The Environment
 With a country like Thailand, where the material benefits of economic development are quite
new, you might expect that saving the environment would not be a major issue. As you will see,
that is not so. Stories involving environmental issues appear daily in the Bangkok Post, and Thai
people clearly want their precious natural resources to be preserved. Here are some things you
should watch for in reading stories which involve environmental conservation:
Environmental issues involve trade-offs Thailand has had one of the world's fastest-growing
economies for the past ten years. While people have welcomed the increase in the standard of
living this has brought, they have also become increasingly worried about the damage that has
been done to the environment. But saving the environment usually requires difficult trade-offs.
Saving a forest for example, may mean the sacrifice of a dam which could control floods and
provide water for irrigation and cheap electricity generation. This conflict between economic
development and environmental preservation is behind many of the stories that appear in the
Bangkok Post. Here is a very obvious example:
| Dust menace to worsen at city's pollution blackspot
AIR quality around the Suphan Kwai area, the poorest in the city, will worsen this year due
mainly to the elevated train project, said a senior environment official. Dr Supat Wangwonwatana said construction of a station in an already over-developed area would serve to trap even more dust and other pollutants.
Suphan Kwai earned the reputation of the dustiest area in Bangkok after the department
released its air quality report in Bangkok last year. In 1994, the dust level registered a 24-hour
average reading of 340 microgrammes per cubic metre of air. Last year, it went up to 1,710
microgrammes. |
Thus, there are environmental and health trade-offs even with a project intended to solve
Bangkok’s worst pollution problem of all: its traffic jams. In reading an environmental story,
therefore, always evaluate what is gained and what is lost. Economic development often causes
some environmental destruction. But conservation measures can also hinder economic
development. The choices between them are often extremely difficult.
Environmental stories can be complicated This does not mean they are difficult to
understand, but it means that they often involve many factors. The story below is a good
example. It involves one of Thailand's most serious concerns, the rapid destruction of its forests.
| Villagers seek end to forest reserve
VILLAGERS from Tambon Wieng Mok in the Thern district want the Government to revoke the
status of Mae Chang National Park, claiming they have lived in the forest for generations and
should be given land rights. They say they can do a better job than state officials in protecting the
forest because they need it for their livelihood.
According to Phuyaiban Luang Sriwichai, the government in 1975 declared it a national park including a forest overlapping their farm land. He said Thern and Mae Prik districts always suffered the most from drought in the province as they were poorly located among hills where it
rarely rained and deforestation was spreading. Villagers had given up farming and instead sought
jobs in town. Most had gone to work in the Middle East.
Luang said Tambon Wieng Mok comprised nine villages totalling 2,000 families, but
only about 30 per cent had land documents. The big problem in his village is deforestation
caused by “government officials cooperating with influential outsiders mainly from Phrae.
Wherever forestry officials go there is no forest left. I wonder if they really work to reforest
where the forest has gone,” Luang said.
Somchai Kaewthong, a representative of villagers from Wang Nua district, said people in
his villages had become more materialistic since the road linking Chiang Mai with Phayao was
built through their villages in 1988. Electricity had also arrived. Villagers try to earn more money
to buy electrical appliances, cars and motorcycles as they want to have everything others have.
They earn money by felling trees and selling them to outsiders.
Villagers become forest destroyers because of their innocence, but state officials,
including persons in the villages and elsewhere, must be judged as the true forest destroyers as
they gained the most. He claims outsiders or middlemen come to villages to buy wood. About 20
pieces cost in all 1,800 baht. If it is teak, villagers can get about 4,800-5,00 baht for 20 pieces,
but there is no teak left. Middlemen must pay about 300,000 baht a month to state officials who
allow them to pass check points and sell the wood in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phayao and Phrae,
he said. |
Saving the environment can be expensive Major cleanups are often so expensive that
Governments must become involved.
| B30b needed to clean up Chao Phraya
AT least 30 billion baht will be needed to solve pollution in the Chao Phraya River on a step-by-step basis, Deputy Prime Minister, Amnuay Viravan said yesterday.
Mr Amnuay, who chaired a meeting of a coordinating subcommittee to solve the
pollution of the river, said the Government was genuinely serious about improving water in the
river. Steps had been taken to tackle the problem, although they were only small-scale. For,
instance, a plan was being drawn up with a fixed timetable for action to cope with waste
discharged into the river by hospitals.
Mr Amnuay blames hospitals, restaurants, factories, hotels, communities and other
establishments for contributing to pollution of the river. But he said water at Samlae in Pathum
Thani, where it was pumped into Klong Prapa to become treated tap water, was still safe. |
For companies, environmental preservation is a business expense and it is not surprising that
many try to avoid it. Here, the Government must play a big role.
| Waste dumping tannery told to clean up mess
A TANNERY in the Northern Region Industrial Estate which used to discard waste at an open
dump site in Lamphun Province has been ordered to build a sanitary landfill, Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) Deputy Governor Anchalee Chavanich said yesterday.
Ms Anchalee said Nopmanee Company, the only tannery in the estate, had to fund the
landfill project under the so-called “polluter pays” principle with advice from the IEAT and the
Pollution Control Department. The landfill, she said, must be lined with materials which will
prevent the dumped hides from contaminating underground water supplies.
Dumping of the processed hide remnants in an open pit in Ban Pooluey in Tambon
Makue Chae, Muang District has disturbed people in the neighbourhood because of the stench.
Ms Anchalee said the open dump site would be put under observation while the landfill is being
built to determine the extent of toxic contamination on the environment and human beings. |
Environmental science is complex Our environment is composed of millions of interacting
elements and processes, so even the best scientists have difficulty determining what is really
happening. Disagreements are common, especially when they concern workplace safety. Here is
a good example:
| Probe urged on death of workers
AN occupational health expert yesterday called for a comprehensive investigation of the
mysterious deaths of workers in the Northern Region Industrial Estate (NRIE) in Lamphun.
According to the findings of a medical team under Dr Sonthaya Pruenglamphoo of the
Public Health Ministry, AIDS was the cause of the deaths of eight workers and two babies. Two
workers died of encephalitis and one each of tuberculosis and leukaemia.
However, Dr Oraphan Mehadilokul, President of the Occupational and Environmental
Medicine of Thailand, challenged the findings and the methods used. “The findings were reached
in an investigation which was conducted in the form of a seminar and with very limited
information. There was no medical examination of the surviving workers or of the tissue of the
dead. I think this is probably the only such case in the world,” she said.
Dr Oraphan said that although many workers were infected with HIV, it did not
necessarily mean that they died from the killer virus. In her opinion, a comprehensive
investigation must be conducted in order that the findings be more scientific.
“For example, when encephalitis was found in two workers, it is of utmost importance
that we ask further how the disease developed and whether it is possible that solvents or toxic
substances were involved and prove it.” There are a large number of solvents and heavy metals
such as lead and cadmium used in the electronics component industry. |
In Thailand, environmental issues are often highly political Almost everyone is for a clean
environment and for preserving the nation's resources. Thus, it is not surprising that politicians
use environmental issues to attack their opponents. Here is a recent example:
| Democrats hit by new allegation
THE Government opened another front against the Democrats yesterday, accusing key members,
including party Secretary-General Sanan Kachornprasart, of encroaching on national forest
reserves.
The accusation followed the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry’s illegal logging
allegations against Democrat Deputy Secretary-General Suthep Thueksuban. |
Watch for motives as well as “facts” From the many examples of above, it should be clear that people have many different motives for bringing up environmental issues. Some are genuinely concerned about saving the environment or at least limiting the damage of economic development. But others may have less praiseworthy motives. So read environmental stories critically.
The environment is a subject often written about in the Bankgok Post. Here are some other stories and lessons.
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