[puzobok]

Dark cloud over Samut Sakhon
Locals in the province say they are determined to continue the struggle that cost activist Thongnak Sawekjinda his life _ to get state agencies to enforce regulations governing the storage and transport of coal in the province

Published: 4/09/2011 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: Spectrum

At first glance, Chuchai Suddee, wearing dark glasses and chatting with fishermen at the Samut Sakhon Sakhon port where he acts as fish market deputy, looks to be a very large man. But he's not really that big; he's wearing a bullet-proof vest, and for good reason. His friend Thongnak Sawekjinda was shot dead in front of his house at about 10am on July 28 because of his leadership role in opposing the unregulated transport of coal up the Thachin River from the Gulf of Thailand and over Samut Sakhon roadways. The province is dotted with five storage and three separation facilities for imported coal which is used in privately owned factories. The locals say coal dust and smoke released during transport and storage is causing serious health and environmental hazards in the province.


More + pics: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/inve...r-samut-sakhon

[puzobok]

Ayutthaya to fight black menace of coal dust
By Chularat Saengpassa
Pongphon Sarnsamak
The Nation
AyutthayaSamut Sakhon
Published on September 5, 2011

Inspired by the murder of Thongnark Sawekjinda, an activist whose campaign against illegal transport of coal by mills in Samut Sakhon led to his death, residents in Ayutthaya are planning their own fight against a number of local mills which release similar health and environmental hazards.

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The mills are located along the Pa Sak River in two districts and operate day and night discharging black mist from their plants and coal dust fog during transport an ordeal similar to that faced by Samut Sakhon residents, including Thongnark, who fought back through legal means, before being gunned down.

There are now 20 coalfired mills in Ayutthaya and a large number of piers for transporting coal from Indonesia to Bangkok, via the Chao Phraya and Pa Sak Rivers. Much of the 5.6 million tonnes of coal sent here each year is processed and transported to cementmaking factories in neighbouring Saraburi.

The first mills opened 10 years ago, and their number has increased and multiplied the discharge from their operations due to a growing demand for processed coal. Black coal dust is found everywhere in neighbourhood homes. Residents inhale it and many develop respiratory problems.

In every home under the dust and industrial smog from the mills, rainwater is too polluted for consumption, windows are kept shut and all belongings tightly packed and stored to avoid being blackened.

A resident and potential leader of a possible future protest - who asked not to be named out of concern for his life - said he feared more and worse hazards to come from planned fertiliser plants.

He showed the five projected pier sites to accommodate fertiliser plants one of them 120 metres from a school and four others near Wat Phothong one of two Buddhist temples affected heavily by coal mine operations.

[vulikox]

Just put a lid on it and enforce the regulations.