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Thai official floats capital relocation amid rising sea
A senior Thai official has raised the alarming possibility that Thailand may need to consider relocating its capital city Bangkok due to the threat posed by rising sea levels caused by climate change. The bustling metropolis of the capital already grapples with severe flooding during the rainy season each year.
Deputy Director-General of Thailand’s Department of Climate Change and Environment Pavich Kesavawong, warned that the low-lying city risks being submerged by the ocean before the end of the century. Continued …
BMA Saves 141 Million Baht in Waste Management
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has announced a budget reduction of 141 million baht, attributing it to the “No Pouring In” waste-management project. This initiative was showcased during a visit to the Khlong Toei Market area to review services managing 18 tons of vegetable scraps daily.
Aekvarunyoo Amrapala, BMA spokesperson and assistant secretary to the governor of Bangkok, along with the director of Khlong Toei District, visited the area to observe the waste-management processes. The visit highlighted the complete cycle of food waste management, from collection to compost production at the On Nut Waste Disposal Center. The compost is then distributed for use in parks. Continued …
World’s oceans have gone ‘crazy haywire,’ with majority of coral reefs in peril
The world’s oceans have gone “crazy haywire,” according to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration official, with record-high temperatures imperiling coral reefs.
Derek Manzello, coordinator of NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch Program, said in a news briefing Thursday that around 60.5%, or nearly two-thirds, of the world’s coral reefs have experienced heat stress at levels high enough to cause bleaching, a major health threat. Continued …
NatureWorks secures $350M from Thai bank for bio-plastic plant
U.S.-based PLA manufacturer NatureWorks announced it has secured a $350M loan from state-owned Krungthai Bank, Thailand’s third largest bank.
The funds will finance NatureWork’s Ingeo PLA manufacturing plant in Nakhon Sawan Province. The facility is currently under construction and is reportedly on track to start production in 2025. Continued …
Chemicals ‘must all be relocated’
Residents in Rayong have called on the provincial governor to urgently relocate dangerous chemicals kept at a hazardous waste storage plant following last month’s factory fire there.
A group of villagers affected by the blaze gathered at Wat Nong Phawa in Ban Khai district before they set off to meet the provincial governor, Traiphop Wongtrairat. Continued …
Solar rooftop adopters set to win a tax break
A new tax reduction scheme for households that install rooftop solar panels is expected to be finalized by mid-year in an effort to reduce electricity bills and carbon dioxide emissions, says the Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency (DEDE).
Any household that purchases solar panels with a power generation capacity of less than 10 kilowatts at a cost of less than 200,000 baht can participate in the program, said department Director-general Wattanapong Kurovat. Continued …
Endangered turtles with trackers freed
Off the shore of Thailand’s resort island of Phuket, marine conservationists have released 11 baby leatherback sea turtles into the Indian Ocean, hoping they can thrive in the wild and return in two decades to reproduce.
The release of the year-old turtles, each about the size of a rugby ball, follows an intense conservation effort to boost the leatherback’s survival chances after the discovery in 2018 that the endangered species had returned to lay eggs in southern Thailand. Continued …
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