Get Serious About Cleaning The Chao Phraya, Greenpeace Says

[george]

Get serious about cleaning the Chao Phraya, Greenpeace says

BANGKOK: -- Top environmental group Greenpeace called on the authorities yesterday to tackle pollution released from factories along the Chao Phraya River more seriously.

Several hundred supporters of the group teamed up with staff from Ayutthaya province yesterday to collect garbage from the river near Muang Ayutthaya.

Greenpeace also plans to collect garbage out of the river from boats between Nakhon Sawan and Bangkok.

The idea is to raise public awareness about water pollution and get people looking out for all forms of pollution.

Greenpeace coordinator Plai Pirom said the group had studied pollution impacts on the Chao Phraya from Ang Thong downstream to Samut Prakan. It found that many factories released toxins into the river and this contamination affected the ecosystem and food chains.

He said Samut Prakan had the most serious chemical contamination and accumulation from the river due to many factories releasing wastewater and the province's location where the Chao Phraya reaches the Gulf of Thailand.

He urged the government to exercise legal power to get all industrial factories to reveal what toxins they release into the environment and in what quantity. The information could be used in a database to help cut use of dangerous chemicals. Factories should be inspected and closed if they were found to be doing wrong, he said.

The group also wanted the authorities to close all garbage dumps along the banks of the river, and to rehabilitate the Chao Phraya with participation from all sides, he said.

-- The Nation 2009-05-28

[nicholasday]

I know Plai Pirom! He is my friends cousin. He is their specialist on toxins. Very nice guy and knows his stuff.

I always feel bad when i see people fishing in Chao praya and various canals. If they are eating those fish then i dread to think the sort of other toxins they are ingesting.

[brahmburgers]

way to go GREENPEACE!

good to see some real environmental news on the screen, rather than pseudo green news releases sent out by companies trying to burnish their image.

If Thailand ever gets some decent leaders, and they ever get to the business of governing (instead of incessant internecine squabbling) then I hope upon hope they'll start the long process of cleaning up the environment.

It wouldn't hurt to start a Thai-wide campaign against littering. Something like the 1950's US campaigns "don't be a litterbug" or "Every Litter Bit Hurts" which worked rather well in the States.

Currently, most Thais have zero consciousness about littering (let alone the myriad other ways to despoil the environment). If you don't believe me, take a look at any large outdoor gathering, and see grounds covered in paper and plastic. Or stroll along any beach, and you'll see trash every linear meter - the list of proofs could go on and on.

Way to go Greenpeace. Keep up the good work! Every little bit helps.

[Scott]

I work (part-time) at a place along the river. I usually get there early and like to sit on the Pier overlooking the river--amazingly peaceful and one of the most pleasant parts of my day. Unfortunately, it's distressing to see the absolute mess that floats by. When the tide goes down, the banks are look like a garbage dump. It's very sad and quite unnecessary. And this, of course, doesn't include the toxins in the river.

[stumonster]

Don't eat seafood sourced from the gulf of Thailand

[Crushdepth]

good to see some real environmental news on the screen, rather than pseudo green news releases sent out by companies trying to burnish their image.

Unfortunately, that's what Greenpeace do too. Lots of noise and 'list of demands' but very little science or concrete action at the end of the day. Anyway good luck to them cleaning up the Chao Phraya.

[SabaaiJai]

I once asked a local if people eat the fish they catch in the river and the canals. He said 'no way, they sell them down the market' stopped eating fish from the vendors ever since!

[carriemai]

way to go GREENPEACE!

good to see some real environmental news on the screen, rather than pseudo green news releases sent out by companies trying to burnish their image.

If Thailand ever gets some decent leaders, and they ever get to the business of governing (instead of incessant internecine squabbling) then I hope upon hope they'll start the long process of cleaning up the environment.

It wouldn't hurt to start a Thai-wide campaign against littering. Something like the 1950's US campaigns "don't be a litterbug" or "Every Litter Bit Hurts" which worked rather well in the States.

Currently, most Thais have zero consciousness about littering (let alone the myriad other ways to despoil the environment). If you don't believe me, take a look at any large outdoor gathering, and see grounds covered in paper and plastic. Or stroll along any beach, and you'll see trash every linear meter - the list of proofs could go on and on.

Way to go Greenpeace. Keep up the good work! Every little bit helps.

Whilst watching an episode of the television series 'Mad Men', I was taken aback by the way a family out on a picnic just shook off all the rubbish from the picnic blanket onto the grass, packed themselves off into their car and left all the paper plates/napkins/soda cans etc let flying and lying about on the lovely parkland.

Mad Men is set around 50 years ago. Could you imagine this happening in the West today?

I've seen Thai Government ads on a range issues from acceptance of other cultures to some guy beating on his wife in the street and everyone just standing by. Why not litter?

Every morning when I take my dogs out for a walk, there they are, out off to work on the back of their honda dreams flinging plastic bags filled with yesterday's rubbish into the trees, along with the pickups dumping the detritus from their building work. E.D.U.C.A.T.I.O.N. And having the local and various government agencies/orbortor/police enforcing fines, other than the 2k baht for dropping a fag but on Silom would be a start. Don't hold your breath

Edited May 28, 2009 by carriemai

[brahmburgers]

.....other than the 2k baht for dropping a fag but on Silom would be a start. Don't hold your breath

pardon me for seeing some humor there - in the States, 'fag' is old slang for a homosexual.

[khaowong1]

back in the early 80's, before they filled in all the canals, the Chao Phraya and the canals were almost clean enough to swim in... now they are a disaster.. I quit eating fish anywhere in central Thailand a long time ago...