The provincial excise office of Sa Kaeo handed smuggled cigarettes and liquor to a local Buddhist temple capable of turning them into effective pesticides that can replace toxic farm chemicals.

Representatives of the Excise Department and the Aranyaprathet district office handed 54,817 packs of smuggled cigarettes and about 2,000 liters of liquor to Phra Athikanphiset Weerapanyo, abbot of Wat B. Grimm in Khlong Thapjan sub-district of Aranyaprathet district, for the production of environment-friendly pesticides.

The legal cases of the smuggled goods that led to combined fines of about 47 million baht were finalized.

They hoped that the pesticide that the Buddhist temple produced could substitute hazardous pesticides that raised health concerns.

Sudjai Khonthat, Sa Kaeo’s excise chief, said his office and the learning center of Wat B. Grimm successfully produced effective pesticides from tobacco and liquor.

Phra Athikanphiset Weerapanyo said the pesticides were produced by soaking tobacco in liquor inside plastic containers for about two weeks. Later water was added to the mixture and the liquid could be sprayed on plants and fruits to effectively scare away pests, the abbot said.

Source: TNA