to dispose of the garbage, get rid of the foul smell emanating it and treat the waste water leaking out within 180 days. They are also to report to the court on the progress of the disposal efforts every 30 days.

The affected people there are, however, doubtful that the problems can be resolved within 180 days, as ordered by the court, citing the fact that there are about 200,000 tonnes of garbage in the landfill and, worse still, another 150 tonnes are being dumped there every day.

An incinerator was built at a cost of about 500 million baht, to dispose of the garbage, but the facility has broken down and cannot be repaired, causing more garbage accumulation. More than 100,000 tonnes of the waste have been removed from the site, but that still leaves 200,000 tonnes.

One villager, Samaporn Boonsa, told Thai PBS reporters that more than 10 groundwater wells in their village have been contaminated by leakage from the landfill, adding that tests of water samples from the wells show high concentrations of heavy metals.