First, the monks began to cough. Then they vomited. When the incinerators burned, their headaches raged. https://t.co/1zwy9EVmkB— New York Times World (@nytimesworld) December 8, 2019
In October of this year, the Thai legislature unveiled loosened labor and environmental regulations for all factories, a move that has benefited the e-waste industry. Under one provision, small companies are no longer subject to pollution monitoring.
At the same time, a draft bill that would ensure tighter control over Thailand’s electronic waste industry has languished in legislative purgatory.
“Thailand is welcoming environmental degradation with its own laws,” said Somnuck Jongmeewasin, a lecturer in environmental management at Silpakorn University International College. “There are so many loopholes and ways to escape punishment.”
The consequences are frightening.
If some types of electronic waste aren’t incinerated at a high enough temperature, dioxins, which can cause cancer and developmental problems, infiltrate the food supply. Without proper safeguarding, toxic heavy metals seep into the soil and groundwater.
Locals who fought against the deluge of trash have been attacked.
“Why don’t you in the West recycle your own waste?” said Phayao Jaroonwong, a farmer east of Bangkok, who said her crops had withered after an electronic waste factory moved in next door.
“Thailand can’t take it anymore,” she said. “We shouldn’t be the world’s dumping ground.”
Phra Chayaphat Kuntaweera, a Buddhist abbot, has watched as several waste-processing factories opened around his temple. Two more are under construction.
First, the monks began to cough, he said. Then they vomited. When the incinerators burned, their headaches raged.
“Monks are people, too,” he said. “We get sick from the fumes just like anyone else.”
A landfill in Krok Sombun, east of Bangkok.Credit...Bryan Denton for The New York Times
Earlier this year, the abbot put a sign in front of his temple in Khao Hin Sorn, east of Bangkok.
“Cheap temple for sale,” the banner read, blaming “fumes from burning factories” for the desperate measure.
At King Aibo Electronics Scrap Treatment Center, one of the factories near the temple, schedules written in Chinese note the dates that shipments will be arriving. The three workers in the office on a recent visit were all Chinese.
“We know that Chinese people set up factories in Thailand,” said Mr. Banjong of the industrial works department. But he said that since the ban on electronic waste was instituted, “we are more strict.”
King Aibo is one of the factories that began operations this year.
Other factories never shut down, despite repeated infractions.
One, Set Metal, was ordered to shut in April 2018, officials said. It never had a license to import electronic waste, and locals complained about the stench.
But on a recent visit, a Thai-Chinese interpreter, speaking through a gate, said the company was open for business, even if some operations had moved to a nearby village. Behind him, containers overflowed with electronic waste. About 100 Burmese workers live on the factory’s grounds.
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