Ailing teenager wish to returnn to school

For the past year, Supattra Toyam, 15, has been suffering from severe allergic symptoms, which she says is caused by air pollution from Rayong's Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate.

Now, following the Administra- tive Court's declaration of a pollution control zone in the area, she hopes her symptoms will ease and she can go back to school before long.

"I have been wishing for a year that some day I could go back to school and continue my education," she said.

Supattra has suffered from allergies since she was born, but her symptoms began to get severe |after many factories were established in Map Ta Phut and released fumes into the air. Currently more than 1,752 surround villages like hers.

The declaration, announced by the Rayong Administrative Court on March 3, now requires stricter enforcement of environmental measures and toxic control solutions in Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate and its environs.

This, Supattra hopes, will improve environment quality and help her to breathe the fresh air to ease her symptoms.

"The doctor told me that I could go back to school when my symptoms improve, but I don't know when," she added.

Supattra explained that during the past year, she had been taken out of school and admitted to hospital several times.

"Whenever I sniff a bad smell, released from Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate every evening, I get sore throat and skin irritation," she said.

In the past, she had to take a pill every other day, but now she has to take at least 20 tablets a day.

As a side effect, her weight increased from 25 kg to 48 kg, she said. "Unfortunately, the doctor does not allow me to do any exercise. That's why I am fat."

While studying at school - Mathayom Suksa 2 of Map Ta Phut Phan School - Supattra collapsed several times, especially in the physical education class.

So her aunt, with whom Supattra lives, told teachers her niece could not stay in the sunlight for long periods or exercise in the physical education class.

A teacher then asked her to quit the school and did not let her to pass to a higher level. "I was crying because I did not understand why the teacher had to ask me to leave," she said.

For the past year, Supattra has been spending a lot of time reading books in her small room and walking around the house. Sometimes she plays with friends and neighbours.

"I really want to study at school. I try to read many books every day then I could have knowledge like my friends in the higher level at the school. I think about this every day," she said.

According to a Public Health Ministry study in 2007, Map Ta Phut residents continue to face higher health risks. It found patients with respiratory disease had increased 88 per cent and skin disease incidence had increased 57 per cent.

Check-ups conducted on 2,177 residents between June and August in 2007 showed that of the residents in 25 communities around the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate, 329 had abnormally high levels of benzene in their bodies. Long-term exposure to benzene can cause leukaemia.

Other studies conducted by Silpakorn University scientists also showed that almost half of the 404 Map Ta Phut residents participating in the study exhibited DNA damage from cancer-causing agents.

The survey conducted by the Department of Pollution Control found that over 20 types of volatile organic chemicals have spread around Map Ta Phut. The level of these chemicals exceeded standards set by US environmental agencies.