The Pollution Control Department (PCD), in collaboration with the Department of Industrial Works (DIW), the Customs Department, representatives of the Governor of Chonburi Province, and Ecological Alert and Recovery – Thailand (EARTH), inspected inbound shipping containers at Laem Chabang Port, Chonburi Province. The shipment was declared as “mixed metal scrap (aluminium scrap)” totaling over 110 tons, but was found to contain electronic waste. Legal procedures were coordinated and the waste was arranged to be returned to its country of origin as soon as possible.

Ms. Preeyaporn Suwanaged, Director General of the Pollution Control Department (PCD), revealed that on 20 May 2025, PCD together with DIW, the Customs Department, and other relevant agencies inspected six inbound containers at Laem Chabang Port, Chonburi Province. Every container was found to contain printed circuit boards contaminated with lead, classified as hazardous waste under the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, and under the Hazardous Substances Act B.E. 2535 (1992), Annex 5.2 “Chemical Wastes” Item 2.18 “Electronic Waste.” The aforementioned waste is considered a type-3 hazardous substance requiring an import permit from DIW and prior informed consent under the Basel Convention. Importing hazardous substances without the consent of the destination country constitutes illegal transboundary movement of hazardous waste under the Basel Convention. As the United States has not ratified this Convention, it is not entitled to export hazardous waste to Parties to the Convention, including Thailand. As Thailand’s national focal point for the Basel Convention, PCD will notify the Basel Convention Secretariat and coordinate with DIW to inform the competent authorities of the United States to take legal actions, including considering the repatriation of the hazardous waste to its country of origin as soon as possible, to prevent illegal waste imports into Thailand, Ms. Preeyaporn stated.