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 Do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?
Thailand’s healthcare system is well-regarded across Southeast Asia, with options ranging from public hospitals to world-class private facilities. But when it comes to foreign residents or tourists, healthcare access isn’t as straightforward. So, do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?...
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New delivery application focuses on reducing Thailand’s food waste
The following story was sent to The Thaiger from the Yindii, a business focused on sustainability and reducing waste produced from the food industry. Yindii, a Thai anti-food-waste startup, launches a mobile application designed to match hungry, deal-seeking Bangkok residents with environmentally-conscious restaurants, grocery stores and cafes offering delicious food that could otherwise go to waste. Through its discounted “flash…
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Bangkok residents not satisfied with floodwater management-Nida Poll
Bangkok residents are largely unsatisfied with the floodwater management in the capital, according to a recent poll. The National Institute of Development Administration conducted the poll on October 6-7 with 1,322 respondents from various levels of education and occupations. Almost 60% of people say they are not satisfied with 33% of those saying poor preparation and flood management contributed to…
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PM pledges to protect Thailand’s natural resources at virtual biodiversity summit
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has said he’ll do his best to protect the country’s natural resources and tackle the issue of biodiversity losses in Thailand. He was speaking at a UN biodiversity summit, being held online. The term biodiversity encompasses all living organisms, whether plant, animal, fungi or micro-organisms. According to a report in Nation Thailand, the PM acknowledges the…
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Thailand’s ban on hazardous farming chemicals to remain in place
Despite fears to the contrary among those in favour of it, the ban on paraquat and chlorpyrifos is to remain in place. The Hazardous Substances Committee has confirmed that production, possession, and importing or exporting either substance remains illegal, under legislation introduced on June 1 of this year. Thai PBS World reports that Industry Minister, Suriya Juangroongruangkit, says a discussion…
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More than 1,000 pigs killed in effort to contain spread of virus in Lampang
The outbreak of ‘porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome’ caused the Department of Livestock Development to order the slaying of pigs in several subdistricts of Mae Tha district in the northern Lampang province. The head of the department says it has been able to prevent the outbreak from spreading out of the declared areas due to the elimination order, but the…
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Thailand Post to upcycle parcel boxes into furniture for Border Patrol Police School
The Thailand Post is going to turn its parcel cardboard boxes and paper envelopes into tables and chairs for students at the Border Patrol Police School. The postal service says they’ve already received 10,000 kilograms of used boxes and envelopes for the upcycling project. People can send used parcel boxes and envelopes back to Thailand Post to be collected for…
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Alcohol banned at national parks after complaints of trash and drunk tourists
Alcohol is now banned at national parks after tourists allegedly got drunk at a waterfall and others left a load of trash by their campsite. The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation has updated other park rules to make sure parks are kept clean and the wildlife isn’t disturbed. Just last week, trash left at a campsite at…
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Richest 1% responsible for twice the amount of carbon emissions than the poorest 50%
The richest people in the world, who make up just 1% of the population, are responsible for a significant amount of carbon emissions. A study shows that the “1 percenters” make up twice as much carbon pollution than the poorest half of the world. Some say the poor are the least responsible for climate change, but have to deal with…
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Hunt for wild tiger sighted at maize plantation in northern Thailand
A drone has been deployed in the hunt for a wild tiger believed to have wandered outside its natural habitat at the Huey Kha Kheng wildlife sanctuary. The sanctuary, in the northern province of Uthai Thani, has brought in forest rangers in an attempt to track down the tiger, whose footprints were spotted in a nearby maize plantation. PHOTO: Thai…
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160 million baht project to renovate Pattaya beach set to begin by year end
A 160 million baht project to renovate Pattaya beach looks set to begin by the end of this year. Yet ANOTHER renovation project in a long list of makeovers for the city’s naturally slim beachfronts. Talks on the project have been ongoing since September 2019 and, while movement may have stalled for a while due to the Covid-19 ‘interruption’, it…
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PM denies government split over toxic chemical ban
As officials continue to debate a recently-introduced ban on paraquat and chlorpyrifos, the PM, Prayut Chan-o-cha denies the government is split on the matter. He points out that coalition governments will always have differing viewpoints and that such differences will not affect the administration’s overall unity. Currently Glyphosate hasn’t been included in the ban. “Our core priorities are public health…
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National parks may close annually to recover wildlife
Environmentalist think Thailand’s national parks need to take a break. They’re considering closing the parks once a year to give wildlife time to rehabilitate. Since many parks have been closed during the coronavirus pandemic, wildlife has returned to areas, according to Environment and Natural resources Minister Varawut Silpa-archa. By closing the parks for a 2 to 4 months out of…
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Expats arrested after posing for selfies while handling protected sea creatures
A Dutch man and a Hungarian national are in custody after picking up protected sea creatures while diving off Koh Pha Ngan in the southern province of Surat Thani. Nation Thailand reports that the Hungarian man, named as Attila Ott, is a scuba diving instructor, who owns the Pink Panther Scuba Dive Club on the island. The Dutch man has…
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Health Minister insists chemical ban must stay, as farmers plead for compromise
As disagreement continues over the current ban on paraquat and chlorpyrifos, Thailand’s farmers are calling for a compromise. Both paraquat (herbicide) and chlorpyrifos (pesticide) were popular in Thai agriculture until a controversial ban this year. But the farmers, who support a proposal by the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry that the ban be overturned, say the proposed alternatives simply don’t work.…
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Health Ministry up in arms over possible return to toxic chemicals
Following a report that the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives is proposing that a ban on the use of toxic chemicals be overturned, the Public Health Minister has called an urgent meeting with his officials. The use of paraquat, chlorpyrifos, and glyphosate has been banned since June, with farmers ordered to hand over their supplies or face heavy fines. It’s…
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Environmentalists concerned with rise of takeaway trash during lockdown
How much plastic do you toss in the garage bin when you’re done eating your takeaway order? An environmentalist says 1 person throws away about 1.5 kilograms of trash each day. With many stuck at home during the lockdown period, food delivery sales skyrocketed, but so did the amount of trash each person throws away. Thai environmentalists are concerned and…
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Pattani company turns marine debris into new shoes
Flip flops, sandals, thongs, whatever you want to call them, are often seen washed up on beaches along with plastic bags and bottles. Those old, forgotten shoes are being transformed into new flip flops by a Pattani company called Tlejourn, a Thai phrase meaning “wandering across the sea.” Using old sandals found on the beach, Tlejourn cleans and shreds them…
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Lack of tourists sees return of endangered sea turtles to Koh Samui
Thailand’s ebach resorts maybe bereft of tourists, but another population is making a comeback: endangered hawksbill and green sea turtles are returning in droves. This year, as the Covid-19 pandemic emptied the nation of tourists, nests on Koh Samui in the southern Surat Thani province have burgeoned. Since February, some 838 baby turtles have scuttled their way across the island’s…
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Aussie hailed as hero after fighting off shark to save wife
An Australian man saved his wife from a shark attack yesterday by punching the shark until it released her. Police say the couple were surfing at a beach near Port Macquarie, 4 hours north of Sydney, yesterday morning when she was bitten twice on her right leg. Paramedics treated the 35 year old at the beach before she was later…
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Mauritius oil spill tanker splits apart
A Japanese tanker ship that ran aground on a reef off the island of Mauritius last month, threatening an ecological disaster in the Indian Ocean, has broken apart, authorities said yesterday. The Mauritius National Crisis Committee said the condition of the MV Wakashio was worsening early on in the day and by the afternoon it had split. A statement issued…
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No ammonium nitrate stored in Bangkok – BMA
The spokesman for the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, aka. City Hall, has confirmed that no ammonium nitrate is stored in the capital. His remarks come after Tuesday’s devastating explosion of the chemical in Beirut that killed more than 150 and injured over 5,000. Pongsakorn Kwanmuang sent condolences to those affected in the tragic blast and said that no ammonium nitrate is…
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Samui ferry company facing legal action over environmental impact of capsize
Thailand’s Ministry of National Resources and the Environment is threatening to sue the Raja Ferry company as a result of environmental contamination from the capsizing of a ferry off Koh Samui. The cargo ferry sank in rough weather last Saturday night, while attempting to transport rubbish from Samui to the Surat Thani mainland, resulting in dead and missing crew. The…
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US ambassador visits Thai clean-tech company Equator Pure Nature
The United States Ambassador to Thailand, Michael George DeSombre visited American-founded Thai clean-tech pioneer Equator Pure Nature yesterday to discuss perspectives on US businesses and American-founded companies in Thailand, their contributions to Thai society, primarily during the Covid-19 pandemic, and their role in assisting the development of Thai entrepreneurs, particularly women. Thailand is among countries recognised worldwide as having best…
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New electric ferries have a test run on Bangkok’s klongs
The Bangkok Marine Department has completed a test run of a new electric boat on Saen Saeb klong. The tests have been part of the development for a replacement of Bangkok’s deisel-powered, noisy and dirty canal and river ferries. Marine Department Director General, Wittaya Yamuang says the tests of the eco-friendly passenger boat on Saen Saeb canal was all over…
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PHIST – Asia’s largest online tourism event, returns this September
PHIST, the Phuket Hotels for Islands Sustaining Tourism, is set to break down boundaries again with a “virtual” version of Asia’s largest sustainable travel and hospitality event on September 7. Over 1,200 of the industry’s leading figures are expected to attend this socially-distant online gathering. The online event will include keynote addresses, interactive sessions, educational workshops and a green exhibition.…
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Lopburi police powerless to stop sex-crazed, junk food-addicted monkey gangs
Since March, the city of Lopburi has battled monkey riots, as the Covid-19 pandemic dried up tourism, and thus, the primates’ main food source. Locals, in an effort to appease beasts, began feeding them, largely a diet of sugary junk food, with predictable results. Police, armed with slingshots, say there’s little they can do to stop the sex-crazed macaques who’ve…
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Phuket plans a drought-proof future
In the high season of 2018/2019 a water shortage emerged on Phuket and reached a critical phase just as the wet season of 2019 began. For a few months there seemed to be more water trucks delivering expensive water to residents than tourist passenger vans on the road (usually ubiquitous). Phuket’s three water sources were critically low, one of them…
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Pattaya mayor on the defensive over recent floods
Struggling with severe drought just months ago, Pattaya is now facing the opposite problem. The city’s mayor has addressed criticism on social media this week regarding widespread flooding last week during a significant rainfall, telling The Pattaya News and media yesterday that the heavy rain flooded several areas, including Soi Khao Noi, the town’s railway road as well as other…
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A recovering China faces worst floods in decades
As China is still reeling from economic impacts of Covid-19, a new struggle has ensued as the nation is now seeing the worst flooding in decades which have destroyed the homes and livelihoods of millions. The devastating floods have impacted 38 million people. According to the Ministry of Emergency Management, some 2.24 million people have been displaced, with 141 people…
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Officials confirm billion baht make-over for Pattaya’s Jomtien beach
Thailand’s Marine Department has confirmed a 1.1 billion baht project to widen Jomtien beach in Pattaya after years of sand erosion at the tourist favourite. Officials say they plan to widen 7 kilometres of the beach to a width of between 35 and 50 metres in a project that will consist of 2 stages. The first stage will involve transporting…
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