Thailand Wants US to Clean up its Toxic Mess

["cpeo@cpeo.org" <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

This is a more recent article from GNET's web site regarding the Agent
Orange in Thailand.

http://www.gnet.org/Coldfusion/News_Page2.cfm?NewsID=7520

Thailand Wants US to Clean Up its Toxic Mess
EarthVision Reports

06/07/99

BANGKOK, June 7, 1999 - The Government of Thailand is cleaning out its
Lost and Found Department and has come up with several barrels of Agent
Orange the US Military misplaced during its Vietnam War operations. The
substance, which is highly toxic, was apparently lost under the taxiway of
Bor Fai airport in the southern resort of Hua Hin. Kyodo News reported that
scientific analysis of the material indicated it contains derivatives of
2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetate and 2,4,5-Trichlorophenoryacetate - two
substances used in Agent Orange -
which was used during the war to wipe out trees and forests to prevent
them being used for cover. Saksit Tridech, director general of the
Pollution Control Department, told reporters that the Thai Government
needs the assistance of the US Government in cleaning up the mess.
According to the article, the US Embassy in Bangkok has so far declined to
comment, saying it was better to wait for chemical analysis by its
Environmental Protection Agency, which collected soil samples recently to
test in the US.

According to the article, which quotes sources at the Pollution Control
Department of Thailand, the US military conducted research and
experiments on defoliants between 1964 and 1965 in the southern province of
Prachuabkhirikhan where the airport is located.