Environment Minister Orders Full Prosecution of Toxic Waste Dumpers
Thai environment officials discovered 200–300 kilograms of toxic electrical waste being burned illegally in a protected forest in Prachuap Khiri Khan province, prompting the Environment Minister to order full prosecution of those responsibl
Environment Minister Suchart Chomklin has ordered the Department of Forestry to urgently investigate toxic waste being dumped in the Huai Khai protected forest area in Wang Takian subdistrict, Kabinburi district, Prachuap Khiri Khan province, to address concerns for local residents who forage for mushrooms and forest products there.
On July 23, forest protection officials from Unit 2 Thung Poi, working with local government and police from Wang Takian station, inspected the Teng Rang forest area adjacent to the Princess Srinagarindra Plant Genetic Conservation Project. They discovered four large piles of insulated electrical cable and wire scraps in red and black scattered across the area, some compressed in large bags, with evidence of burning to extract copper and aluminum for sale while leaving behind melted plastic casings and chemical ash producing acrid smoke. The toxic waste is estimated to weigh 200–300 kilograms and was apparently burned at night before residents discovered it about two days later.
The area is a 1,000-rai protected forest that locals use for subsistence foraging. Dumping and burning chemical waste there constitutes serious environmental destruction and air and soil pollution. Reports indicate a capital group has scattered toxic waste across Prachuap Khiri Khan province, with three major dumping sites identified: one in Had Nang Kaew subdistrict with crushed wire dumped in a six-meter-deep pit, one in Wang Tha Chaloem subdistrict with black chemical powder and wire casings mixed into roads and runoff polluting agricultural water, and one in Wang Takian subdistrict with 200–300 kilograms of wire secretly burned in the plant conservation forest.
Minister Suchart announced that the Department of Forestry and the Pollution Control Department, through the Office of Environmental Quality and Pollution Control Region 7 in Saraburi, have been ordered to investigate immediately and pursue legal action against violators to the fullest extent without exception.
