Phuket _ Hazardous dioxins emitted from the provincial garbage incinerator have been blamed for a rise in cancer cases. Kosol Tang-utai, adviser to the Phuket provincial administration organisation, said the dioxin level in Phuket was 40 times the acceptable standard.

High dioxin exposure was behind the sharp rise in new respiratory and lung cancer cases in men and breast and cervical cancer cases in women.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/23Nov2007_news11.php

The article is not longer available.

That was quick.

The article is not longer available.

That was quick.

No. Nothing to do with censorship. It's just the plain... stupidity of the guys of the BKK Post website...

Their system changes the URL of all the daily news... the day after.

Great, huh ?

Therefore, the URL for the article about Phuket air is located at :

http://www.bangkokpost.com/231107_News/23Nov2007_news11.php

The incinerator isn't operated correctly (nothing new for Thailand ) and they cannot build a landfill (well at least one that will work) for only 55M Baht.

Sigh...................when will they ever learn.

You should still be able to find the original article at Recent Editions banner on the Bangkok Post website hompage, but I will cut and paste it in below anyway to save anyone that wants to read it the hassle. The Bangkok Post recent editions are saved only for a week. The Post wants people to pay for access to their archives. By doing so, they have let the Nation become Thailand's newspaper of record for Thailand...just look at how many references you see in Wikipedia referenced to the Post as compared to the Nation. It's at least a 10:1 ration in favor of the Nation.

As for the dioxin problem, it has been reported on before in the Phuket Gazette. However, the claims that it is responsible for a rise in cancer is totally unsubstantiated in this article. It is simply a claim by a local politician, at least as it appears in this report.

Cancer-causing agents or no, the waste disposal problem in Phuket is a time-bomb.

In fact there has already been one catastrophe at Koh Phi, where a plume of toxic runoff from the landfill around the incinerator killed millions of fish earlier this year.

The article:

Dioxin blamed for cancer rise in Phuket

Garbage problem now at critical level

ACHADTAYA CHUENNIRAN (11/22/07)

Phuket _ Hazardous dioxins emitted from the provincial garbage incinerator have been blamed for a rise in cancer cases. Kosol Tang-utai, adviser to the Phuket provincial administration organisation, said the dioxin level in Phuket was 40 times the acceptable standard.

High dioxin exposure was behind the sharp rise in new respiratory and lung cancer cases in men and breast and cervical cancer cases in women.

Dr Kosol said 60 new cases of cervical cancer were reported in Phuket last year. The number of new lung cancer patients was much higher, he said, but did not give a figure.

Rachanee Ameruji, director of the Environmental Quality Promotion Department's public participation office, said lack of efficient waste management was the cause of environmental problems.

The island generated 530 tonnes of garbage a day, while the incinerator could handle only 250 tonnes of waste a day.

Leftover garbage was dumped in public places as the only sanitary rubbish dump was full.

Phuket Municipality has set aside 55 million baht for a new landfill, she said.

The waste issue was now critical. With visitor numbers likely to increase by 30% this high season the amount of waste would surge by about 18%.

The amount of garbage generated would rise to about 1,000 tonnes a day over the next three to five years without efficient waste management.

To ease the the burden on the incinerator, a garbage sorting and recycling was being promoted in eight schools and by local administrative bodies, she said.

''The incinerator will work more efficiently if organic waste is sorted,'' Ms Rachanee said.

The provincial administration organisation had set up organic fertiliser production plants to make good use of the organic garbage that makes up 60% of waste.

The target of recycling was glass, which required large amounts of energy to destroy.

Construction materials also slowed incineration.

Piriyut Wanapruk, director of the Development of Environment and Energy Foundation, said attempts to solve waste problems had achieved little because although local administration organisations were trying to solve the problem, they were not coordinating their efforts.

It is simply a claim by a local politician, at least as it appears in this report.

I don’t know about his political engagement but he is a Doctor on a well renowned Phuket hospital and as the report says, an advisor to the Phuket provincial administration organisation.