Local residents say the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate is not just a threat to their health but also to their livelihood, and that it has compromised their safety.

"It is getting more difficult to catch fish and crab around here these days," said Anan Rodpon, 38. "During the past few years, their population has clearly been dwindling."

Anan, a fisherman, has lived near Ta Kuan Canal in Tambon Map Ta Phut.

"The water colour at the mouth of Ta Kuan Canal turns reddish on some days. On other days, it turns whitish. It gives out a foul smell. If we take a dip in the canal, we get rashes," Anan complained.

He said many of his neighbours had decided to move away because they could no longer bear the pollution and its adverse impact on their fishing occupation.

"But I am born here. I have been a fisherman throughout my life. I don't want to change to other jobs. I urge the authorities to help me," Anan said.

Currently, at least 25 communities have been affected by Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate's operations.

Wanna Wongwai, 46, revealed that sand from Laem Rungruang Beach had previously been cleared out to facilitate the industrial estate and local people now had to bear the brunt.

"Now, my house is about to collapse because the sea is threatening to burst in. With all the sand moved away, there is no longer a stretch of beach in front of my house. Waves surge directly into houses along the coastline, and a few of them have already collapsed," she said.

Wanna wants authorities to provide her family with financial assistance so that they can relocate their home to a less risky area.

In a related development, environmentalist Penchom sae Tang said she was against the suggestion that petrochemical factories be moved to the Southern Seaboard Industrial Estate if the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate could not accommodate more factories due to pollution concerns.

Many companies are planning to open new factories in the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate.

"Shifting environmental problems to a new area is not the right solution. The government should first solve the pollution problem at the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate," she said.

The Nation

Rayong