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.
-
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...
-
Green sea turtle found dead in a fish trap off Krabi national park
PHOTO: thaipost.net Officers from the Nopparat Thara Beach – Phi Phi Islands National Park, yesterday (Monday) removed a metal fish trap from the sea near Koh Met after some fishermen smuggled the trap into the sea. They found a dead green sea turtle trapped inside. The team had to use a bouyancy bag to rescue the turtle body stuck in the fish trap…
-
Green Island – Thailand’s fully self-sufficient tropical paradise
For those wishing to escape the hectic life, spend a peaceful getaway in the embrace of Thai nature, and take lungfuls of pure air at a place unknown to most tourists, Pha Luai Island is an ideal destination. With a population of only 180 households and situated in Surat Thani’s Ang Thong Islands Marine National Park, just a stone’s throw…
-
Dugongs ‘live’ from today starring Miriam and Yamil
PHOTO: กรมทรัพยากรทางทะเลและชายฝั่ง Be your own director, choose the camera and follow your baby dugongs live. The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources and TOT are running live trials for a livestream of the care facilities where the two young dugongs ‘Mariam’ and ‘Yamil’ are now living, one in Trang and one in Phuket. The DMCR and TOT intend to provide…
-
Bangkok’s Din Daeng Road area the noisiest in the city
Huh?! I can’t hear you!! Bangkok’s Din Daeng Road in Bangkok is noisiest road in the capital, with the average 24 hour noise levels measuring between 72-82 decibels, exceeding the standard level of 70 decibels, according to the Pollution Control Department Din Daeng is one of the 50 districts of Bangkok, Thailand. Its neighbours, clockwise from north, are Chatuchak, Huai Khwang, Ratchathewi,…
-
Dead dugong, dolphin found off southern Thai beaches
PHOTO: Manoch Wongsuryrat A three-metre long dugong has been found dead off the coast of Trang in southern Thailand. The total number of dead dugong found this year has reached seven, according to the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources when they spoke to Thai PBS. Fishermen found the mammal and towed it ashore for veterinarians to examine. The dugong…
-
PM orders local officials to help Khlong Dan flood victims in Samut Prakhan
The Prime Minister has ordered officials to assist residents in a riverside community which was flooded by a high tide surged through a dike being constructed in Samut Prakhan last night. A deputy government spokesman said that the sudden flooding in the community of about 50 households at Khlong Dan, Bang Bo district, was not caused by the collapse of…
-
Gulf waters flood into Samut Prakan coastline
High tides last night led to upper Gulf waters flowing over an embankment and flooding the homes of irrigation officials and a nearby community at Samut Prakan, south of Bangkok. Samut Prakan governor Chatchai Uthaiphan says he dispatched officials to help evacuate local residents adding the water was about one-metre high and that officials had helped relocate elderly people and…
-
Competition to name dugong calf in Phuket
PHOTO: กรมทรัพยากรทางทะเลและชายฝั่ง The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources in Phuket is inviting members of the public to participate in a contest to name an orphaned baby dugong, found stranded on a beach in Krabi. The dugong calf is now under the care of DMCR vets to save rare marine animals in Phuket. Jatuporn Buruspat, the department’s director-general visited the…
-
Mariam the baby dugong ‘goes live’ soon
PHOTO: Hannaret Hripai and Srichai Anuraktichai Officials started installing six CCTVs along the coast of Koh Libong in Trang province today so that netizens will be able to monitor the life of Mariam, the baby dugong that was found washed up on a Krabi Beach in May. Residents and visitors will now be able to ‘bay sit’ (or dugong sit)…
-
Sperm Whale found on Krabi beach had digested plastic bottles
Plastic waste has been found inside a whale that was washed up along Krabi’s shoreline. A sperm whale was washed up near Koh Lanta, in Krabi province yesterday. It was 12 metres in length and was estimated to weigh 11 tonnes. A marine veterinary team completed an autopsy today and discovered 3 plastic bottles inside the stomach of the whale.…
-
Blackwater at Phuket’s Nai Harn beach due to ‘natural causes’
‘Blackwater’ has returned at one of Phuket’s favourite beaches, this time in the lagoon behind Nai Harn beach, which flushes out naturally when the tide conditions are right. For now, it is dammed up by the sand and has developed into an ugly cesspool for passersby to see. Responding to complaints from local residents, Rawai Mayor Aroon Solos has denied…
-
Another baby Dugong found on a Krabi beach
PHOTO: Thai Rath Another lost baby dugong has been rescued after being found injured in Krabi. The baby dugong was found washed up on the shores in Klongthom District, Krabi yesterday (June 1) and was rescued by the officials from the Phuket Marine Biological Centre (PMBC). Thai Rath reports that the baby dugong had a lot of scratches on it…
-
Mall Group shopping centres to charge customers 1 baht for a plastic bag
PHOTO: Mall Group The Mall Group, that runs some of Bangkok’s leading shopping centres, including Bluport in Hua Hin, will charge customers for plastic bags from July 3. The initiative is to mark International Plastic Bag Free Day which falls on July 3. They are the first Thai retail company to take the bold step. Customers will be encouraged not to…
-
Hawksbill sea turtle killed by plastic waste in Gulf of Thailand
by Pratch Rujivanarom A hawksbill sea turtle which was found washed ashore Pattaya’s Na Jomtien Beach is just the latest victim of the Thailand severe marine debris problem . The Royal Thai Navy’s Sea Turtle Conservation Centre found the rotting carcass on Chon Buri’s Na Jomtien Beach on Sunday. An autopsy reveals that the turtle’s stomach was full of plastic…
-
A pair of 200 year old trees in Chumpon on Thailand’s National Heritage List
PHOTO: Star2.com The Thai Ministry of Culture has declared a Durian tree and one Takien Thong tree, both about 200 years old, in Chumpon, to be part of the country’s national heritage. Culture Minister Veera Rotepojanarat went to Patoh district to preside over the “ordination” ceremony for the two old trees in Tambon Patoh. The ceremony also featured an exhibition,…
-
Mariam Live – the Trang baby dugong show
Mariam LIVE. Coming soon to your laptop or smartphone. The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) is preparing to live stream the daily life of the orphaned baby dugong Mariam currently being nursed at Koh Libong in Trang province. Mariam, now six months old and weighing 30 kilograms, is the latest internet star after being rescued in Krabi on…
-
Marium, the Trang dugong, washed up on Libong beach
Six month old dugong, Marium, was released back in the sea early yesterday after she washed up onto the beach for a second time in Trang’s Libong Island. Marium was found on Krabi’s Ao Tung Beach on April 29 after getting lost and separated from her mother.and taken to Trang to recover. Dugongs are classed as “vulnerable to extinction” and…
-
Homeopathy ‘doctor’ forced to back down on Dengue-cure claims
The Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine has been forced to backtrack from its un-researched claims that its homeopathic formula is highly effective for dengue-fever protection. “It’s just a supplementary measure that needs further research,” Dr Sunpong Ritthiruksa admitted in his capacity as the chair of the department’s centre for herbal medicine, Thai traditional medicine, folk medicine and alternative…
-
change.org petition calls on Phuket locals to take action on construction dump
Locals have launched a petition on Change.org to draw attention to a construction dump operating in central Phuket, in the suburb of Cherng Talay, which adjoins the coastal towns of Bang Tao, Layan and Surin. We print the article verbatim, spelling and all. The article is titled “Close burning dump near Laguna Phuket” and has been penned in English and Russian…
-
Formal complaint made about Phuket OrBorTor chief for inaction over environmental issues
Danai Yardee and Chamroon Kerndum, representing a group of Phuket environmental groups, have made a formal complaint against Cherng Talay President Ma ‘Ann Samran. The complaint calls for investigation into the construction of an anti-erosion sea wall at Surin Beach, unfinished wastewater treatment plants and alleged tampering of evidence. A report by IsraNews.org says they’ve filed a complaint with Department…
-
Electric vehicles on the rise but the take up is slow in Thailand
“Two trends will develop in Southeast Asia. The first is new operators of EV taxi fleets such as cars and motorcycles, and the second is electric buses for public transport.” Justin Wu, head of Asia-Pacific for Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) says the electric vehicles (EVs) remain expensive and unaffordable for individual buyers in Thailand and ASEAN. Mr. Wu says…
-
Thailand: Paradise Lost? Part 1.
by guest blogger Kent Bowie Thailand has seen rampant tourist development and expansion over the past 25+ years, but at what cost? Is this sustainable or even ethical? Social media has seen an explosive growth too over the last 15+ years, and one thing that annoys many governments worldwide is how the facts and figures delivered by their own agencies…
-
Little Marium growing up in a Dugong Thai nursery
Marium, an orphaned baby dugong found along the Krabi shore two months ago, will remain in the care of a dugong nursery on Koh Libong in Trang for at least six more months. ‘Marium’ means ‘beautiful woman of the sea’. Chaiyapruek Weerawong, head of the Koh Libong Wildlife Preserve, says the female dugong would then be released in the open…
-
Not everyone is happy with the closure of Thailand’s National Park hot spots
PHOTO: Sunrise Divers Nature happy. Tour operators unhappy. The closure, albeit temporary, of several of Thailand’s favourite marine national parks and coastal sites, is not universally supported. As the country’s tourist growth plateaus, the baht remains strong and hungry tour operators battle for the same tourist dollar, having many of the most popular attractions struck off their tour list is causing…
-
First year report card for Thailand’s battle against plastics
“Plastic waste is a major environmental problem because it takes hundreds of years to degrade.” Yesterday was World Environment Day, a fitting day to give Thailand’s fight for a reduction on plastics a report card, after the first full year of campaigns to reduce single-use plastics. The Pollution Control Department says Thailand’s efforts have been successful after receiving general cooperation from…
-
Baby dugong ‘Marium’ being cared for in Trang
PHOTOS: DMCR A baby dugong, which was found lost in Krabi two months ago, has been given the name ‘Marium’ and continues to be cared for at a dugong nursery in Trang. The baby dugong, found on a Krabi beach, was taken back to its home area in Trang, southern Thailand, on April 30. Read more about the wayward baby…
-
Grab electric tuk tuks launch in Chiang Mai
Grab, the nemesis of the old taxi and red bus network in Chiang Mai, has signed an agreement with government and private sector partners to establish the Chiang Mai Smart Mobility Alliance Network. It is the first such partnership in South East Asia. Thai aim is to reduce Chiang Mai’s public transport footprint by 35% within the next five years. The…
-
Thailand’s Maya Bay settles into an extended period of rest – VIDEO
You can look but you can’t touch. Maya Bay’s beach, closed last year to allow coral restoration and beach recovery, is likely to remain closed to visitors for many years, even up to five. The famous Koh Phi Phi Ley beach and bay, made famous in the 2000 movie The Beach, needs time for its ecology to fully recover years…
-
2019 Dengue cases soar as Thailand enters monsoon season
Dengue fever cases have doubled in Thailand compared to the same time last year. 20,000 cases have been reported since January 25 this year. And health officials are wary as Thailand heads into the annual monsoon, the traditional peak period for dengue cases. The Chief of the Disease Control Department says the number of infections has doubled since figures for…
-
Wildlife groups call for reviews on elephant export regulations
“Before elephants are allowed to be exported, he suggested a check is made to find out how many Thai elephants had been exported and how many of them have been smuggled out.” Wildlife conservation groups and an MP Nikorn Chamnong, representing the Chart Thai Pattana party, is opposing the export of Thai elephants and demanding that the Commerce Ministry review…
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.