Toxic tide still flows

A tip-off from a US environmental group about more than 200 hazardous waste containers arriving in Thailand this month highlights the urgent need for more decisive government action to prevent the country from becoming the world’s dumping ground for toxic waste.

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It is not the first time that the Seattle-based Basel Action Network (BAN) has provided information about hazardous shipments sent our way.

In August of last year, they issued a warning about two cargo vessels carrying 100 containers of toxic waste from two European countries, bound for Laem Chabang Port in Chon Buri. The alert helped officials block the containers, loaded with toxic furnace dust, at Singapore's deep-sea port and have them returned to their ports of origin.

Last month, police and Department of Industrial Works officials were able to locate six containers loaded with printed circuit board scrap. The containers were shipped from the US to a factory located in the Special Economic Zone in Chon Buri.