Environmental issues in Thailand

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Over the past few decades, Thailand's dramatic economic growth has produced new environmental challenges in this once-agrarian society. The country now faces problems with air and water pollution, declining wildlife populations, deforestation, soil erosion, water scarcity, and hazardous waste issues.

Contents 1 Air Pollution 2 Water Resources 2.1 Health Effects 2.2 Improvement Efforts 3 Wildlife 3.1 Wildlife Conservation 4 See also 5 References

[edit] Air Pollution

Industrial growth has created high levels of air pollution in Thailand. Vehicles and factories contribute to air pollution, particularly in Bangkok.^[1]

Sources of Air Pollution

• Vehicles — motorcycles make up around 75% of the vehicles on the road in Thailand; diesel trucks and buses also contribute many pollutants.
• Industry — Bangkok and the rest of the Central Region contribute between 60 and 70 percent of the country’s industrial emissions.
• Power plants — most energy production relies on burning of fossil fuels
• Agricultural burning
• Garbage burning
• Open cooking
• Forest fires

Burning in southeast Asia often creates a haze. In 2002 Thailand joined an agreement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to reduce the haze from forest fires, but issues throughout the region are still common.^[2]

The Pollution Control Department and other agencies have developed standards and reduced air pollution from most sources. The standards focus shifting to lower-emission vehicle engines, improving public transportation, and requiring factories and power plants to reduce emissions. In most areas of the country, air pollutants are now within acceptable levels according to national standards.

[edit] Water Resources

Despite the annual southwest monsoon, Thailand is subject to drought, particularly the northeastern region.^[3] As of 2002, Thailand had less available water per person than any other country in Asia, and nearly one third of its water was “unsuitable for human consumption.”^[4]

Like air pollution, water pollution is most serious in the populous Central Region, with high levels of industrial and domestic wastewater. The depletion of the water table around Bangkok has led to land subsidence.

Coastal waters also face challenges. The Gulf of Thailand is primarily polluted by domestic wastewater, and further by waste from industry and tourism. In addition to the Gulf, high pollution levels were found at the mouths of the Chao Phraya, Tha Chin, Pak Panang, Pattani and Ranong rivers. Coastal water quality in most areas, however, are within acceptable standards.

Water pollution has become obvious in many areas. In 1997, hundreds of thousands of fish and other aquatic life in the Nam Phong River died as a result of industrial river pollution.^[5] Large amounts of arsenic were found in the groundwater in the Nakhon Si Thammarat province, a result of mining industry in the area.^[6]

[edit] Health Effects

Water pollution results in typhoid, dysentery, hepatitis, trachoma, hookworm infection and diarrhea. In 1999, hospitalization rates were:

• Typhoid — 4,000 hospitalizations
• Dysentery — 7,000
• Diarrhea — 95,000

Exposure to toxins and heavy metals in water causes skin disease, liver cancer and birth defects. Klity Creek in Kanchanaburi province was found to carry dangerous levels of lead from a lead separation plant upstream. Lead levels are apparently the cause of many cases of Down's Syndrome in village children, unidentified illnesses in adults, and many cattle deaths. In 1998, the plant was closed and the creek dredged, although by 2000 lead levels were still considered unsafe.

[edit] Improvement Efforts

In 1992, the government passed several pieces of legislation to prevent water pollution; the laws primarily limit industrial water contamination:

• Enhancement and Conservation of National Environment Quality Act (NEQA) of 1992
• Factories Act of 1992
• Navigation in Thai Waterways Act (Volume 14 ) as amended in 1992
• Public Health Act of 1992
• Cleanliness and Tidiness of the Country Act of 1992

The government continues to invest in wastewater treatment plants. In 2000, enough treated water was available to support 29% of the population, with more treatment plants under construction; upon completion, treated water would be able to support 65% of the population. The most common water treatment techniques are inexpensive to build and maintain, including oxidation ditches, aerated lagoons and stabilization ponds. The government is also investigating more effective and modern techniques such as constructed wetlands.

[edit] Wildlife

Main article: Wildlife of Thailand

Thailand’s wildlife is threatened by poaching, habitat loss, and an industry that sells wild animals as pets.^[7]

The elephant is Thailand's national symbol. Although there were 100,000 elephants in Thailand a century ago, the population of elephants in the wild has dropped to an estimated 2,000.^[8] Poachers have long hunted elephants for ivory, meat and hides. Young elephants are often captured for use in tourist attractions or as work animals, although their use has declined since the government banned logging in 1989. There are now more elephants in captivity than in the wild, and environmental activists claim that elephants in captivity are often mistreated.^[9]

Poaching of protected species remains a major problem. Hunters have decimated the populations of tigers, leopards and other large cats for their valuable pelts. Many animals (including tigers, bears, crocodiles and king cobras) are farmed or hunted for their meat, which is considered a delicacy, and for their supposed medicinal properties. Although such trade is illegal, the famous Bangkok market Chatuchak is still known for the sale of endangered species.^[10]

The practice of keeping wild animals as pets threatens several species. Baby animals are typically captured and sold, which often requires killing the mother. Once in captivity and out of their natural habitat, many pets die or fail to reproduce. Affected populations include the asiatic black bear, Malayan sun bear, white-handed lar, pileated gibbon and binturong.^[7]

Large-scale deforestation and development have encroached on many former wildlife habitats, and pesticides in their food supply has reduced bird populations. Several species of sawfish are listed as critically endangered because of because of habitat loss and overfishing.^[11]

[edit] Wildlife Conservation

Conservation efforts by the government include:^[12]

• 1960 Wild Animal Reservation and Protection Act, which designated protected forest and non-hunting areas
• 1961 National Park Act
• 1964 National Forest Reserve Act
• 1989 Logging ban in natural forests
• 1992 Forest Plantation Act
• 1992 Enhancement and Conservation of National Environmental Quality Act
• 1992 Wild Animals Reservation and Protection Act (WARPA)

Until the acts of 1989 - 1992, conservation policies were difficult to enforce, and often took a back seat to economic development.^[13] These acts represented a major shift in Thai policy, and are part of the government’s cooperation with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), an international wildlife protection agreement.

The government now requires that at least 15% of its land area be protected as forest, and 22% is currently protected as wildlife sanctuaries or national parks. To enforce CITES, the government also maintains border checkpoints to prevent animal smuggling, and works to educate the public about wildlife preservation. Thailand’s Buddhist culture, with its emphasis on respect for all life, has become a key component of the country’s conservation efforts.^[7]

[edit] See also

• 2007 Laos earthquake

[edit] References

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This article contains material from the Library of Congress Country Studies, which are United States government publications in the public domain.