Pattaya is threatening to prosecute Naklua residents if they don’t stop dumping garbage in the Nok Yang Canal and a nearby mangrove forest.
Deputy Mayor Vichien Pongpanit led a team of city workers to investigate the waste problem May 17 after reports a neighboring housing project was encroaching on the canal area and using it as a dump.
Workers cleaned the area and officials urged nearby residents to stop dumping garbage in the area. Those caught will be prosecuted for environmental crimes, city hall vowed.
Environmentalists had sounded the alarm earlier on the problem, but were mostly ignored. The mangrove forest is currently in critical condition, with all of it being turned into a dumping ground, causing even more damage to the ecosystem.
To report anyone dumping garbage call the Pattaya Contact Center at 1337 or inform city officials at Pattaya.go.th.
