snoop1130 Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Police raid Chachoengsao plant in crackdown on foreign e-waste disposal By THE NATION POLICE SEARCHED a waste management plant in Chachoengsao’s Plaeng Yao district on Tuesday, responding to an allegation that hazardous industrial waste had been smuggled from abroad to be burned at the facility, spreading toxins in the area. National police deputy chief Pol General Weerachai Songmetta led the raid by police and officials at 9am against WMD (Wai Mei Dat) Thai Recycling Co Ltd’s 100-rai factory in Tambon Plaeng Yao. The action came in response to Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan’s directive to the Royal Thai Police to crackdown on such wrongdoers. Officers found the factory was operating normally when they arrived. Huge piles of electronic waste such as keyboards, electrical wires and computers were sitting ready for workers to recycle or discard by burning or other methods. Most of the workers handling the toxic waste were found to be undocumented and untrained Lao and Myanmar migrants being paid Bt9,000 a month. Burning electronic circuit boards to extract heavy metals risked contamination of the surrounding environment, while hard plastic parts were toxic when burnt or would take millions of years to disintegrate when buried, said Weerachai, adding that this hazardous industrial waste required specific and proper disposal methods. Weerachai and deputy chief of the Tourism Police Bureau Pol Maj General Surachet Hakpan led a search involving five ministries – Natural Resources and Environment, Public Health, Industry, Justice and the Ministry of Finance. Weerachai said the unnamed Chinese owner of the facility was accused of importing potentially dangerous electronic waste under false Customs declarations. “Thailand is now among the world’s top-ranked countries in terms of volume of electronic waste because foreign investors are smuggling the trash here – declaring it as second-hand goods – for disposal,” Weerachai said, citing a report that Hong Kong had over 100,000 tonnes of electronic waste pending distribution to other countries for disposal. Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30346025 -- © Copyright The Nation 2018-5-22 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oziex1 Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 My suspicions are always aroused when one of the big wigs leads a raid. Serious money or publicity seeking photo op, may be involved. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ratcatcher Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 35 minutes ago, snoop1130 said: Weerachai said the unnamed Chinese owner of the facility was accused of importing potentially dangerous electronic waste under false Customs declarations. Chinese ingenuity and entrepreneurship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesofa Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 11 minutes ago, Oziex1 said: My suspicions are always aroused when one of the big wigs leads a raid. Serious money or publicity seeking photo op, may be involved. I'd go for "pretty damn sure". You're just too polite! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
55Jay Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 The aerial shots really bring the end state of consumerism into view. Next year, computer manufacturers will be pushing a newer, faster, more powerful model to the masses. Bin the old one, get a new one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sakeopete Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 Somebody missed a payment. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now