The complaints of farmers in Lopburi Province, Thailand, about the existence of chemical odors leaking inside their agricultural lands, led to the discovery of several tanks with the capacity of 200 liters, weighing no less than 500 tons, buried at a depth of more than two meters, were intended for smuggling, and contained chemicals such as toluene, methyl ethyl ketone and butyl acetate, all of which are toxic and flammable substances. Samples of waste were collected and revealed that it has a high pH value and is cancerous. Officials of the Environment Organization stated that the province suffers from pollution, which necessitated the proper disposal of waste, however, it was smuggled to the Lopburi. A Thai environmental organization stated in 2018 that China exports a very large amount of chemical waste to Thailand, especially electronic and plastic waste.
Mr. Gor – Cucumber farmer: “I have not witnesses when the chemicals were dumped here as we were busy working in the plantation. We have to stop using the water from the pond for veggies pad and shower, The pond water is very contaminated and we don’t know what type of toxic chemical it is”
Mr Sommai – Sesame farmer: “The government representative has visited the area but we have not seen further resolution.Recently we have had a health examination coordinated by our head of village”
Penchom SaeTang – Earth Environmental Organization Director: “In 2017, Thailand imported a large amount of plastic waste. Previously, the proportion of plastic waste imported into Thailand ranged from 40,000 to 70,000 tons. In 2018, the proportion of imports exceeded 500,000 tons. We discovered that most plastic shipped from China and following Hong Kong, Japan, Europe, and the United States. It informs us that the countries that used to send waste to China have redirected shipping to Thailand. Aside from plastic waste, a significant amount of electronic waste is imported including the various aluminum scraps imported for recycling and casting in Thailand, particularly the ashes imported in large quantities from Japan. This is an overview of Thailand’s waste import market, especially after China imposed a ban on imports and exports to the country.”
Source- A24 News