Environment and natural resources
Bottled water makers welcome cap seal ban
Thai bottled water producers have responded well to a plan to stop using cap seals, which will not only decrease plastic waste but also reduce unnecessary production costs.Keep reading ...
Pratch Rujivanarom
The Unfolding Mekong Development Disaster
The Mekong has long cast a mystical spell over adventurers, wildlife experts, and scientists enchanted by its spectacular rapids and waterfalls, along with its endangered dolphins, giant manta rays, and Siamese crocodiles. The river’s biodiversity is second only to the Amazon.Keep reading ...
Tom Fawthrop
Wastewater treatment fee plan resurfaces, 15 years on
City Hall has dusted off a draft regulation to impose a wastewater treatment fee on Bangkok residents, 15 years after it was first flagged. Like it or not, the regulation is expected to win approval by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s (BMA) executives by the end ...
Supoj Wancharoen
Six decades of water cooperation puts Mekong basin on track to achieve SDGs
In September 1957, representatives from the four countries in the lower Mekong basin met in Bangkok to take the first steps towards cooperative development and management of their shared water resources. The agreement they signed established the Mekong Committee, the predecessor of the Mekong River ...
Pham Tuan Phan
PM10 pollution still rising despite woodland-fire ban
A governor’s directive to bar entry to reserve forest lands and parks to reduce hazardous pollution in the North has so far failed to reverse the amount of PM10 particulates in Mae Hong Song.Keep reading ...
The Nation Reporter
Fires push Mae Hong Son pollution to 150mg
Fire-fighters and volunteers in Mae Hong Son are battling brush fires along highways and on mountains day and night despite woodlands being officially sealed off. The fires have for almost five consecutive days smothered the northern province in a haze of small-particle dust that is ...
Tossapon Boonpat
Chiang Rai closes off forests as burning continues despite restrictions
Chiang Rai has ordered its forests conditionally closed off for seven days and placed authorities on 24 hour alert after man-made fires continued to occur despite a 60 day order against such activities, in place until April 20.Keep reading ...
Itiporn Lakarnchua
Environmental ‘disaster’ at Akara
Academic says significant damage is proved by report, disputed by company. Findings of toxic contamination from Akara Resources’ gold mine have been hailed as significant scientific confirmation of an environmental disaster in Phichit.Keep reading ...
Pratch Rujivanarom
Mekong River bird species threatened by dam discharges
The Mekong River ecosystem has been devastated from rising water levels during the dry season, as upstream dams in China discharge water to facilitate navigation in the river.Keep reading ...
Pratch Rujivanarom
City pollution at 'national disaster' level
Bangkok must upgrade its ultra-fine dust pollution problem to “national disaster” level in order to strengthen protections against its far-reaching health impacts, ranging from heart and brain disorders to cancer.Keep reading ...
Apinya Wipatayotin