Bangkok waste dump fire

[Nereus]

This has been going on for the past week. Although it is some distance from where I am, we can smell the smoke in the evening as the wind swings around to the south. In fact, it woke me up a few nights ago at 3-00 am, even with the room closed and the air con on.

But a typical example of what goes on here, and how some just thumb their nose (no pun intended), at the law. It seems that there are laws in place, just like many other examples, but the "system" cannot, or will not, enforce the law. In this case poor people are being exposed to toxic fumes which can and do have long term consequences.

Truth buried under the trash

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/investi ... -the-trash

A hazardous week-long blaze at an illegal landfill site in Samut Prakan has raised serious questions

..........................>

[PeteC]

Another example of a knee jerk reaction after a disaster which may get this particular location closed and cleaned up, but other initiatives will surely be forgotten a few months from now. Things never change. Pete

[Spitfire]

.......which may get this particular location closed and cleaned up.....

Call me cynical, but that might have been exactly the goal the owners have had for a while. Reading the article, it appears they had plans to make it into a factory or something else in the past, and failed. Seems to me they have wanted to move away from the garbage business for some time.......interestingly.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if all this is deliberate and an easy way for whoever really owns the land to get it all squared away, present a "fall-guy" or two to take the rap and get a couple of years in prison plus a fine, have the environmental agency clean the site up, then sell 100 rai off (probably worth a bit) or make a new business on top of it in 5 years when all is done and dusted....plus forgotten.

There is probably much more to this than meets the eye, even on-top-of what was written in the article. I wonder if there was some big insurance policy on the place.

One can only speculate as to the murkiness of such incidents but rarely is anything here as simple as it seems/appears.

[Lung Per]

Another example of a knee jerk reaction after a disaster which may get this particular location closed and cleaned up, but other initiatives will surely be forgotten a few months from now. Things never change. Pete

You are quite right, unfortunately. There are waste disposal systems in the west which turn waste into energy. I know that my home country has offered assistance to Thailand on the subject, but to no avail. It will be a long time before Thais appreciate the need for protecting the environment, if ever.