The ASEAN Municipal Solid Waste Management Enhancement (AMUSE) project was launched at the ASEAN regional level on 30 March 2023, in Bali, Indonesia, with project team members from Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand taking part in the event. Representatives from AMUSE’s partners and implementing agencies in Thailand, namely the Pollution Control Department, the Department of Environmental Quality Promotion (DEQP), and Yasothon Municipality joined the event. Participants from other countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Germany were also present, along with the ASEAN Working Group on Environmentally Sustainable Cities.

Uma Srisook, Director of the Public Participation Division of DEQP, and Dr Anchalee Chumnoom, Director of the Public Health and Environment Division of Yasothon Municipality, a model city for municipal solid waste management in the tourism sector of the AMUSE project in the ASEAN region, spoke at the event, presenting Thailand’s sustainable environmental city framework and best practices in waste management in tourist areas of Yasothon Municipality.

(Left) Dr Anchalee Chumnoom, Director of the Public Health and Environment Division, Yasothon Municipality, and (Right) Uma Srisook, Director of the Public Participation Division, DEQP, representing Thailand, were speakers at the regional knowledge exchange forum on municipal solid waste management in the tourism sector.

Uma Srisook, Director of the Public Participation Division, DEQP, Thailand’s focal point of the ASEAN Working Group on Environmentally Sustainable Cities (AWGESC), presented Thailand’s approach to implementing the ASEAN sustainable city framework. She emphasised the importance of integrating the framework with existing environmental and sustainable city policies and plans in Thailand.

Dr Anchalee Chumnoom, Director of the Public Health and Environment Division, Yasothon Municipality, Yasothon Province, presented Yasothon’s achievements as a model city for municipal solid waste management in the tourism sector. The city has received the “ASEAN Tourism Standard” and “ASEAN Clean Tourist City Standard” awards. She shared best practices and examples of solid waste management in Yasothon’s tourism activities. Dr Anchalee emphasised that the success of effective municipal solid waste management lies in having accurate data on waste, such as waste quantity, waste flow routes, and waste composition. Good data lead to precise planning and management of waste issues.

(Left to right) Alvaro Zurita, Director of the AMUSE Thailand project, along with Uma Srisook and Kulcha Thanakhwang, attended the ASEAN Regional AMUSE project’s monitoring and oversight committee meeting

On 31 March 2023, Uma Srisook, representing DEQP, and Kulcha Thanakhwang, Director of the Municipal Solid Waste Division, Waste and Hazardous Substances Management Bureau, Pollution Control Department (PCD), represented Thailand at the ASEAN Regional AMUSE project’s Monitoring and Oversight Committee Meeting, where they provided recommendations on advancing the AMUSE Project in Thailand.

The ASEAN Municipal Solid Waste Management Enhancement project aims to improve environmental quality in small and medium-sized cities in the ASEAN region by optimising waste disposal and recycling. Funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by GIZ, which is partnering with the ASEAN Secretariat and the ASEAN Working Group on Environmentally Sustainable Cities (AWGESC), the project runs from July 2022 to June 2025.