Plastic waste fire smothers village in acrid smoke

by Prasit Tangprasert

Firefighters are struggling to control a major fire at a plastic waste-separating factory in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Noen Sung district which began on Wednesday afternoon and is still not completely completely extinguished. Nakhon Ratchasima is the gateway to the north-east, heading out of Bangkok.Villagers in Ban Don Ree and Ban Som say they are worried about the health impact from the acrid smoke. Some residents have already moved to stay elsewhere.

Disaster Prevention and Mitigation officials are investigating to determine the cause of the fire.

The fire broke out at around 3pm on Wednesday at the abandoned plastic waste factory in Ban Don Ree in Tambon Don Chomphu where hundreds of tonnes of plastic waste were ignited.

Over 10 fire engines responded to the factory, which was abandoned nearly a decade ago as the previous owner reportedly faced a bankruptcy lawsuit and the property was passed onto a bank.