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By Root 4151 0

one of the most polluted cities in the world with at least a million Bangkok residents suffering from respiratory problems or allergies triggered by air pollution. However, over the past couple years Bangkok has dramatically cut back on air pollution and become a role model in Asia for its remarkable efforts. Even as the number of cars on Bangkok’s roads rose by 40%, the average level of air pollution was cut by 47%, placing Bangkok’s air quality within permissible standards for cities in the USA.

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There are over five million registered cars in Bangkok.

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CHAMPION OF THE FOREST: SEUB NAKASATHIEN

Civil servants, no matter their dedication, rarely leave a legacy beyond their professional circle. But Seub Nakasathien turned his salaried position with the Royal Forest Department into an inspiration for stewardship.

In the mid-1970s, Seub Nakasathien began working for the Wildlife Conservation Division of the Royal Forest Department (RFD) at a small wildlife sanctuary in Chonburi Province, where he first encountered the impediments to conservation in Thailand’s parks: underpaid staff charged with protecting the forests from exploitative interests, often acting with consent from forestry officials. Many low-rung employees chose to avoid conflict (that could often result in death) by overlooking blatantly illegal activity. Seub managed to find a middle path in which he earned the respect of both his peers and his adversaries.

After completing a master’s degree in environmental conservation overseas, Seub returned to Thailand and was promoted to the chief management position at Huay Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary in 1989. This remote sanctuary is on the border with Myanmar and is one of the hot spots for illegal logging and wildlife poaching. In an attempt to block an RFD-supported logging concession, Seub appealed to Unesco to designate the Thung Yai/Huay Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary a World Heritage Site.

The sanctuary was approved for World Heritage status a year later but by then Seub had resigned from his struggles by taking his own life in September 1990, or at least it is popularly believed that his death was suicide. Prior to his death, he donated his research gear to a wildlife centre and built a shrine dedicated to the park rangers who had given their lives to protect Huay Kha Khaeng. He was adopted as a martyr and hero of Thailand’s environmental movement in the 1990s, and the Seub Foundation (www.seub.or.th, in Thai) established in his memory continues the work of conservation and protection for park rangers who stand up to illegal activities.

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Chiang Mai, Thailand’s second largest city, is also heading towards air pollution issues due to traffic pressures and further augmented by agricultural burning and household rubbish fires, but this city could turn the situation around if it made a commitment similar to Bangkok’s.

Water pollution varies according to region but is, as would be expected, most acute in the Bangkok metropolitan area because of the relatively high concentration of factories, particularly east of the city. Chemical run-off from agribusiness, coastal shrimp farming and untreated sewage also pollutes groundwater and coastal areas.

ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANISATIONS

There are a number of nongovernmental organisations (NGO) working on rural- and forest-related issues in Thailand, especially environmental justice regarding minority hill tribes. International funding, research and policy organisations are typically headquartered in Bangkok. Along the Gulf and Andaman coasts are informal village associations that regard the ocean as their backyard and periodically orchestrate beach clean-ups or animal rescues. The following activist or research organisations work on environmental and conservation issues in Thailand. For information on environmental volunteer opportunities, Click here.

Bird Conservation Society of Thailand (0 2691 4816; www.bcst.or.th/eng) Works to preserve birding sites through public and government outreach.

Friends of Asian Elephant