HEALTH
Thousands evacuated over 'toxic gas'
The Nation



BANGKOK: -- Thousands of people were forced to evacuate their homes in Rayong's Ban Chang district shortly past midnight and spend the night on a football pitch after smelling something like toxic gas.

Children and the elderly suffered eye irritation and retching from what they suspected was a gas leak. Two people were sent to a hospital for vomiting and nausea and have already been discharged.

The worst hit communities were the Prachummitr, Lor Kwien and Pandin Thai housing estates near the Asia Industrial Estate.

Pratheep Aengchuan, director of the nearby Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate, said the odour was somewhat like chlorine and a bushfire.

An investigation of the four industrial parks in the area found no source of the smell. A factory outside an industrial estate that was suspected of spreading the foul odour was found closed about a week ago for maintenance.

Pratheep said officials would check the factory to find the source of the stench.

Samran Sanandang, kamnan of Tambon Ban Chang, said |people had first detected the |bad odour at 9pm on Saturday and it became so intolerable |that they decided to leave their houses.


-- The Nation 2014-06-09

it's nice that a field can save them. i count eight on the field.

i've got one of those masks, i use it to save myself from mosquito fogging. and burning rubbish dumps.

We looked at Rayong Beach area but the more we found out about the area (the big chemical factory 1km towards the North we decided on Chao Loa Beach which doesn't have any factories anywhere near it and clear air as it rains so much.

Ban Chan has a very high childhood leukemia rate, the kids cancer ward in Chonburi is full of kids from there.

I find it amazing Thailand how the Map Ta Put mess continues to be swept under the carpet.

Note, Rayong Beach is south of Map Ta Put, Ban Chan is the town close by.

soon as i saw this story i checked http://air4thai.pcd.go.th/web/ it had pure pristine virginal air for rayong. never seen it say anything else. depends who you want to believe. me i dont believe all that industry is anything other than a toxic source.

Great time to finally impose proper rules and regulations.

We looked at Rayong Beach area but the more we found out about the area (the big chemical factory 1km towards the North we decided on Chao Loa Beach which doesn't have any factories anywhere near it and clear air as it rains so much.

Ban Chan has a very high childhood leukemia rate, the kids cancer ward in Chonburi is full of kids from there.

I find it amazing Thailand how the Map Ta Put mess continues to be swept under the carpet.

Note, Rayong Beach is south of Map Ta Put, Ban Chan is the town close by.

Really? Care to mention your sources or any links to back up your very spurious claim?

Given that your nic and signature / online persona is just an ad for some beach resort in Chantaburi, you might appear to be trying to drum up business in a very seedy manner. You also don't appear to know where Rayong beach is. Nice job, spammer.

I spoke early this year with a manager of a German chemical company in Thailand and he pointed out that Thailand had the STRICTEST regulations, even stricter than Germany, however locals do not have to comply, only us "ferners" have to actually worry about regulations.

He who smelt it, dealt it.

Chlorine is nothing to be near. It is one one the most deadly chemicals that has most common usage as well. I would not recommend the football pitch. You want to be clear of the area entirely. Go to relatives or spring for a hotel until all clear is given.

Don't let a few baht stand between you and/or your familiy's health.

Used to be great fishing in Rayong, seemed to decline as the factories were multiplying.

This was in Rayong, Ban Chang. That is the general location of the fancy hi-so Thai Polo Club, where they house Argentine horses and polo players. I wonder if the horses and Argentines got gassed out as well.

We looked at Rayong Beach area but the more we found out about the area (the big chemical factory 1km towards the North we decided on Chao Loa Beach which doesn't have any factories anywhere near it and clear air as it rains so much.

Ban Chan has a very high childhood leukemia rate, the kids cancer ward in Chonburi is full of kids from there.

I find it amazing Thailand how the Map Ta Put mess continues to be swept under the carpet.

Note, Rayong Beach is south of Map Ta Put, Ban Chan is the town close by.

Really? Care to mention your sources or any links to back up your very spurious claim?

Given that your nic and signature / online persona is just an ad for some beach resort in Chantaburi, you might appear to be trying to drum up business in a very seedy manner. You also don't appear to know where Rayong beach is. Nice job, spammer.

Just for the purposes of clarity the poster also needs to spell the name of the place correctly, its not Ban Chan, it's Ban Chang..

i have notice in pattaya ,some nights at about 3 or 4 am a strong foul odour,i am thinkning it is possible a factory near by releases some gas..with all the factories and refinning plants nearby,who knows,and with the slack regulations in thailand,who knows....

We looked at Rayong Beach area but the more we found out about the area (the big chemical factory 1km towards the North we decided on Chao Loa Beach which doesn't have any factories anywhere near it and clear air as it rains so much.

Ban Chan has a very high childhood leukemia rate, the kids cancer ward in Chonburi is full of kids from there.

I find it amazing Thailand how the Map Ta Put mess continues to be swept under the carpet.

Note, Rayong Beach is south of Map Ta Put, Ban Chan is the town close by.

Map Ta Put is a disgrace.....nothing is ever done to clean this and many other areas up....just the same old cycle....people getting sick...headlines....investigations...then it all goes quiet once again.

Definately a field where reform must take place urgently....no matter who the owners are of these filthy facilities in the region, action must take place.

i have notice in pattaya ,some nights at about 3 or 4 am a strong foul odour,i am thinkning it is possible a factory near by releases some gas..with all the factories and refinning plants nearby,who knows,and with the slack regulations in thailand,who knows....

It will be you farting in your sleep

You do know Maptuphut is nearly 40km away from Pattaya so highly unlikely what you smelt was from this

Rub liberal dose of Tiger Balm on the forehead, all better.

We looked at Rayong Beach area but the more we found out about the area (the big chemical factory 1km towards the North we decided on Chao Loa Beach which doesn't have any factories anywhere near it and clear air as it rains so much.

Ban Chan has a very high childhood leukemia rate, the kids cancer ward in Chonburi is full of kids from there.

I find it amazing Thailand how the Map Ta Put mess continues to be swept under the carpet.

Note, Rayong Beach is south of Map Ta Put, Ban Chan is the town close by.

The reason that people are evacuated to Ban Chang sport field during any instance of gas or chemical leak at Mapthaput s that it is in the opposite direction of the prevailing wind which blows from Mapthaput towards Rayong and is considered a safe option.

Your line about Leukemia is nonsense!.

Careful zoning with industrial and chemical plants downwind and in an area isolated from urban populations is a good idea. Even the zoning in Thai cities allows a greasy motorbike repair shop next to a restaurant. how appetising ! Zoning is not difficult. Heavy industrial. light industrial. Chemical and refinery zones. Consumer shopping. Urban housing. It is a model that is worldwide and easily copied even by a clerk.

Whats with that Thailand ?

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We looked at Rayong Beach area but the more we found out about the area (the big chemical factory 1km towards the North we decided on Chao Loa Beach which doesn't have any factories anywhere near it and clear air as it rains so much.

Ban Chan has a very high childhood leukemia rate, the kids cancer ward in Chonburi is full of kids from there.

I find it amazing Thailand how the Map Ta Put mess continues to be swept under the carpet.

Note, Rayong Beach is south of Map Ta Put, Ban Chan is the town close by.

This gas leak will be swept under the carpet too after a brown envelope change owner during the "investigation"

i have notice in pattaya ,some nights at about 3 or 4 am a strong foul odour,i am thinkning it is possible a factory near by releases some gas..with all the factories and refinning plants nearby,who knows,and with the slack regulations in thailand,who knows....

It will be you farting in your sleep

You do know Maptuphut is nearly 40km away from Pattaya so highly unlikely what you smelt was from this

The "gas" odor in Pattaya is most likely from the (clogged?) open sewers.

I've always been puzzled/amused about the locals seemingly indifference to the stinking sewers.

Yeah, I'll never understand Thainess

We looked at Rayong Beach area but the more we found out about the area (the big chemical factory 1km towards the North we decided on Chao Loa Beach which doesn't have any factories anywhere near it and clear air as it rains so much.

Ban Chan has a very high childhood leukemia rate, the kids cancer ward in Chonburi is full of kids from there.

I find it amazing Thailand how the Map Ta Put mess continues to be swept under the carpet.

Note, Rayong Beach is south of Map Ta Put, Ban Chan is the town close by.

Really? Care to mention your sources or any links to back up your very spurious claim?

Given that your nic and signature / online persona is just an ad for some beach resort in Chantaburi, you might appear to be trying to drum up business in a very seedy manner. You also don't appear to know where Rayong beach is. Nice job, spammer.

I had the same feelings about the post. However, I would have word-smithed my reply to come across as less an attack on the person and more of a dismantling and discrediting of the posting.

Just my two-Satangs. As they say, "Up to you".

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Rub liberal dose of Tiger Balm on the forehead, all better.

I see that Tiger Balm help Thais who think to mut, to mut too

it's nice that a field can save them. i count eight on the field.

i've got one of those masks, i use it to save myself from mosquito fogging. and burning rubbish dumps.

This is very wry

Rayong, apparently the most affluent province in Thailand.

Along with the petrochemical works down there and the oil often see washing up on the beaches, now they have gas leaks ... not to mention the higher levels of serious illness amongst the locals.

As with all things, it seems that money talks and everything else, including people's health comes in at a distant second.

Nasal sticks didn't help?

Rayong, apparently the most affluent province in Thailand.

Along with the petrochemical works down there and the oil often see washing up on the beaches, now they have gas leaks ... not to mention the higher levels of serious illness amongst the locals.

As with all things, it seems that money talks and everything else, including people's health comes in at a distant second.

Are you sure the oil on the beach comes from maptuphut and not from ships washing out their tanks of bilge ?

Rayong, apparently the most affluent province in Thailand.

Along with the petrochemical works down there and the oil often see washing up on the beaches, now they have gas leaks ... not to mention the higher levels of serious illness amongst the locals.

As with all things, it seems that money talks and everything else, including people's health comes in at a distant second.

Are you sure the oil on the beach comes from maptuphut and not from ships washing out their tanks of bilge ?

No, I was just generalizing about the quality of life in the 'most affluent province in Thailand'

I would imagine the oil on the beach could originate from a few sources such as 'bilge tanks' like you said.

I did some work with tank cleaning down in Rayong. Some/most companies are fabulously safety conscious and do a great job.

Others a lot less so.

Chlorine is nothing to be near. It is one one the most deadly chemicals that has most common usage as well. I would not recommend the football pitch. You want to be clear of the area entirely. Go to relatives or spring for a hotel until all clear is given.

Don't let a few baht stand between you and/or your familiy's health.

The odour description seem more like the more toxic Chlorine compound Phosgene, a World War 1 gas!

• Phosgene is a major industrial chemical used to make plastics and pesticides.

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/phosgene/basics/facts.asp

Either way, there have been far too many incidents at this site and it requires far more regulation!

Nasal sticks didn't help?

Mentholated nasal inhalers, aka nasal sticks, are about as helpful in this sad situation as are ill timed quips.