Thailand: Garbage becomes the most serious environmental problem

New Straits Times 20 Mar 14;

BANGKOK: Garbage becomes the most serious environmental problem in Thailand due to improper disposal, especially industrial and infectious wastes, Thai News Agency (TNA) reported.
Director-General of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment's Pollution Control Department, Wichien Jungrungruang on Wednesday said that industrial wastes in Thailand now amount to as much as two million tonnes yearly, accounting for 77 per cent of all garbage in the country.

Wichien noted that improper disposal and illegal dumping, including that of industrial wastes, have continued and there are five Thai provinces with the highest amounts of accumulated garbage, including Songkhla, Samut Prakan, Kanchanaburi, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Surat Thani.

At present 20 million tonnes of garbage are left unattended nationwide daily.

The Director-General urged the Ministry of Industry's Department of Industrial Works to tackle the problem and said that it was time for Thailand to apply a standard system to handle garbage.

Wichien pointed out that the latest incident showed that the garbage crisis in Thailand was a lingering fire at a garbage dump site in the Bang Pu municipality of Bangkok's adjacent Samut Prakan Province, which started on March 16 and has remained, affecting more than 300 locals.-- BERNAMA

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