Abstract
A Situation on Environement and Health in Thailand The population of Thailand has increased from 26 million to 62 million in the past 40 years. The increase had led to tremendous activities in economic and social development such as the development of land, agriculture and farming, fishery, energy, industries, transportation and tourism. These developments resulted in climatic change and environmental problems including physical chemical biological and social environment. Unplanned industrialization and urbanization, and the influx of rural population into cities had created environmental pollution and social stress in those area. Bangkok, the capital city with an estimated population of 10 million, and provinces in vicinity are facing problems of air, water, land, and noise pollution, hazardous substances and waste, food hygiene, unsafe housing and workplace. These environmental pollutants may enter human body either by eating, breathing, or skin contact. Health impact may vary from annoyance to discomfort, mild symptoms, severe illnesses, injury, disability, or death, depending on several factors such as type and amount of pollutants, exposure time and route of entry. Mortality statistics of Thai population during B.E. 2534 – 2541 indicated that hearth disease was the highest cause of death throughout the period, followed by cancers, accidents, poisoning-intoxication, blood hypertension and stroke, injury/suicide/murdered, pneumoconiosis and other lung diseases, liver and pancreas diseases, and kidney disease. For infectious diseases, the highest illness was diarrhea, followed by pneumonia, hemorrhagic fever, food poisoning, malaria, salmonellosis-shigellosis, influenza, tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases, and measles. Among these leading deaths and illnesses, there are several diseases that could be caused by exposure to either individual or multiple pollutants of physical, chemical, biological form and social factors. However, it is always difficult to pin point the exact causative environmental or social factors. This is due to the incomplete or unknown exposure history and the complexity of dose-response mechanisms of those factors on physiological change and etiologies of diseases, cancer, for example. Nevertheless, the results from animal studies could be cautiously extrapolated to human for the sake of prevention and control of adverse health effects and sustainable socio-economic development.
