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 Where to travel in Thailand in April [2025]
Travelling in Thailand is peak during April if you are looking for a real taste of summer. With high temperatures, amazing beaches, and exciting events, April is an amazing time to visit the country as a whole. Due to the...
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Environmental police arrest 7 over illegal dumping in Bangkok
Bangkok’s pollution problem is rearing its ugly head once again. Environmental police arrested and charged seven people over illegal dumping at 16 sites in the Thai capital. The chief of the Crime Suppression Division ordered environmental police to inspect 16 spots, following reports of illegal dumping causing foul-smelling air. The dumping also reportedly led to the spreading of germs to…
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Mauna Loa, world’s largest volcano, erupts for the first time in 40 years
After sitting dormant for nearly 40 years, the largest active volcano in the world erupted in Hawaii. Emergency crews were put on high alert yesterday as the Hawaiian volcano Mauna Loa corrupted late Sunday night. The lava flow was minor and contained, but a further eruption for any changes to the situation could easily threaten nearby inhabitants. The United States…
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Greenpeace join fishers’ campaign to save Thailand’s mackerel
Greenpeace has joined a campaign to save Thailand’s mackerel from extinction. The Canadian-based independent campaigning group reported that Thai mackerel today is not as abundant and cheap as it was before because of years of unregulated overfishing. As a consequence, the fish sold in the markets are getting smaller, most of it is imported from other countries, and many believe…
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Venomous snake rescued from beer in Australia
Australian reptile rescuers have come to the rescue of a thirsty snake found with its head wedged inside the ring-pull opening at the top of a beer can. Photos and video posted to Facebook by Brisbane North Snake Catchers and Relocation show rescuers responding to a report of a snake trapped in a beer can in Brighton, Queensland. The rescuers arrived to…
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Thailand plans nuclear reactors with US help
US Vice President Kamala Harris announced that the United States would work with Thailand to create new small nuclear reactors. The programme is aimed at producing nuclear power in the country to fight climate change. The nuclear reactors are part of the Net Zero World programme launched last year. Right now, Thailand doesn’t have any nuclear power. Public sentiment has…
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Dying elephant Muthu Raja’s misery continues in Sri Lanka
The misery of the dying elephant Muthu Raja is set to continue in Sri Lanka as local politicians blame one another for the creature’s plight and the head of the national zoological association declares that everything is fine. Minister of Agriculture and Wildlife Mahinda Amaraweera has told the Secretary to the Ministry Chandra Herath to take whatever steps are necessary…
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Thailand leading race in climate change ahead of COP27
It is fitting ahead of the COP27 in Egypt that little Thailand appears to be leading the race in climate change. Last week more than 90 heads of state and an estimated 35,000 representatives of 190 countries gathered at the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt to discuss how to limit global temperature rises and…
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Dangerously ill elephant returns to Thailand for veterinary treatment
Muthu Raja, a 30-year-old bull elephant who was born in Thailand, is dangerously ill and has been handed over to the Thai Embassy in Sri Lanka to be repatriated for veterinary treatment. Muthu Raja is one of two elephants given by Queen Mother Rajawongse Sirikit Kitiyakar to former Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga back in 2001. He was chosen…
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TerraCycle crusade to rid Bangkok canals of plastic goes on
The TerraCycle Global Foundation’s crusade to rid Bangkok canals of waste goes on. The US New Jersey-based non-profit organization believes it is winning the battle to remove toxic waste and plastic from the Thai capital’s polluted canals but admits the fight continues. Thailand has been identified as one of the top contributors to plastic pollution in the oceans. The kingdom’s…
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Bangkok dwellers float over half a million krathongs on Loy Krathong night
Bangkok dwellers floated more than half a million krathongs down the city’s waterways during the Loy Krathong celebrations last night. This year, there were as many as 572,602 krathongs. A spokesperson for the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) said that almost all of the krathongs, 548,086, were made from natural materials but added that 24,516 krathongs were made from foam. The…
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Mass tree-planting planned for Phuket beach after illegal structures removed
After police removed removed illegal structures from a beach in Phuket‘s Thalang district, they now plan to recover the beach’s nature. Phuket Vice Governor Amnuay announced at a meeting on Monday that a mass tree-planting would start at Layan Beach on Tuesday, November 15. The tree-planting event will begin at 9am, and will include a beach cleanup, he said. Amnuay…
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Banged up abroad – Sweden’s escaped cobra slips home
A king cobra that escaped from his new home in a Swedish aquarium turned up back in his terrarium about a week after he made his daring midnight escape. Skansen Aquarium in Stockholm said in a Facebook post that the cobra, named Sir Vas, or Sir Hiss (before being clumsily rebranded “Houdini”) had returned of his own free will. The deadly…
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Korat elephants face further persecution from farmers
As if the remains of Thailand’s decimated elephant population have not suffered enough persecution, farmers in Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat) still refuse to live in harmony with their big grey neighbours. A local leader has called on authorities to address the problem – if it is one – of wild elephants from Thap Lan National Park invading farmland and destroying crops. Oraya…
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Hornbills fly again over Lampang Chae Son
Absent from Thailand’s northern forests for more than 20 years, a pair of great hornbills have been released into Lampang Chae, Son National Park. The release was described by the Zoological Park Organisation (ZPO) director Attaporn Srihayrun as only the first batch of birds that the organisation plans to return to the wild. The ZPO first bred great hornbills in…
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Stockholm’s fugitive king cobra found hiding in wall cavity
While Thailand suffers a plague of serpents, driven out of their natural hiding places by recent flooding, a king cobra, broke out of a new enclosure in a Swedish zoo only days after it arrived. The frightened reptile was found early on Thursday morning, hiding only a few metres from its enclosure. The reptile escaped by squirming through a light…
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Burmese escapees rounded up in annual Florida snake wrangle
In stark contrast to the activities of a single reticulated python that recently swallowed a woman in Indonesia, a 19-year-old south Florida man has captured 28 Burmese pythons in an annual 10-day competition to rid the state of invasive species. Matthew Concepcion was among the 1,000 people who participated in the annual snake hunt, which this year “removed” 231 of…
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Carmageddon – Bangkok’s boy racers left standing by Cheshire’s EPL stars
Wilmslow might be one of northwest England’s most desirable postcodes, but the name of the town has a simple ring of humour. Wilmslow in the heart of Cheshire sounds like the place where Monty Python sketches take place. Not exactly Purley, but close. One expects Wilmslow residents to sell insurance for a living, to be avid collectors of used bus…
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No chance of parole for Bangkok’s imprisoned gorilla
After the latest round of public outcry, authorities claim for the umpteenth time that little can be done about gorilla Bua Noi, 33 years old, confined to a small cell in a Bangkok shopping mall. According to Natural Resources and Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa, the owners are free to continue doing as they please with the beast they have kept…
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Dying of laughter – animals on the brink say ‘cheesy’
The Comedy Wildlife Photo awards have rolled around yet again, annual prizes for bad photography where technical flaws like unwanted foreshortening are revered and the welfare of subjects irrelevant. Presumably, a picture of an adolescent lion falling from a tree in the Serengeti is as funny as an adolescent human falling from a Bangkok balcony. The planet is dying and…
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Google Maps update makes it easy to find EV charging stations in Thailand
As more and more people opt for electric vehicles (EVs) in Thailand, Google Maps has added a feature to make it easy to find a place to charge your car. Google added the feature after searches for EV charging stations in the kingdom grew by 350% over the past year. Simply launch the app and search for EV charging stations…
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Don’t just sit there – Bangkok gets tough on sofa dumpers
Bangkok is getting tough on people who dump bulky waste like old mattresses and other furniture into waterways. Large objects trapped in drains have been one of the main causes of floods in the city. Now, chucking your old sofa into the nearest storm drain will cost you a 10,000 baht fine. There are also rewards for citizen spies who…
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Bangkok levies heavy fines for those who litter in waterways
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is levying heavy fines for those who are caught throwing rubbish into the city’s waterways. The administration says it collects 9,000 tonnes of trash a day from the city’s canals. Some of those items include old mattresses and waste. Governor Chadchart Sittipunt says most of the waste is collected around Phra Khanong pumping station as…
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PM Prayut avoids being pelted with rotten fish & faeces
A group of activists armed with rotten fish and faeces were ready to pelt Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha as he visited flood-hit areas of Thailand yesterday. Fortunately, the PM’s entourage was tipped off about the planned attack and he avoided the activists lying in wait at a temple in Muang district PM Prayut was scheduled to visit Wat Khemaphirataram before…
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Big fat fraud – bear-faced cheating in Alaskan wildlife poll
Katmai National Park and Preserve have announced that Bear 747 is the winner of its annual Fat Bear Week contest. It is the bear’s second win. Tipping the scales at an estimated 635 kilograms, Bear 747 won 68,105 votes, beating first-time contender Bear 901 with 56,876 votes. Fat Bear Week is an annual tournament celebrating the park’s bears’ success in…
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TAT going green to smash a Guinness World Record
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is calling on all diving enthusiasts to help smash an official Guinness World Record. The TAT wants tourists and residents to get involved in their Go Green Active drive, a conservation diving event at Phuket’s famous Patong Beach between November 18 and November 20. The TAT wants to set a new Guinness World Records…
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Island in eastern Thailand listed in ‘Top 100 Green Destination Stories’
A small island in eastern Thailand has been listed in the Green Destination Foundation’s Top 100 Green Destination 2022 Stories. The island of Koh Mak is located off Trat province. The Green Destinations Foundation is based in the Netherlands, and is dedicated to sustainable tourism. Koh Mak’s story is titled, “Koh Mak, the journey to becoming the first low carbon…
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Australia sets goal of preventing any more species from going extinct
Australia has set an ambitious environmental goal of preventing any more species from going extinct. To do this, the country’s labour government has set another ambitious goal of conserving over 30% of its land mass by 2030. The new 10-year plan was announced on Tuesday. Australia’s new conservation plan will focus on 20 places and 110 species. The areas include…
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Maya Bay reopens once again to the public
After a two-month hiatus, Maya Bay on Koh Pi Pi Leh in Krabi province has reopened to the public. The iconic bay had been closed to tourists to allow for environmental recovery. The closure will be an annual occurrence to try to protect the ecology and wildlife living or visiting the iconic bay. Maya Bay exploded in popularity after serving…
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Garbage in canals worsens flooding in Bangkok
With heavy rainfall creating flooding around Thailand, officials say it’s not just the massive water pelting down that’s to blame for the Bangkok floods. Another culprit plays a significant role in the flooding: dumped garbage. While the capital city needs improvements to the drainage systems, an epidemic of junk bottlenecking the water flow is also to blame. The Chao Phraya…
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Hurricane Ian lashes South Carolina
A reinvigorated Hurricane Ian battered South Carolina Friday, deluging neighbourhoods with calf-high water. The storm caused calamitous damage in Florida and trapped thousands in their homes. Streams of rain whipped trees and power lines and left many areas under water. Four piers along the coast collapsed into the waves and were washed away. Online cameras showed seawater in Garden City…
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