PHICHIT — 12 November 2026, The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has given the Ban Na Subdistrict Administrative Organization two weeks to submit an action plan for a waste sorting and landfill centre that cost more than 17 million baht ($503.4K) but cannot operate as designed. The local body is also planning a second phase that is expected to cost 48.4 million baht ($1.4M).
Warida Tanboonek, assistant secretary-general of the NACC for Region 6, and Sermsri Boonkhong, director of the NACC Phichit Provincial Office, held a meeting and inspected the site. The site is in Wachirabarami district, Phichit.
The visit followed resolutions by the Phichit provincial committee and the Phichit solid waste and sewage management committee on the phase one project.
When Expectations Clash with Reality
The Ban Na organization has already spent more than 17 million baht ($503.4K) on phase one. The centre was designed as an integrated disposal site, with a waste sorting plant, a refuse-derived fuel (RDF) facility and a semi-aerobic landfill. The organization had aimed to earn up to 300,000-400,000 baht ($8.8K-11.8K) a month from selling recycled waste and fuel.
In practice, the plan has not worked. The project area has become an open waste dump that gives off odor affecting nearby communities. The organization said there is too little waste to sell, the sorting and management system is incomplete, and it lacks both budget and staff.
The NACC team inspected the site with other agencies and found four main problems
Standards: Current waste handling does not meet the requirements for a semi-aerobic landfill, as designed.
Facilities not in use: A wastewater pond and a truck weighbridge have been built and bought but cannot be used because no application has been made to extend the electricity network to the site. The findings say this raises questions over whether the work was properly inspected and accepted and over leaving it idle and wasted.
Flood and leak concerns: Residents worry that wastewater could leak out because the treatment system is not running, especially in the rainy season. The site was previously flood prone.
Further funding: The organization plans a second phase of 10 Zero Waste projects, even though phase one is not yet meeting its goals. It is considering a public-private partnership (PPP), which is still under a feasibility study.
The NACC and Phichit Provincial Office insist to keep a close watch on the project.
The Ban Na organization said that it sprays effective microorganism (EM) solution every Monday and Thursday to keep the odor within 10 meters. It said it is also installing groundwater quality monitoring wells.
The NACC team told the organization to prepare an action plan for managing the site in line with sanitation standards and send it to the NACC Phichit Provincial Office within two weeks.
Finally, The NACC and the Phichit office said they will monitor the project closely. They said they will look at environmental impact, value for money, and transparency in any future partnership with private firms, to prevent loopholes or conditions that could favor
companies.