Dangerous chemicals found hidden in Ayutthaya communities

Officials from the Industry Ministry have joined forces with the police to inspect a warehouse and a rented house in two tambons of Ayutthaya’s Bang Pa-in district, where they discovered an assortment of dangerous chemicals stored without permission.

The raids, conducted on Tuesday, 11 March, resulted in the seizure of a large quantity of hazardous chemicals, allegedly smuggled in by the Chinese firm Jianhong Chemical (Thailand) Co Ltd. The chemicals were found at a rented warehouse in Tambon Chiang Rak Noi and a rented house in Tambon Ban Sang.

Industry Minister Akanat Prompphan disclosed the results of the operation on Thursday.

Akanat stated that his aide, Thitipas Chotedechachainan, led officials from the Industrial Works Department and the Ayutthaya Industrial Works Office in raiding the two locations following tip-offs from local residents. The raids were carried out with the assistance of local police, officers from the Environmental Crime Suppression Division, and the Customs Department.

Local residents had noticed trucks transporting large quantities of what were feared to be dangerous chemicals to the warehouse and rented house, prompting them to alert the provincial industrial works office.

At the warehouse, which was rented by Qianxun Zhao, an executive of the firm, authorities found 1,794 bags of hazardous chemicals, including sodium sulphide, sodium hydroxide, polyferric sulphate, citric acid, aluminium chloride, and sodium chloride.

Thitipas said the bags bore Customs Department stamps, indicating that they had been seized as dangerous chemicals imported without permission.

The warehouse raid also uncovered several other hazardous chemicals that cannot be possessed without authorisation from the Industrial Works Department, including:

• 101 containers (25 litres each) of hydrogen peroxide
• 183 bags (25 kg each) of sodium hydroxide
• 28 bags (25 kg each) of sodium chlorate

Thitipas said authorities suspected that the chemicals found at the warehouse were linked to the seizure of hazardous chemicals discovered on 21 February at a warehouse in Tambon Khan Ham, Ayutthaya’s Uthai district.

Following further tip-offs from local residents, officials later discovered 144 containers (25 litres each) of dangerous chemicals at a rented house in Tambon Ban Sang.

Thitipas stated that some of the chemicals could be used as precursors for manufacturing methamphetamine.

As the Chinese firm was unable to provide the required permits for importing and storing the dangerous chemicals, its owner could face a maximum prison sentence of two and a half years and a fine of up to 250,000 baht.