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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  • Phuket’s looming high season water crisis

    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…

  • Korean TVs “Law of the Jungle” leaves viewers dismayed about Thai episodes

    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…

  • Green sea turtle found dead in a fish trap off Krabi national park

    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

    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…

  • Bangkok’s Din Daeng Road area the noisiest in the city

    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,…

  • Thailand’s Princess Sirivannavari names Krabi’s baby dugong ‘Yamil’

    Thailand’s Princess Sirivannavari names Krabi’s baby dugong ‘Yamil’

    Her Royal Highness Princess Sirivannavari has proposed the name ‘Yamil’ for the orphaned baby dugong found stranded in Krabi on July 1. The animal was rescued by villagers and sent for treatment and rehabilitation by marine veterinarians in Phuket. Read about the baby dugong being found HERE. Netizens were invited to name the orphaned baby dugong by officials yesterday. Many…

  • Dead dugong, dolphin found off southern Thai beaches

    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

    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…

  • Competition to name dugong calf in Phuket

    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…

  • Pattaya netizens concerned over dead dolphin found by fishermen

    Pattaya netizens concerned over dead dolphin found by fishermen

    Video of a dead dolphin offshore from the coastal city of Pattaya, east of Bangkok, has upset locals. The video shows the dolphin floating in the waters between Pattaya and Koh Larn in the Gulf of Thailand. The Pattaya Mail reports that the mammal became tangled in a fishing net, with the rope caught in its mouth. The net was cut…

  • Mariam the baby dugong ‘goes live’ soon

    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

    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.…

  • Another baby Dugong found on a Krabi beach

    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…

  • Cha-Am blackwater flowing into the beach is “natural in origin” – District Chief

    Cha-Am blackwater flowing into the beach is “natural in origin” – District Chief

    PHOTOS: Daily News The Cha-Am district chief and a posse of officials have inspected a patch of ‘black water’ flowing into the Gulf of Thailand after social media posts showed “sewage” flowing into the sea at a beach north of Hua Hin. Not surprisingly, and without evidence, Khajornsak Somboon admitted the offensive outflow was “smelly” but denied it was effluent from…

  • Mall Group shopping centres to charge customers 1 baht for a plastic bag

    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

    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…

  • Mariam Live – the Trang baby dugong show

    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…

  • Sea turtle rescued from sea garbage off Phuket – VIDEO

    Sea turtle rescued from sea garbage off Phuket – VIDEO

    PHOTOS: Marokus Chundee / Koh Racha Lifeguards A sea turtle has been rescued from sea garbage off the coast of Koh Racha, south of Phuket, yesterday. At about noon lifeguards on Koh Racha were helping to bring a big pile of sea garbage back to the beach. In amongst all the flotsam and jetsam they found a sea turtle stuck…

  • Marium, the Trang dugong, washed up on Libong beach

    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

    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…

  • Formal complaint made about Phuket OrBorTor chief for inaction over environmental issues

    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…

  • Reconstructed Pattaya Beach officially opened

    Reconstructed Pattaya Beach officially opened

    PHOTOS: Pattaya Unlimited | Pattaya Mail The Thai Transport Minister and senior marine-management officials have hailed the rebuilding of Pattaya Beach as a great success at the official opening of the reclaimed beach and shoreline. The reconstruction was completed early this year to muted applause from the locals, but the ceremony was the official recognition of Pattaya and Marine Department…

  • Electric vehicles on the rise but the take up is slow in Thailand

    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.

    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…

  • Not everyone is happy with the closure of Thailand’s National Park hot spots

    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…

  • Electric boats will help alleviate some of Bangkok’s air pollution

    Electric boats will help alleviate some of Bangkok’s air pollution

    By Pratch Rujivanarom As part of yesterday’s World Environment Day, the UN Environment Program Agency says they’re working with local partners in Thailand to find new ways to mitigate dangerous emissions. One idea put forward yesterday was the development of electric public transport in Bangkok’s klongs (canals) that could help solve two of the city’s biggest problems – traffic congestion and air…

  • First year report card for Thailand’s battle against plastics

    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

    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…

  • Thailand’s Maya Bay settles into an extended period of rest – VIDEO

    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…

  • 30 False killer whales sighted of Koh Tao – VIDEO

    30 False killer whales sighted of Koh Tao – VIDEO

    PHOTO: DMCR VIDEO: Ban’s Diving Resort (Official Fan Page) About 30 of false killer whales sighted off Koh Tao, Surat Thani over the weekend. The Department of Marine and Coast Resources reported that they were notified from Ban’s Diving tours operator on Koh Tao that that they were on a speedboat with tourists just off the coast of Koh Tao.…