arch50

Fishermen sort their morning catch at Pak Nam harbour located just a few kilometers away from Map Tha Phut industrial estate. The fishermen often complain that the quantity of fish they are able to catch has diminished substantially over the years. In January 2022, an oil spill, the second in 10 years, hit the coastal region of Rayong Province, an area of Thailand east of Bangkok. Home to Thailand's Eastern Economic Corridor (E.E.C) which includes Thailand's largest coal-powered power-plant BCLP and Map Tha Phut industrial estate. The spill caused by a leaking under-sea pipe, only added to local fishermen's woes. For years they have been suffering the impact of increasing coastal pollution and expanding industrial estates that have significantly affected their ability to catch fish. The spill also made the public perception of seafood caught in this area very negative. Confronted with such repeating industrial accidents and pollution issues, fishermen have created networks and environmental groups and turned into citizen scientists to document the long-lasting impacts by collecting water samples and photographing oil washed onto shore and anomalies in the fish they catch. Now they are demanding transparency in the operations of their expanding industrial neighbors by using this data and through protests.