Thai villagers voice health fears over industrial pollution

Bangkok (AFP) Sept 5, 2010 – Noi Jaitang’s voice is laced with bitter helplessness as he faces the reality that his rural Thai village could once again be engulfed with fumes he blames for a litany of family illnesses. “I don’t understand why they please industry but not the people who were here first. If I could talk to the prime minister, I would tell him to sympathise with us and see our pain,” the 71-year-old said. A year after legal action halted 76 projects at the vast Map Ta Phut industrial estate on Thailand’s eastern seaboard, a court dismissed the case on Thursday and opened the way for a full-scale resumption of works there. Industry expressed relief after the decision, which is expected to end a hiatus that froze billions of dollars of investment and tarnished Thailand’s reputation among international investors. But the activists and villages behind the action have been left angry and bewildered by a ruling they believe does not address health and environmental concerns. Allegations against the plants from nearby villages are grave — record cancer rates and respiratory disease in the area are blamed on a toxic cocktail pumped into the air from the estate. Noi, who blames respiratory problems on the fumes wafting across fields to his house, said his wife has had cancer of the face twice and that his children have been sick from acid rain. …