Photo: Bablu Virinder Singh

He manages Thailand's wastewater 

When the tsunami struck Carsten Laugesen became responsible of the construction for three wastewater plants in Thailand. Today he is project manager of a new wastewater treatment plant on Koh Phi Phi.

You can definitely make things happen in south-east Asia. Carsten Laugesen is living proof.

Even though the language of the job is mainly Thai and the prevailing political circumstances are very different to what he is accustomed to, the 45-year-old MA (adm.) from Esbjerg, Denmark, has consolidated his position on the 23rd floor of a high-rise in central Bangkok.

From here he is shaping the foundations on which Thailand's wastewater management can be based in the future.

End of centralised management

Carsten Laugesen started working with the Thai Wastewater Management Authority (WMA) in 2002 in order to develop the organisation's capacity to manage wastewater systems in Thailand.

Photo: Mikkel Rye Christensen


The WMA needed to move away from centralised management and planning of wastewater, which previously prevailed in Thailand, and towards decentralised and less technically advanced systems, which are better suited to local conditions at municipal level.

One way forward

"It was quite a change of paradigm," says Carsten  Laugesen. "When I arrived, the WMA had very little to show on its CV. There was a tradition for large-scale centralised systems, but as most of these systems had failed, the central government had decided not to finance any further wastewater treatment systems."

"There was only one way forward: get out and work with the municipal authorities! So that is what I turned my attention to. Today we have 12 well-founded, decentralised wastewater projects started up around the country. And that is an achievement I am proud of."

With COWI's help the WMA has changed its overall approach and is now fully focused on recommending and applying more appropriate decentralised wastewater management systems in Thailand.

By Mikkel Rye Christensen, mkc@cowi.com  
Published: 8.5.2006

About Carsten Laugesen  
Carsten Laugesen is married and has two daughters with Wasana Laugesen, who is Thai, and therefore a reliable consultant whenever Carsten Laugesen comes up against cultural crossed-wires.

He had previously worked for 2 ½ years in Thailand and 3½ years in Malaysia before embarking upon his current projects.