Environment News
Discover the latest Environment News in Thailand, providing comprehensive coverage on environmental issues, climate change solutions, and natural disasters in Thailand and the world. We bring compelling stories, investigate eco-friendly initiatives, and bring you closer to the rapidly evolving green landscape. Stay informed about Thailand’s efforts towards sustainable living, biodiversity conversation, and renewable energy promotion to better understand the world’s ecological challenges.
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Handling a medical emergency in Thailand as an expat can be difficult without the right information. This guide explains what to do in a medical emergency, including important contact numbers, the differences between public and private hospitals, how to deal...
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Air purifiers to be added to the top of Bangkok buses. Really…
“It is like a single dead pixel on your phone, hardly noticeable” Air purifiers sitting on tops of buses. Apparently this is another solution for Bangkok’s air pollution problems. Sounds like the people selling the mobile bus-top air purifiers have a very convincing sales person! But Bangkok’s Mass Transit Authority director Surachai Eamvachirasakul says the department will go ahead with plans…
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National park staff scramble to prevent more wildfires as dry season approaches
Phu Kradueng National Park officials told the press today that although they had contained the bushfire that started on Sunday and damaged over 3,400 rai of park forests, they still need to build additional firebreaks to prevent a reoccurrence, which is more likely during the dry season. “Currently we have only one tractor truck to build the firebreaks. It has…
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Chiang Mai blanketed in smoke as fires burn around the province
It’s smoggy, smokey and generally unpleasant in northern Thailand today. But don’t take our word for it, look up to the skies around Chiang Mai or check the copious amounts of graphic evidence, freely available, about the seriousness of the fires, almost all deliberately lit, around the region. “It’s been bad all morning and there’s a noticeable smell of smoke…
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Wildfire damages over 2000 rai in national park
A wildfire yesterday morning in the Phu Kradueng National Park in the northeastern province of Loei damaged more than 2000 rai, mostly pineforest and grassland. Adisorn Hemthanont, chief of the park’s wildfire extinguishment unit, made the announcement today. “A dozen staff tried to extinguish the fire but the strong winds blew fireballs across the fire barrier and [they] landed about…
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Pathum Thani villagers coping with heavy smoke from rubbish fires
Villagers in Pathum Thani Province near Bangkok are complaining of rubbish fires, saying locals are breathing heavy black smoke every day, causing health issues, especially for small children. They claim people are secretly burning garbage and grass in the area. Residents of Sataporn Village have formed a group and reported to local media in hopes taking the issue public. Smoke…
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Rare leatherback turtle lays eggs in Phuket’s Mai Khao
Officials of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources and army personnel rushed to build a fence at Mai Khao Beach on Friday after learning from a village headman that a leatherback sea turtle laid eggs there. The area is located in the Sirinart Marine National Park, one kilometre north of Phuket’s airport. Officials built the fence and posted army…
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Court suspends Chao Phraya promenade project
A court has ruled that Bangkok City Hall’s project to build a promenade along both sides of the Chao Phraya River is illegal, and on Wednesday ordered a temporary suspension of works. The Administrative Court ruled that the 14 billion baht project, which comprises two elevated walkways complete with a bicycle lane running for 57 kilometres along both sides of…
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Drought disasters plague the nation
Between October 17 and yesterday, drought disasters were declared in 116 districts across Thailand, legally obliging the government to provide assistance, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) reports. The disasters were in 20 provinces – Chiang Rai, Phayao, Nan, Uttaradit, Sukhothai, Phetchabun, Nong Khai, Bueng Kan, Nakhon Phanom, Sakon Nakhon, Kalasin, Maha Sarakham, Nakhon Ratchasima, Buri Ram, Nakhon…
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Thai government scraps Mekong blasting project
The government has officially abandoned a controversial plan to blast rapids on the Mekong river in Chiang Mai province. The Chinese-led dredging and blasting plan, initiated in 2001, met with fierce opposition from locals and environmental groups, and the Cabinet agreed to scrap it at a weekly meeting on Tuesday. The plan was to enable ships to carry goods from…
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Bangkok halts construction of electric rail and highrises for 3 days
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration today ordered a 3 day suspension of the construction of seven electric train lines, highrise buildings and roads throughout Bangkok, in order to reduce PM2.5 pollution. The Pollution Control Department reported this morning that 39 areas in Bangkok and four in its suburbs were found to have high levels of PM2.5 particles, measured to be…
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China now battling an outbreak of bird flu in Hunan
On top of the growing Coronavirus outbreak and efforts of authorities to contain the spread, Chinese officials have now reported a case of the potent H5N1 bird flu in Shaoyang city in central China’s Hunan province. The province is south of Hubei but the outbreak of bird flu is unrelated to the Wuhan coronavirus. Avian influenza, aka. H5N1, avian flu…
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Hazy days and Sundays – Bangkok has fifth highest air pollution in the world
“Unhealthy”. That about sums up the air Bangkokians are breathing this morning, a situation almost completely avoidable but allowed to continue by the Thai Government. Bangkok is in bad company today with other polluted cities in Asia – Lahore, Hanoi, Delhi and Dhaka – as the fifth most polluted city in the world, a headline the Thai Government would prefer…
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7.7 magnitude earthquake hits Caribbean, sparked tsunami fears
An earthquake, followed by a series of strong aftershocks, struck yesterday in the Caribbean Sea, shaking the area from Florida to Mexico. The tremor had a magnitude of 7.7 but apparently caused no casualties or major damage. The initial tremor struck at 2:10 pm Eastern Time and was centered 86 miles northwest of Montego Bay, Jamaica and 87 miles west-southwest…
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Haze and coronavirus killing tourism in northern Thailand
It’s the smoke and Wuhan effect. Haze and the Novel Coronavirus are having a brutal effect on northern Thailand tourism. With numbers already low, China’s recent outward travel ban on tour groups coupled with dangerous haze levels are likely to hit tourism hard. Northern Thailand has a high proportion of Chinese tourists. Residents of Nan province are concerned over the…
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Severe air pollution forces Nok Air flight back to Bangkok
The severe air pollution which has plagued much of Thailand’s central and northern regions for weeks is showing signs of subsiding, with many areas reporting “moderate” to “good” air quality levels yesterday. But in the north levels remain high, with the pollution in Phrae province preventing a Nok Air plane from landing and forcing it back to Bangkok. Meanwhile, Bangkok…
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Pollution closes Lampang schools
Schools in the northern province of Lampang were closed yesterday as the level of air pollution went up, according to KhaoSod. Authorities have instructed families to keep their children indoors during this period of poor air quality. The problem is partly caused by the the burning of crop fields, which despite prohibitions, has been going on for weeks, with the…
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Air quality improves in Bangkok, North still battling some haze
The severe air pollution which has plagued Thailand in recent weeks is improving: air quality is dramatically better in most areas today except in the north, where the PM2.5 level remains above safe levels, especially Lampang and Phrae provinces. According to the Pollution Control Department, at 10 am the PM 2.5 levels in the northern provinces of Lampang, Lamphun, Nan, Phrae,…
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Air purifiers installed at Victory Monument whilst southern winds blow the smoke north
The Nation reports that the Rajaprajanukron Foundation, under Royal Patronage, installed four air- purifiers yesterday around the Victory Monument area in a trial of their effectiveness in filtering out PM2.5 dust particles. Silpasuay Raweesaengsoon, permanent secretary of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration says the machines can purify polluted air at the rate of two cubic metres per second. “Placed in areas…
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Sugar industry asks the government to subsidise harvesting machinery
Sugar factories are campaigning to cut and harvest raw sugarcane, instead of boring it first, for processing. The conglomerates are recommending that the government offer funding at low interest rates to farmers to buy harvesters as the prices of the equipment are quite high (6-12 million baht). They are also urging the government to purchase electricity from biomass power plants…
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SCAM – Thailand’s PM2.5 micron smoke screen
It’s cars, it’s the polluting buses, it’s people burning too many incense sticks. Every year it’s the same culprits in Bangkok, people driving their cars too much, polluting factories and old buses belching black smoke. All those things contribute to city pollution but are far from the main problem. So the government, reactive as usual, rolls out its PR machine…
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Nearly 300,000 Bangkok school students stay at home today as a measure to reduce air pollution
Nearly 300,000 students from 437 schools around Bangkok are having the day off after the Bangkok governor announced they could stay home and avoid the city’s smog. Ironically, today’s city air pollution has reduced to its lowest level in a week. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration suspended classes at 437 public schools for one day and introduced staggered working hours for…
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Thai PM mulls private car ban in pollution-stricken areas
“Bangkok’s governor has also signed an order yesterday to close 437 schools in in the city today due to a forecast of higher pollution levels.” The government is considering a ban on private car use in areas affected by hazardous levels of air pollution. The harsh proposal was unveiled Tuesday by PM Prayut Chan-o-cha after a cabinet meeting in Narathiwat. The…
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Celebrities take to social media and point out Government incompetence over air pollution problem
“Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha said it’s hard to enforce laws to reduce PM2.5 pollution and blamed the public for the poor air quality.” Thai celebrities have taken to social media in a campaign to show the incompetence of public authorities and the Thai government in handling Bangkok’s pollution problem, indeed the entire central and northern Thailand which is currently suffering air…
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32 year old British patient recovering in Phuket, suspected Coronavirus victim
UPDATE HERE. A British tourist is reported to be fighting for his life in a Phuket hospital. He could be the first Western victim of the coronavirus strain sweeping through China, according to Doctors at the hospital, but is yet to be confirmed. This latest coronavirus, related to the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome)…
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Poor air quality dogs the capital, even before the morning’s traffic starts
Bangkok awakes on Monday, even before the traffic starts choking up the city air and the factories puff their pollution into the Bangkok skies, with appalling air quality. With light winds and hot temperatures, the city is in for another bad day of air quality. Even at 6am this morning Bangkok ranked number 13 in the worst air pollution of…
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Nine garbage trucks caught illegally using Bangkok’s public incinerator
Go find your own garbage incinerator! Bangkok governor Aswin Kwanmuang is leading the charge to stop garbage trucks from outside the city using the municipal incinerator, joining city officials in seizing nine garbage trucks from the central province of Samut Sakhon province found illegally dumping trash. “Today we seized nine trucks that carried garbage from Suan Luang and Thamai subdistricts…
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Second death in China from virus concerns officials with the CNY holidays looming
“At least 41 people have now been diagnosed as being infected this latest flu-like strain.” Medical officials in China’s Wuhan city have announced that another man had died after being infected by the new coronavirus strain. Thailand and Japan have now reported new cases of a the Chinese Coronavirus that has already killed two and infected at least 40 in…
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Salty tap water and dirty air – Bangkok’s environmental woes continue today
Brackish tap water, with increased salinity caused by seawater back-flowing into the Chao Phraya River, is threatening the gardens in and around the Government House compound. Government House officials are seeking assistance from the Agriculture Department. Several small tree species – Lamduan, Chor Sumalee, Rachavadi, Nom Maew and Hom Muenlee – are more vulnerable to brackish tap water. The gardens…
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10 ways Thailand is moving to a greener future
“Green” is not usually the word that comes to mind when speaking of Thailand, especially when you are speaking through a PM2.5 face mask. But with recent attempts to improve the environment and tackle waste, here are some positive changes to shift your attention from air pollution and help you feel good about the decision to live, invest, or retire…
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Central Thailand farmers ignore orders to stop burning off their sugar cane
Stick your burning ban up your 2.5 micron particulate! Local sugarcane growers in Nakhon Sawan, central Thailand, are burning their fields at night despite authorities’ ban on the practice. It appears little to nothing is being done to curb the practice which is one of the main causes, if not the main cause, of the smoke and haze problems in…
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