Environment News
Thailand environment news, climate change, sustainability, and natural disasters—stay updated on eco-initiatives, biodiversity conservation, and renewable energy efforts. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted source for environmental news in Thailand.
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Sponsored Is private health insurance in Thailand worth it? Real costs vs risks explained
Thailand has a strong healthcare system with both public and private options. Public hospitals offer affordable care, but many people, including expats, choose private health insurance for faster service, modern facilities, and more treatment choices. To decide if private health...
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Phuket’s water bosses claim there will be enough water
PHOTO: Bang Neow Dam in Thalang, just a few muddy ponds Well into the second half of the Phuket wet season and the three main dams are well below capacity, Bang Wad Dam just over 13% capacity and the Bang Neow Dam in Thalang district around 5%, mostly unusable muddy ponds. The newer Khlong Katha in Chalong is at a…
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Hua Hin to sterilise 600 monkeys in effort to control numbers
PHOTO: Wikipedia Thai PBS World reports that Hua Hin is launching a mass sterilisation of monkeys in an effort to manage the population. The programme is being run by Thailand’s National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation department, and will see 600 long-tailed macaque monkeys sterilised. The monkeys are in the Khao Takiab and Khan Hin Lek Fai hill of Hua…
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Another baby dugong dies in Thailand
PHOTO: Thai PBS World The Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) revealed on Thursday that Yamil, the dugong being cared for in Phuket after being found stranded on a Krabi beach, has died. It was brought to Vachira Hospital at 5.00pm for a planned endoscopy to remove a large amount of seagrass stuck in its stomach. The medical team used water…
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Biologist calls on Thailand to list all sharks as endangered
PHOTO: Wikipedia Marine biologist Thon Thamrongnawasawat, insists Thailand must place all shark species on its list of endangered animals. His warning is accompanied by Facebook photos showing chopped up blacktip reef sharks being sold on Koh Lanta, in Krabi province. As black tip reef sharks are not listed as endangered, no law is currently being broken. And while the waters…
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The second baby dugong ‘Yamil’ dies in Phuket
The second young dugong, being cared for by vets at the Phuket Marine Biological Centre, has died. Yamil, the baby dugong stranded on a Krabi beach on July 1, died of “shock and cardiac arrest” last night (Thursday) after suffering indigestion and gastroparesis. The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources report that Yamil was sent from the Phuket Marine Biological…
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Phuket marine vets report on the progress of dugong calf ‘Yamil’
PHOTO: The Nation A veterinary team at the Phuket Marine Biological Centre has removed the remaining partially-digested sea grass from the 3 month old dugong calf Yamil’s stomach to prevent complications from possible infection. The calf still suffers from excess stomach and intestinal gas, abnormal heart rhythms and occasional seizures. X-ray results showed liquid food is still passing through Yamil’s…
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Thai government to consider bringing forward plastics ban
That’s a ban on of single-use plastic bags, styrofoam (polystyrene) boxes, plastic straws and single-use plastic cups In a surprise announcement, the Thai Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment says they’re considering bringing forward, by 1-2 years, a complete ban on the use of the key plastic polluters. Varawut Silpa-archa, the Natural Resources and Environment Minister, says the department’s proposal,…
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What did this Bangkok homeowner find on their couch?
PHOTOS: Kapook The owner of a Bangkok house has returned home to find this on their couch… a) a piece of left-over pizza? b) a thousand baht note behind one of the pillows” c) a 2 metre monitor lizard sleeping peacefully? The correct answer is ‘c’. The home-owner of a house in Suksawat 26 walked inside, turned on the light,…
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Thailand Prime Minister rejects calls to ban plastic bags
PHOTO: Chiang Rai Times In what some may see as a baffling contradiction, Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha promised to protect marine life, while simultaneously rejecting an increasing number of calls for a ban on single-use plastic bags. Following the death of Marium, a young dugong who had ingested plastic waste, the PM says he has ordered the agencies concerned to…
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Environment Ministry wants to increase dugong populations by 50% over a decade
“Dr. Thon Thamrongnawasawat says that trash in the seas was the main cause of the death of many endangered marine species.” Pinsak Suraswadi, deputy director-general of the Marine and Coastal Resources Department, says the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment wants to increase the population of dugong in Thailand’s waters by 50% in the next ten years. The effort will…
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Calls for total ban on use of single-use plastic bags
PHOTO: World Wildlife Fund The death of baby dugong Mariam, which was found to be caused from problems associated with plastic bags blocking her digestive system, has brought about renewed calls for stricter control, or a complete ban, on the use of single-use plastic bags. Marine scientist, and vice dean of the Faculty of Fisheries of Kasetsart University, Dr. Thon…
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25 year old dugong washes ashore in Krabi
PHOTO: Sitthichai Sikhawat A 240 kilogram, 2.6 metre long adult male dugong has been found dead after being washed up on Rai Lay Bay in Krabi yesterday afternoon. The announcement was made by Hat Noppharat Thara–Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park head Worapot Limlom. The dugong, thought to be around 25 years old, was swept ashore at Ton Sai Beach…
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Phuket villager braves the surf to rescue tangled turtle
A local villager in Phuket’s north has risked his own life to retrieve a young sea turtle caught up in fishermen’s netting. The turtle was spotted, caught up in the branches of a fallen tree along the shores of Mai Khao beach. The monsoon was kicking up big waves and it’s unlikely the locals knew how to swim, especially in…
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Marium, the baby dugong internet star, dies. Plastic found in stomach.
The orphaned female baby dugong, winning the hearts of many and helping to educate Thais about the importance of the local dugong population, has died with plastic waste lining its stomach, prompting a surge of mourning on social media. Marium was found in April off the coast of Krabi, southern Thailand, and photos of her nuzzling marine biologists quickly went…
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Mariam the young Krabi dugong dies
PHOTO: กรมทรัพยากรทางทะเลและชายฝั่ง The Phuket Marine Biological Centre has announced the sad news about the special young dugong ‘Mariam’, who was found in Krabi back on April 26. Young Mariam died earlier today. The centre posted on its official Facebook page that the vet team found that she’d stopped breathing and her pulse had stopped as well, so they brought her…
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Turtle rescued on Nai Harn Beach, Phuket
PHOTO: Aroon Solos Today (August 15) at about 1pm, the lifeguard team at Nai Harn Beach rescued a small turtle, which had become stuck in a fertiliser sack. They found the turtle washed up ashore with the sack wrapped up around its neck. They tried to carefully remove the sack from the turtle’s neck but found that the turtle had…
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Three herbicides will be banned in Thailand this year
“When we eat fish from a river or stream contaminated with chemicals, we will ingest the chemicals. It is a food chain.” Three hazardous herbicides, widely used in Thailand, will be banned before the end of this year. Deputy Agriculture Minister Manunya Thaiseth says the three herbicides are strongly opposed by consumer, civic groups and environmentalists. Yesterday she ordered a suspension of…
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Making pillows out of recycled plastic drinking straws
PHOTOS: The Nation What to do with all those used plastic drinking straws. Here’s one local government’s attempt to re-use the plastic scourge of Thailand and put it to good use. The Nakhon Chiang Mai Municipality says they’ve been successful in turning used drinking straws into pillows. The ‘straw’ pillows will be distributed to the region’s bed-ridden patients and elderly to…
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Young elephant injured by trap in Rayong
PHOTO: Nation TV Wildlife officials are tracking a young wild elephant whose front left leg has become infected after being caught in a snare. They want to capture it and treat its injury. The assistant chief of Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary, Tantikorn Puangsakul, says officials of the Khao Noi wildlife protection unit spotted the small elephant staggering in…
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Injured sea turtle rescued by tour boat operator in Phuket – VIDEO
PHOTO: Nikorn Marine An injured sea turtle has been rescued by a tour boat operator in Phuket today. The boat crew of Nikorn Marine found a sea turtle while sailing the ‘Nichakorn 2’ near Coral Island, off Chalong. The turtle was found injured, trapped in a fishing net, with its rear left flipper missing, though the wound seemed old and…
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Bangkok – that sinking feeling
The mighty Chao Phraya runs through the central plains and down into the flooding delta before heading out into the Gulf of Thailand. Great place for a city. Not surprisingly Bangkok suffers floods whenever the big rains come with most of the low-lying land around the delta only averaging around 1.5 metres above sea level. Whilst the city used to…
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WWF Thailand pushes for sustainable tourism and preservation
An animal lover, nature lover and a Thai national, CEO of World Wide Fund-Thailand, Natalie Phaholyothin is particularly proud of Thailand’s national environment and wildlife heritage. “We have 127 national parks, which is quite a high number, and that in itself should be an indication of the potential for Thailand to become more of a sustainable tourism destination. “All Thais…
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National agenda will be prepared for dugong conservation in Thailand
PHOTO: Natural Resources and Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa in Koh Libong, Trang, yesterday/Facebook Speaking to reporters during a trip to Koh Libong in Trang yesterday, the new Natural Resources and Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa said that Thailand should draft a national agenda for dugong conservation. He was visiting the ‘nursery’ of the the young dugong ‘Mariam’ saying that Thailand could become…
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Controversial “Law of the Jungle” episode in Thailand pulled by South Korea’s SBS
In an official statement, South Korean TV network SBS says it has pulled an episode of the massively popular “Law of the Jungle, the Lost Island” from its streaming platform and suspended the producer. The statements says that the network’s executives were responding to negative viewer reaction caused by a scene, filmed in Krabi, Thailand, which featured show host Lee…
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Koh Phi Phi dugong died from a gastrointestinal infection
PHOTO: Department of National Parks, Wildlife & Plant Conservation Another dead dugong was discovered over the weekend off Koh Phi Phi in Krabi province. Department of Marine and Coastal Resources veterinarians have determined the death was caused by stomach infection and chronic inflammation of the intestines. Another was found off the coast of Trang on the weekend as well. The…
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Another sea turtle saved from a random trawling net in Phuket
PHOTOS: Andaman Flying Tiger Today (July 15), local seniors have discovered a sea turtle trapped inside an old fishing net (trawl) at Mai Khao beach along the northern west coast of Phuket. The turtle was luckily uninjured and was rescued, then released back to the ocean. Excellent photos from Andaman Flying Tiger.
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Fishermen find dead leatherback turtle on Saun Son beach, Rayong
PHOTO: Department of Marine and Coastal Resources A group of fishermen in Rayong, eastern Thailand, found a dead leatherback turtle on Saun Son beach in Rayong province on Friday. Department of Marine and Coastal Resources officials estimate the dead turtle was about 10 years old and 79 x123 centimetres in size. The remains were already in a bad condition with…
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Visiting time to see baby dugong Mariam is now restricted
Tourists and local well-wishers are flocking to get a glimpse of ‘Mariam’. She’s become an internet hit. But that’s also caused other problems. The high number of Thai and foreign tourists heading to Duyong Bay in Tambon Koh Libong in Kantang district, Trang, to watch officials looking after seven month old orphan dugong Mariam is prompting authorities to issue regulations to…
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Phuket’s looming high season water crisis
PHOTOS: Siraphat Kanphonngam Water shortages are almost a certainty for Phuket in the next high season with the rainfall for this year’s wet season well below average. The island’s three main catchments – Bang Neow Dam off Srisoonthorn Road, Bang Wad dam in Kathu and Khlong Kratha dam in Chalong – have all increased in their water levels since the dams dropped to…
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Korean TVs “Law of the Jungle” leaves viewers dismayed about Thai episodes
Thailand’s ‘Post Today’, is reporting that South Korean TV viewers were dismayed when they learned that the production crew and cast of the SBS Television show “Law of the Jungle” had caught protected giant clams while filming the series in Thailand. The topic has become a trending social media topic in Korea. Korean news agency, Yonhap, who interviewed the South…
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