US-AEP COUNTRY ASSESSMENT:
Kingdom of Thailand
ACRONYMS
- BOI Board of Investments
- EIA Environmental impact assessment
- EQPD: Environmental Quality Promotion
Department
- ISO: International Organization for
Standardization
- MOI: Ministry of Industry
- MOSTE: Ministry of Science, Technology, and
Environment
- NEB: National Environmental Board
- NEQA: National Environmental Quality Act
- NGO: Nongovernmental organization
- OEPP: Office of Environmental Policy and
Planning
- PCD: Pollution Control Department
- US-AEP: United States-Asia Environmental
Partnership
- USAID: United States Agency for International
Development
1. ECONOMIC PROFILE
Demographic Conditions and
Trends
With a population of 60 million, the dominant
demographic shift has occurred from rural to urban areas and to Bangkok in
particular. As late as 1970, about 80 percent of the population consisted of
small farmers.1 Population growth rates declined from 1984 to
1994 from 1.9 to 1.3 percent, but urban areas, notably Bangkok, have grown
steadily. By the year 2025 approximately 70 percent of Thailand's population
is expected to be urban.2
Thailand has maintained a high literacy rate (93
percent), although it has suffered from low secondary education enrollment,
which hampers the enhancement of its skilled work force.3
Economic Conditions and Trends
Between 1965 and 1990, Thailand's gross national
product per capita grew at 4.4 percent per year, ranking Thailand as eighth
among the middle-income countries measured by the World Bank.4
Agriculture has had a continually declining share of gross domestic product
(from 32 percent to 12 percent); manufactured exports have increasingly
exceeded agricultural exports since 1985.5 Food, textiles,
chemicals, fabricated products, and machinery have been the predominant
industries.6 Inflation has so far been fairly well controlled;
until the mid-1990s rates were among the lowest in the developing world.7
Although all regions of the country have increased
economic benefits, it is the Bangkok metropolitan region that has prospered
the most; annual per capita income in the northeast is 30 percent that of
the Bangkok region.8
Skilled labor shortages mean that, at the same time
that Thailand pursues economic development demanding increasingly high
levels of technology, it must also establish a trained workforce,9
while trying to contain rising labor costs. Government efforts in the 1990
have so far been successful in curbing inflation and expanding exports.
Thailand is expected to continue growing at a relatively high rate, although
growth in 1996 was down from previous levels.
2. ENVIRONMENTAL PROFILE
Industrial and Environmental
Development Background
Thailand's stages of development were marked in the
1960s by import replacement, in the 1970s by labor intensity, and in the
1980s by export industry.10 In the 1990s it has so far been
characterized by support for high technology, low labor intensity, and
value-added growth. Since the 1973 popular uprising that toppled the
governing military regime, competitive elections and democratic government
have, with some interruptions, been the norm.11 Industrial
development has been spurred by private not public investment; central
government expenditure, as a percentage of gross national product at 15.1
percent in 1989, is far lower than other countries in the region.12
But although the proportion of government-owned enterprises is low, private
Thai ownership of large businesses has been high.13 Thai firms
have also made important investments in Indonesia, Vietnam, China, and the
United States.14 Direct foreign investment in Thailand is
important but nevertheless lower than in other countries in the region.15
Environmental Conditions
With Thailand's rapid development has come severe
and widespread environmental problems that have captured media and public
attention. During the 1980s much of the environmental concern focused on the
rapid loss of forests from the 1960s into the 1990s and the environmental
impacts of coastal development and pollution. Energy-environment conflicts
arose on hydroelectric dam proposals affecting natural ecosystems,
eventually prompting legislation favoring energy conservation.
Environmental Trends
During the 1990s urban and industrial environmental
trends have become increasingly critical. Bangkok has developed rapidly with
limited state planning or intervention and policies that emphasized private
sector and capitalist approaches to growth. Now Bangkok is notoriously
traffic clogged,16 resulting in recognized health as well as
economic costs,17 and the number of vehicles is increasing daily.
Its polluted waterways have highlighted the need for vast new investment in
infrastructure; only 2 percent of Bangkok's 10 million people are served by
sewers. Solid waste disposal and the need for recycling have become public
concerns because the collection of 8,000 tons per day�which will rise
quickly to 10,000 tons�is overwhelming existing landfills.18 The
number of hazardous waste_generating industries has risen from 631 in 1969
to 51,500 in 1990; the number of potential hazardous waste generators has
more than doubled between 1979 and 1989.19 The result is an
increasingly severe problem for the public as well as for industry,20
one that, given community pressures, must be handled in on-site facilities.
Although the environmental problems in Thailand
extend nationwide, Greater Bangkok is taking the brunt of their costs. As
one government official put it, "The direction is quite clear, Bangkok is
now a problem, with allergies, noise, and general environmental degradation.
Environment is now a big issue with the people."21
3. GOVERNMENT
In 1992, with passage of the Enhancement and
Conservation of Environmental Quality Act,22 the Thai government
proposed a newly active role in integrating environmental management with
urban and industrial development. Although fulfillment of that objective
will require increasing commitments of human and financial resources and
time, the policy shift has profoundly affected the government's environment
and industrial ministries and agencies.
Key Ministries
The new National Environmental Quality Act of 1992
(NEQA) addressed the weak structure of environmental management by creating
a new Ministry of Science, Technology, and Environment (MOSTE) with
standard-setting and enforcement authority and a new, cabinet-level National
Environment Board (NEB) representing all major ministries and headed by the
prime minister with the deputy prime minister and minister of MOSTE as vice
chairs. (The Ministry of Industry and Board of Investment also influence
environmental policy in Thailand as discussed below.)
National Environmental Board. The prime
minister is an active head of the interministerial NEB.23 It has
statutory authority to approve environmental quality standards; approve
action plans; recommend actions to the cabinet regarding monetary, fiscal,
or other policy measures for implementing NEQA; and supervise management and
administration of the environmental fund, among other authorities.24
Ministry of Science, Technology, and Environment.
MOSTE is responsible for three state enterprises25 and nine
departments, three of which are directed by NEQA to carry out functions that
may be added to by NEB. The latter three are the Office of Environment
Policy and Planning, the Pollution Control Department, and the Environmental
Quality Promotion Department. MOSTE also manages the environmental fund on
behalf of NEB.
� The Office of Environmental Policy and
Planning (OEPP) within MOSTE has taken over most of the work of the
former, less elevated NEB.26 OEPP is growing; about 500 million
baht27 comes in every year, thanks to the Environmental Fund
established under NEQA.28 Overall, the fund has some 7 billion
baht available. These funds go to government agencies and local
governments for wastewater facilities, loans to the private sector for
pollution control and management, and approved nongovernmental
organization (NGO) activities. OEPP now has 200 permanent staff. Although
OEPP's budget has increased from 300 million to 2 billion baht in three
years and it has more equipment, it has half the people it did five years
ago. One consequence is that more work needs to be contracted out.29
OEPP's highest priorities are water and air
pollution, emphasizing water recycling and reduction of air emissions. Its
operating premises are that standards must be met and no change can occur
in downstream uses by project pollution loading. Despite immense tasks
ahead, the prevailing sense at OEPP is that progress is being made, partly
because MOSTE and MOI are cooperating in their environmental goals
under a jointly chaired "coordinating committee" involving other agencies
as well.30
� The Pollution Control Department (PCD)
has, among other functions,31 authority to set pollution
standards for NEB approval and carries out enforcement actions in
cooperation with and with power to supersede MOI.32 The
standards are tough and require polluters to treat up to 90 percent of
their waste and to establish treatment plants.33 Enforcement,
however, has not been stringent, although improving.34 To carry
out its enforcement and other duties,35 PCD has 300 permanent
and 200 temporary staff and intends to increase by another 400_500 by the
year 2000.36 Its budget has increased since 1992 from 50
million to 800 million baht in 1996.37 For PCD, as for other
parts of MOSTE, staff quality at lower than the top levels is the biggest
problem. Especially needed are environmental engineers, who get three
times their government salary in the private sector. Work must be
contracted out to cope with the problem. Significantly, however, MOSTE has
earmarked substantial resources for overseas fellowships to improve its
human resources.38
As NEQA requires, PCD has established
pollution control areas to control, reduce, or eliminate pollution in
localities where it threatens human health or environmental quality.39
PCD supports NEB by helping localities to draft and implement their action
plans and providing government support for required facilities.40
� The Environmental Quality Promotion
Department (EQPD) primarily conducts public education and awareness
programs, including work with ecological camps for young people, recycling
campaigns, and media programs. EQPD manages a research and training center
funded by the Japanese. It also oversees relations with and helps build
the capacity of environmental NGOs. Sixty-five environmental NGOs have so
far been officially registered and certified by the department for NEB
after demonstrating their past work in the field. These NGOs can receive
support from the Environmental Fund, which now offers 100 million baht
annually.41
The Ministry of Industry. MOI has six
departments and six state enterprises. It works closely with MOSTE but has
a substantially larger budget. MOI is increasingly emphasizing ways to
reduce waste and not to focus on a command and control approach alone.42
It shares with MOSTE an interest in applying market-based incentives,43
building on its limited experience with effluent charges.44 MOI
recognizes, with MOSTE, that the regulatory management measures heretofore
exclusively applied by PCD under NEQA have proved too stringent and
expensive for the 80,000 small- and medium-sized factories in Thailand. As
a step in a new direction for large industries, a new plan for industry in
the Bangkok area will require a minimum plant size and will emphasize
pollution prevention first and pollution control second.45
MOI is planning a clean production information
center for operation next year with government funding and help from
the Danish and German governments. Its purpose is to introduce clean
production into Thai industry as a matter of MOI policy, focusing on what
technologies are cleaner sector by sector for tanneries,
textiles, and electronics. They are also establishing with Japanese help a
Water Reuse Promotion Center as part of the Clean Production Center to
help reduce and recycle water in food processing, pulp and paper, and
textile industries. A key question to be addressed is what kinds of
government policies or approaches, such as subsidies or fee structures,
will make clean technology sustainable?
� The Department of Industrial Works
monitors and enforces standards on industrial operations and has the
authority to revoke a factory's operating license. This department looks
inside the plant, whereas PCD's enforcement focuses on what comes out of
the pipe.46
To help MOI find ways to dispose of existing and
increasing quantities of hazardous industrial waste,47 the
Department of Industrial Works will shortly update the output figures last
gathered seven years ago. Hazards are posed by existing industrial areas,
such as the Samut Prakarn area west of Bangkok, which has 300_400
factories and no adequate sites for hazardous waste disposal. Together
with rising quantities of hazardous materials, some believe that this
issue should receive Thailand's highest priority in industrial pollution
management.48 A plan for six new hazardous waste incinerators
is being developed, but it must address rising community
opposition to siting; hence, sites are being proposed inside industrial
estates.
� The Thai Industrial Standards Institute
has a staff of 500 engaged in several topics of key interest to the
U.S.-Asia Environmental Partnership (US-AEP). One is the institute's work
with the Thailand Environmental Institute in developing the Green Label
program.49 The Thai Industrial Standards Institute is also
actively engaged in promoting and supporting ISO (International
Organization for Standardization) 14000. The institute represents Thailand
at ISO; its National Accreditation Council was established as the
governmental body authorized to certify firms under the Thai Industrial
Standards for ISO 9000 and now ISO 14000. The institute will adopt the
English version (with a Thai summary) of these latter standards. A pilot
program of the institute will train ten companies in getting certified,
step by step, during ten months.50 It has also trained ISO
14000 trainers.51 The institute is particularly concerned about
small- and medium-sized enterprises and how they can upgrade themselves
for ISO certification.52
� The Industrial Estates Authority of Thailand
runs twenty-three industrial estates containing 1,000, mostly large
factories53; the authority is responsible for enforcement.54
Estates are either owned and managed by the authority, joint ventures with
a private developer, or wholly managed and owned by private developers.55
Only the first two categories receive incentives and government
promotional privileges from the Industrial Estates Authority of Thailand.
The Board of Investment, in the Prime
Minister's Office, is the primary agency responsible for providing fiscal
and nonfiscal incentives that stimulate investment in Thailand56
and, most recently, for helping Thai firms invest in Association of
Southeast Asian Nations and other countries in the region.
BOI is closely linked to MOI and MOSTE through
overlapping board memberships of government officials. BOI's policy
focuses today on high technology industries, low-polluting or
pollution-controlled industries,57 and the location of industry
outside of Bangkok.58 Clean technology is not in itself a high
priority now, but getting industry out of Bangkok is. The program of
incentives and privileges for areas outside Bangkok include incentives for
foreign investment in export production or, if in the most remote
industrial zone, domestic markets. Privileges, including tax exemption for
five to eight years, are offered for investors locating in estates with
pollution controls.59
Other Government Agencies
Concerned with Pollution Control
Enforcement of environmental regulations and
requirements is handled by numerous ministries, departments, and divisions.
In addition to MOI, the Ministry of Interior's Public Works Department
regulates municipal wastewater treatment facilities outside of Bangkok,
whereas the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority handles the Bangkok area.
The Ministry of Public Health's Department of Health
implements its own enforcement program concerning any danger to the public.
In addition, the Police Department and the Land Transport
Department share some enforcement responsibilities. The Ministry of
Finance oversees the government's fiscal matters. It works in
cooperation with other ministries on a variety of fiscal programs intended
to reduce pollution.
4. POLICIES AND LAWS
Prior to passage of NEQA in 1992, Thailand had
generally weak environmental legislation; environment had been only
tangentially addressed in various five-year plans, beginning with the Fourth
National Economic and Social Development Five-Year Plan in the late 1970s.
By the time of the Sixth Plan a decade later, when the National Economic and
Social Development Board was in its ascendancy, pollution management was
receiving modest attention, although natural resource extraction remained
the guiding force behind economic growth. The Seventh Plan, however, placed
high priority on pollution. Evidently, economic achievement had allowed more
people to be concerned about the quality of life.60 As the
economy became more globalized, increasing pressure was felt from the
international community through businesses as well as donors. The new Eighth
Plan, now under preparation, will include a new financial component,
encourage citizens and communities to bring pressure on polluters, and
commit to the opportunities and needs presented by ISO 14000.61
Environmental Policies and Laws
Thailand has recently added environmental
provisions to its Constitution.62 A number of laws have addressed
toxics and energy. The 1992 NEQA and 1992 Amendments to the Factories Act,
however, provided Thailand with a new and more vigorous approach to its
industrial pollution and related environmental problems. This legislation
strengthened setting, planning, and enforcement of environmental standards;
established a cabinet and high-level interministerial governmental focus on
environment; and provided a partially self-sustaining environmental fund for
local government and industrial pollution management investments and
environmental NGO support.63 The Hazardous Substances Act of
1992, implemented by the Ministry of Industries, is another set of key
regulations affecting use of dangerous substances and responsibilities for
their effects.64
Public Information Policies and
Laws
Thailand is gradually adopting practices that
foster more open disclosure of information on industrial pollution and
government regulatory actions.65 NEQA includes a provision for
information to the public, but it is discretionary, not mandatory.66
To support further engagement of environmental NGOs, the act also provides
for assistance to environmental NGOs through the environmental fund.67
A key provision of NEQA concerns implementation of
the environmental impact assessment (EIA) requirement. Whereas EIAs had
previously been prepared after projects had been approved by the National
Economic and Social Development Board, now approximately 90 percent of EIAs
go into review along with project feasibility studies. Although OEPP and NEB
do not reject private projects unless the location is unacceptable, projects
are nevertheless subject to modification. EIAs are prepared for a specified
list of projects with somewhat different procedures for government and
private projects.68 The statute does not, however, require the
public availability of the EIA, although the documents are apparently made
available to the public for review in the OEPP library.69
Industrial Policies and Laws
EIAs are prepared on industrial operations seeking
BOI privileges and must be certified by MOSTE and MOI to receive privileges
or other tax incentives. EIAs on industrial estates are a potential
opportunity for addressing clean technology and pollution management as well
as effective public disclosure of industrial pollution information. At
present, no public information is available on industrial pollution other
than what might come from an EIA available to the public on a plant
operation.
As a party to the Montreal Protocol, Thailand must
eliminate use of chlorofluorocarbons by 2000. The effect on industry means a
quest and market for safe substitutes for the 15,000 tons of
chlorofluorcarbons it imports each year.70
Legal and Policy Developments
of Particular Relevance to Industrial and Urban Environmental Management
Two developments are particularly relevant to
US-AEP. First, public disclosure of information on industrial
activities is a topic of concern within the Thai government and the Thai
Environmental Institute, as well as for the media and other NGOs. A trend to
greater disclosure of information to the public is evident. The Parliament
is also considering a community right-to-know act, already approved by the
cabinet, that will address some of these issues.71 Second, the
Thai government and nonprofit and industry groups are also increasingly
interested in market-based incentives to supplement and in some cases
substitute for the command and control approach. The Eighth Plan, for
example, will show the trend toward support for voluntary compliance,
particularly ISO 14000.
5. THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT AND
INFRASTRUCTURE
Infrastructure development is one of Thailand's
most pressing needs; the growth of its industries depends on it. More than
80 percent of the industrial water supply of industries concentrated in and
around Bangkok is taken from wells rather than public water supply systems,
causing severe salt water intrusion. Water supplies for industrial growth on
the eastern seaboard is also falling behind demand. Wastewater treatment and
solid waste management systems are badly needed throughout the country,
particularly in and around Bangkok.
Water Supply
Thailand is slowly moving toward greater private
sector participation in providing clean drinking water. Although full cost
pricing is gaining favor, water is still subsidized, because rates do not
cover operating and maintenance costs. The Provincial Waterworks Authority
recently solicited bids for Thailand's first private build-own-transfer
water project in the Pathum Thani/Rangsit region. Four more are expected.
Together the five privatized water supply projects are estimated to be worth
$152 million.**
Wastewater
The government is investing heavily in wastewater
treatment; more than $1.63 billion dollars has gone into planned wastewater
and sewerage projects by PCD, another $85 million in projects
by OEPP, and $165 million in projects by the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority.72
A new Wastewater Management Agency is being established with assistance from
the Asian Development Bank to handle wastewater collection and treatment
nationwide. It will begin with responsibility for Bangkok and the five
surrounding provinces with a later extension to cover the rest of the
country.73 Pricing issues remain; currently, no effective ways
exist to enforce sewage fees because services cannot be shut off.
Solid Waste
The Bangkok Metropolitan Authority estimates that
Bangkok generates a total of 6,600_8,300 tons of solid waste per day, of
which 5,000 tons will be disposed of in sanitary landfills operated by
private companies. The authority is investigating new incineration projects
and various other waste disposal techniques and is particularly interested
in advanced U.S. waste-to-energy technology. To address issues outside
Bangkok, PCD has commissioned two studies for privatizing regional solid
waste management for the five surrounding provinces and the eastern
seaboard.
Hazardous Waste
Thailand, like other countries, faces the problem
of increasing hazardous waste; at present, only one central hazardous waste
treatment facility is in operation, serving mostly textile and
electroplating industries.74 Policy questions involve community
concerns about the location of new hazardous waste treatment facilities;
practical questions involve adequate enforcement of hazardous waste
regulations that will provide a reliable stream of waste to these
facilities. Nevertheless, one of the first private environmental
infrastructure projects underway concerns hazardous waste.75
6. PRIVATE SECTOR AND ACADEMIA
Industry
Industrial growth and the rising importance of
business in Thai governance have been concomitant trends.76 Thai
business associations have become increasingly important as vehicles for
engaging in policy dialogue with the government.77 Leading
industries in Thailand are textiles, chemicals, and electronics. All of them
are represented by associations that play a key role in developing policy in
Thailand. Among the leading associations concerned with environment is the
Federation of Thai Industries. Other associations include the Association of
Thai Bleaching, Dyeing, Printing, and Finishing Industries; and the National
Federation of Thai Textile Industries.
Thailand is developing a strong consulting sector
that is engaged in designing infrastructure of projects as well as preparing
EIAs. Among the leading firms in the infrastructure arena is Premiere
Global. The Consulting Engineers Company, is one of Thailand's largest
engineering firms, with approximately 1,000 employees.78
Although business interest in environment has been
sparked by increasing enforcement, public concern, and growing international
trade pressures,79 wide agreement exists among Thai businesses
and consulting firms that incentives to implement clean technologies are
weak. Yet, some interesting initiatives reflect the changing commercial
effects of environmental concerns. The Thailand Business Council for
Sustainable Development, for example, chaired by Anand Panyarachun, former
prime minister, launched the Thai Green Label Scheme in August 1994 with the
Thailand Environmental Institute and the Ministry of Industry. The program
is being implemented by the Thai Industrial Standards Institute with
assistance from the Thailand Environmental Institute, discussed below.
Academic and Research
Institutions
The leading environmental think tank is now the
Thailand Environmental Institute, which spun off from the Thailand
Development Research Institute in the early 1990s. The Thailand
Environmental Institute is cooperating with MOI on ISO 14000 and the Green
Label Program and, with MOSTE, on development of environmental management
plans. The institute serves as the secretariat for the Thailand Business
Council for Sustainable Development with which it is working on an ISO 14000
pilot project for council members.80 The institute's business and
environment program will also include programs for small- and medium-sized
enterprises.81 The institute has also worked, with support from
the German Agency for Technical Cooperation, with the tannery, palm oil, and
canned tuna industries to develop economic tools for industrial
environmental management.
The Asian Institute of Technology is actively
developing programs to address clean technology requirements. The institute
offers master's and Ph.D. degrees and provides a skill center for
professional outreach and short courses. One-third of its faculty and
students are Thai, and the rest come from eighteen other countries. The
institute will offer a master's degree program in pulp and paper engineering
in 1997.82
7. ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS AND
PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT
General Public Awareness of
Environmental Issues
Environmental concern in Thailand is clearly rising
within the media and among growing numbers of environmental NGOs; however,
public and reliable information on environment is still a key problem,
fostering distrust of government decisions and concerns about environmental
impacts, which greater information could reduce. Opposition to the location
of incinerators and landfills is growing within communities, as government
officials recognize. A recent, impressive indication of environmental
awareness was the election in June 1996 of Bangkok's new mayor, a former
head of an environmental NGO with no previous government experience.83
Nongovernmental Organizations
Perhaps 150 active environmental NGOs exist in
Thailand. Although most of these are small and concerned with "green"
issues, a few focus on urban issues.84
8. U.S. GOVERNMENT ACTIVITIES
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (USEPA)
Beyond USEPA support of US-AEP/U.S. activities (USEPA
Environmental Action Teams, and training modules), the agency has provided
technical assistance to MOSTE.
U.S. Department of Energy
The Department of Energy's Environmental Management
Office is concerned with management and handling of "foreign research
reactor spent nuclear fuel" and has considered programs accepting spent
nuclear fuel from research reactors in Thailand. In addition, the Office of
Nonproliferation is concerned with nonproliferation of weapons of mass
destruction.
U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID)
USAID has for many years been the principal donor
in environment in Thailand and has projects in urban infrastructure, toxic
waste, biodiversity, coastal resource management, air pollution, water
supply, and sanitation. The Management of Natural Resources Project was
planned as a $40 million�then reduced to $20 million�program on topics
ranging from biodiversity to industrial pollution. It included a significant
and successful program with the Federation of Thai Industries concerned with
industrial pollution management. The project also worked with MOSTE to
introduce a battery-operated electric version of Thailand's signature
tuk-tuk taxi to reduce air pollution from these three-wheel scooters.
The USAID/Thailand mission closed in September 1996; the remainder of
U.S.-Thai efforts are being handled through the U.S.-Thai Development
Partnership and the Kenan Institute.
US-AEP Activities in Thailand
US-AEP has supported 453 environmental exchanges,
processed 119 trade leads, and sponsored 41 technology grants through the
National Association of State Development Agencies, in addition to
initiatives through the Council of State Governments. With the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, US-AEP has supported environmental action
teams, short-term technical assistance, and training modules.
9. OTHER BILATERAL AND
MULTILATERAL ORGANIZATION ACTIVITIES
Other Western and European
Engagements
European donors have been active in Thailand for
many years. In the industrial environment arena, these include the German
Agency for Technical Cooperation and the Danish International Development
Agency, which is planning to provide up to $10 million for industrial
environmental projects. Canada and Thailand have entered into the
Canada-Thailand Trilateral Environment Project to support social and
economic development efforts in Indochina.85
Significant new engagement of the European Union
with Asia in the trade sector was highlighted by the February Bangkok
meeting between representatives of the fifteen European Union members and
seven members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The agenda
focused on enhancing economic cooperation, trade and investment, technology
transfer, sustainable development, including environmental management, and
related topics.86 The European Union will be funding a large
project involving the application of clean technology in a region near
Bangkok containing some of the country's most polluting industries
(including paper/pulp, food, and electronics), in cooperation with the
Thailand Environmental Institute.87
Japan
The Japanese International Cooperation Agency has
been active in providing funding to MOSTE's Environmental Fund for an
environmental laboratory and various projects, particularly related to solid
waste.88
World Bank and Asian
Development Bank
The World Bank and Asian Development Bank have
refined their Thailand strategies from general private sector development to
increased privatization of general infrastructure; several significant
projects are under way.89
10. OPPORTUNITIES TO SUPPORT
CLEAN PRODUCTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
Policy Framework
Thailand's efforts to encourage integration of
environmental and industrial policies are just beginning, but prospects for
success are encouraging so long as economic growth and political stability
continue. Ongoing actions to strengthen ties between MOSTE and MOI are
necessary to establish effective industrial/environmental policy. Thai
government agencies are interested in cooperating with Malaysia, Indonesia,
and the Philippines. Regional programs should draw from�as well as
contribute to�Korean and Taiwan experiences. A number of promising
developments are also concerned with industrial environmental policy
incentives and information disclosure.
Market-based incentives. MOI and MOSTE have
strong interests in developing incentive tools and in learning from the
experiences of neighboring countries of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations and in East Asia. Specific topics of interest include promotional
incentives for new industry, effluent charges, deposit/refund schemes,
tradable permits, and resource pricing.
Other policy approaches not based on market
incentives. Thailand is beginning a green labeling program, which would
benefit from what other countries have learned. Indonesia's experience with
its reputational environmental management rating systems (its Program for
Pollution Control, Evaluation, and Rating), sparked strong interest in
Thailand. So did Taiwan's experience with pollution intensity measures. The
environmental accounting project in the Philippines was also of interest.
Environmental information and public
participation. Increasing public environmental awareness and engagement
and government programs to increase it offer important opportunities for
partnerships with U.S. NGO, government, and business entities. Among the key
topics of interest in Thailand appropriate for such engagement are the
following:
� Monitoring and enforcement exchanges and
workshops with local government
� EIA exchanges and workshops; work with state
environmental protection agencies
� Toxic Release Inventory exchanges and
workshops.
Devolution of environmental management.
Thailand is increasingly concerned about issues of state and municipal
infrastructure development and financing and state and municipal
environmental enforcement, which will all affect future environmental and
industrial policy in Thailand.
Industrial Environmental
Management
Opportunities for engagement with U.S. business,
NGO, and government entities are strong in a number of areas concerned with
industrial environmental management:
Voluntary standards. ISO 14000, Responsible
Care, and related supply chain issues are already topics of US-AEP
engagement in Thailand. These and similar efforts may be emulated with major
industrial sectors, such as the textile, pulp and paper, or automobile
industry.
Industrial estates. These are of particular
concern in Thailand, and BOI, MOSTE, and MOI are all involved in their
development and management. Partnership opportunities are promising with
respect to:
� Planning for infrastructure finance and
development
� Response to the environmental problems of
small- and medium-sized enterprises in and around industrial estates
� Opportunities to apply clean technology
standards
� Opportunities to improve hazardous waste
management
� Application of EIA/toxic release inventory
requirements.
Capacity-building opportunities include potential
joint projects with the well-respected Asia Institute of Technology, which
is just beginning to engage clean technology issues, and Chulalongkorn
University, which has individuals with interest and expertise in
environmental management. An additional possibility with potential for both
capacity-building and supply chain accountability is development of a
"supplier university" in affiliation with major multinational corporations
and Thai companies.
Hospital waste. As in each of the ten US-AEP
countries, this waste is of particular concern in Thailand. Strong interest
exists in new waste disposal systems from the United States through its
technology transfer programs as well as through exchanges, links with
environmental professional associations, and other partnership programs.
Environmental Infrastructure
Market for environmental goods and services.
Major municipal and industrial project opportunities exist for water,
wastewater, and solid waste. The market is competitive, and U.S. engineering
firms are well represented in all three sectors. The total environmental
market is estimated to be $18.4 billion; about 80 percent of the
investment is public and 20 percent private. The Asian Development
Bank has issued plans for 1995_98 grants totaling $1.2 million.
Government funding controls have created bottlenecks, but procurement
processes have improved greatly since 1992. More transparency would be
helpful.
Funds for development. Raising funds for
large-scale, public-private partnerships is challenging in the municipal
environmental infrastructure sector. Mechanisms are needed to allow the
in-flow of long-term capital to finance infrastructure projects. Local Thai
banks are well-managed and capable of large-scale financing, but, in the
area of water, wastewater, and solid waste, they depend heavily on
assistance from the World Bank or Asian Development Bank. Due to the
potential political risks, U.S. banks require strong credit support from
project sponsors.
REFERENCES
Asian Development Bank (ADB). 1996a.
ADB Project Profiles: Thailand. Manila (Internet:
www.asiandevbank.org/projects/thalist.html).
���. 1996b. The Asian Development Bank
Operational Notes for Thailand (1996_98). Manila.
Campos, Jose Edgardo and Hilton L. Root. 1996.
Regional Outlook, Southeast Asia, 1996_97. Singapore.
Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
1996. Canada-Thailand Trilateral Environment Project (Backgrounder).
Ottawa (Internet: www.acdicida.gc.ca/cida_in/2f62.htm).
Friedman, Thomas L. 1996. "Bangkok Bogs Dow."
New York Times (March 20, 1996).
Industrial Estates Authority of Thailand (IEAT).
N.d. Industrial Investment Opportunities. Bangkok.
International Resources Group (IRG). 1994. The
Philippine Environmental and Natural Resource Accounting Project. Report
prepared for Department of Natural Resources, Philippines, and the U.S.
Agency for International Development. Washington, D.C.
Laothamatas, Anek. N.d. "From Clienteleism to
Partnership: Business-Government Relations in Thailand" Business and
Government in Industrializing Asia, Cornell University Press, Ithaca,
N.Y., 1994.
Rock, Michael T. 1994. "Transitional Democracies
and the Shift to Export-Led Industrialization: Lessons from Thailand."
Studies in Comparative International Development 29(1) 18_37 (Spring).
���. 1995. "Thai Industrial Policy: How
Irrelevant Was it to Export Success?" Journal of International
Development 7(5) 745_757.
Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI).
1990. The Greening of Thai Industry: Producing More and Polluting
Less. Research Report No. 5. Prepared for the 1990 year-end conference,
"Industrializing Thailand and Its Impact on the Environment," Bangkok, 1990.
Thailand Environmental Institute (TEI). 1996a.
Towards Environmental Sustainability: Annual Report 1996.
Bangkok.
���.1996b. Thailand Environment
Directory. Bangkok.
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
1995. Mission Strategy Fiscal Year 1996 to 2000: Regional Support Mission
for East Asia. Bangkok.
United States-Asia Environmental Partnership
(US-AEP). 1996. "US-AEP/USCS Environmental Infrastructure Strategy:
Thailand." Draft. Washington, D.C. (August).
World Bank. 1996a. World Bank at a Glance.
Washington, D.C. (Internet: http://www.worldbank.org/ html/extdr/backgrd/ibrd/group.htm).
���. 1996b. World Development Report
1996. New York: Oxford University Press.
World Resources Institute (WRI). 1996. World
Resources 1996_97. New York: Oxford University Press.
ENDNOTES
1. Laothamatas (N.d., 198).
2. TEI (1996a, 11).
3. "Although universal enrollment in primary
education has virtually been attained, the proportion of those going on to
the secondary level remains very low at 33 percent" (ADB 1996, 371).
4. Thailand is ranked eighth among middle-income to
lower middle-income economies among those for which gross national product
per capita could be calculated (World Bank 1996b, 189).
5. Rock (1995).
6. TDRI (1990).
7. It reached 6 percent, however, in 1995.
8. ADB (1996b, 371).
9. Besides its devastating social impacts, the
rising incidence of HIV/AIDs threatens human resource development and
Thailand's competitive position (ADB 1996b, 376_77).
10. See Rock (1994).
11. One important reason for stability is
Thailand's remarkable monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, celebrating his 50th
year on the throne. See "In Age of Instability, a King Anchors Thailand,"
(New York Times, June 10, 1996) and "Thai King Crowns 50 years of
Unrivaled Popularity" (Financial Times, June 9, 1996).
12. Laothamatas (N.d., 195).
13. It has been noted that "Thai capital accounted
for as much as 92 percent of the assets of the top 100 firms in the banking
and finance industry in the country in 1990" (Laothamatas N.d., 202).
14. For example, one conglomerate operates a modern
textile plant in the United States and another has acquired Bumble Bee, a
leading American canned tuna company (Laothamatas N.d., 202).
15. Laothamatas (N.d., 195 ).
16. See Friedman (1996, A19).
17. High concentrations of SO2, for
example, put young children and the elderly at risk of respiratory illness.
Anthropogenic sources of SO2 include fossil fuel combustion and
industrial activities. Bangkok's mean concentrations of SO2 are
extraordinarily high at 1,224 micrograms per cubic meter, compared to the
World Health Organization_recommended exposures of 40_60 micrograms (WRI
1996, 154_56).
18. Solid waste is collected from 1.5 million
households at a cost of $8 million per year (Khun Narong Tosompark, director
general, Cleaning Department, Bangkok Municipal Authority, Department of
Public Cleansing, Bangkok [June 13, 1996]).
19. TDRI (1990, 14, 15).
20. Projections are that "hazardous waste_producing
industries such as steel, textiles, electronics, and chemicals and
petrochemicals will be an equally important or a more serious threat in
terms of environmental impact than the traditional polluting industries" (TDRI
1990, 36).
21. Dr. Kanya Sinaxul, secretary general,
Thai Industrial Standards Institute, Bangkok (June 13, 1996).
22. Enhancement and Conservation of National
Environmental Quality Act (1992), B.E. 2535. Translated by Environment Law
Center, MOSTE, EQPD, Bangkok.
23. NEQA calls for at least four and up to eight
members of NEB from the private sector; NEB has eight members, including
representatives of banks and the Thai Environmental Institute, and
university professors. NEB operates as a kind of minicabinet with many
debates on environment and economic development (PCD, Bangkok [June 11,
1996]).
24. NEQA, section 13.
25. The three state enterprises are the Thailand
Institute of Scientific and Technological Research, National Science and
Technology Development Agency, and the Wastewater Management Agency.
26. OEPP (a) prepares the national policy
and plan for environmental protection in accordance with other national
policies, (b) coordinates preparation of environmental quality
management plans according to NEQA, (c) monitors and reports on the
natural resource profile of specific problems or situations, and (d)
coordinates natural resource management in accordance with natural policies.
27 In January 1997, 1 Thai baht equaled
approximately US$0.039.
28. Established in the Ministry of Finance under
section 22 of NEQA, the fund receives money from fuel oil tax receipts,
service fees, and penalties under NEQA, donor grants, and other specified
sources. The fund is managed by an interministerial committee chaired by
MOSTE's permanent secretary (NEQA, section 24).
29. Increasing reliance on the private sector for
environmental management is an apparent trend evident throughout the
assessment team interviews; it is affecting the regulatory as well as
infrastructure development agencies in Thailand.
30. The committee was established and functions
well due to the friendship of MOI minister and MOSTE's permanent secretary.
At monthly meetings, the committee reviews projects, budgets, designation of
pollution control areas, and enforcement actions. In addition to members
from MOI, members include the secretary general of OEPP, the director
general of the Department of Environmental Quality, and the director general
of PCD (OEPP and MOI personnel, Bangkok [June 11_15]).
31. PCD (a) submits opinions for
formulation of policy, (b) plans and promotes pollution control,
(c) recommends formulation of environmental quality standards from
sources, (d) formulates environmental quality management plans and
measures to control, prevent, and mitigate pollution, (e) monitors
and reports on the state of pollution, (f) develops systems, schemes,
and appropriate methodologies for management of water, air, and noise
pollution and handling of hazardous and solid wastes, (g) performs
functions in accordance with NEQA, (h) takes action on petitions
concerning pollution, and (i) performs functions as may be
designated by law or ordered by the Ministry or Council of Ministers (NEQA).
32. Prior to recent law, if PCD received a
complaint from a source, it would inspect; but for a violation, it could
only inform MOI. Now, if MOI does nothing, PCD can order improvement and
enforce standards. But the Department of Industrial Works of MOI still has
initial responsibility for inspections.
33. PCD, MOI, Bangkok (June 11_15, 1996).
34. Enforcement has focused largely on the big
polluters and not the 80,000 small- and medium-sized enterprises that employ
90 percent of the people and produce 50 percent of manufactured goods (Thai
Environmental Institute, Bangkok [June 1996]).
35. PCD prepares a state of the environment and
state of pollution report. It is also starting a waste minimization program
and a recycling project in cooperation with industry.
36. Prior to NEQA, PCD had fifty people plus fifty
temporaries as the Environmental Quality Standards division of NEB.
37. PCD sought 3 billion baht for 1997 but will get
1.3 billion. Much of this is for wastewater treatment facilities, such as
the 13 million baht facility east of Bangkok for common waste treatment by
industry.
38. MOSTE offers twenty fellowships a year for
master's and bachelor's degrees; required government employment afterward
lasts three times the fellowship period. Cabinet approval has been received
to offer 165 fellowships for study abroad over the next five years for
master's and Ph.D. degrees�half from inside and half from outside current
staff�in Europe, America, Japan, Australia, or New Zealand. The Thai
government pays the entire cost (Dr. Pornchai Tarantham, deputy director
general, PCD, Bangkok [June 11, 1996]).
39. NEQA, section 59. Local officials in the
designated pollution control area are required to prepare action plans for
"reduction and eradication of pollution" for the provincial (Changwat)
governor and for incorporation into the Changwat Action Plan for
environmental quality management, as required in section 37. Areas
designated so far include Phuket, a tourist center, and Hatyai-Songkhla, an
industrial center.
40. PCD operates under the direction of an
interministerial Pollution Control Committee chaired by the permanent
secretary of MOSTE and responsible to NEB (NEQA, chapter IV, sections
52_54).
41. This is down from the 400 million baht
available under the fund at the outset; although the government has been
reluctant to fund organizations apt to be critical, only 20_30 million baht
have been spent so far, due to a low number of adequate NGO proposals, with
another 60 million baht in approved projects (Chalermsak Wanichsomlat,
deputy, Office of Environmental Promotion, Bangkok [June 10, 1996]).
42. MOI, however, is ready to take legal action to
convince industry to change its ways, as it has done in helping change dye
practices and tannery practices (Khun Surikit Hansirisathait, chief, and Dr.
Jullapong Thaveersri, environmental engineer and director, both of waste
management, Department of Industrial Works, MOI, Bangkok [June 13, 1996]).
43. MOSTE's permanent secretary, Kassem Snidvongse,
who chairs the Pollution Control Committee and has stimulated close
relations with MOI, has noted that "the stick is not working, and other
incentives are needed to attract industry to long-term opportunities in
clean production." In cooperation with the Department of Industrial Works,
he has proposed a pilot program on environmental management in cooperation
with multinational corporations in three to four industries (Kassem
Snidvongse, MOSTE, Bangkok [June 13, 1996]).
44. MOI already levies fees against industries that
do not treat their effluent by establishing common waste treatment and
charging industry for its use.
45. Pollution prevention began in Thailand with the
U.S. Agency for International Development's Management of Natural Resources
Project in 1991, which focused on textile dyeing, pulp and paper, food
processing and steel making. In cooperation with the Federation of Thai
Industries, teams were established for each industry; they studied waste
minimization and pollution prevention in the United States (for chemicals)
and Switzerland (for toxic substitution in dyes, followed by demonstration
projects of the World Environment Center). More than twenty large- to
medium-sized factories implemented recommendations in the dyeing industry (MOI,
Bangkok [June 1996]).
46. As with PCD, action against a polluter is
approved by the interagency coordinating committee, but if it is not a large
company, the Department of Industrial Works may act immediately. The
department's authority comes under the Factory Act, as amended in 1992,
which authorizes a range of actions�for anything from serious violations
requiring immediate action to those needing only a warning and additional
time for compliance. The department has taken some thirty to forty actions
against serious polluters under section 39 of the Factory Act (Department of
Industrial Works, Bangkok [June 1996]).
47. MOI's Office of Toxic Substances is responsible
for monitoring storage, collection, and handling of hazardous wastes.
48. The health and other hazards posed by hazardous
waste, which now have no safe disposal systems in Thailand, have prompted
concern that, however important pollution prevention and waste minimization
are, containment of existing hazardous waste should be the highest priority
and should be addressed first before "leap frogging" into clean production
(Lisa K. Lumbao, commercial/environmental specialist, US-AEP
Manila; Patrick Heninger, chief operating officer, General Environmental
Conservation Company [in which MOI has a 25 percent interest] and managing
director, Waste Management Project Services, Bangkok [June 13, 1996]).
49. The Thailand Environmental Institute owns the
label, but the Thai Industrial Standards Institute does the technical work.
The latter institute has just started with two products�a lead-free battery
and a water-saving toilet. The institute needs help with life cycle analysis
and a master plan for deciding what kinds of products to label. The
institute supports testing of refrigerators and air conditioners for energy
conservation labels; it also works with the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations' committee on green labeling.
50. The ten companies must have ISO 9000
certification; they must have a commitment by each company's chief executive
officer to set aside two people to join the project. The Federation of Thai
Industries will choose the companies based on these and other criteria. The
Thai Industrial Standards Institute will pay for consultants by sharing
costs with the company. Currently 160 firms are ISO 9000 certified; 200 are
in the pipeline. The institute certifies 20 percent of them (Dr.
Kanya Sinaxul, secretary general, Thai Industrial Standards Institute,
Bangkok [June 13, 1996]).
51. The Thai Industry Standards Institute has
trained forty people to do ISO 14000 training, including twenty-five in the
Department of Industrial Works and the rest from the Thailand Environmental
Institute and the private sector.
52. Thailand cannot set fees for ISO certification
of small- and medium-sized enterprises that do not meet the costs
involved lest the World Trade Organization object that they are subsidies.
(Dr. Kanya Sinaxul, secretary general, Thai Industrial Standards
Institute, Bangkok [June 13, 1996]).
53. Thames Water is operating seven of these, but
its contract ends in 1997 and a new one will be bid for eighteen estates. In
the other estates, staff of the Industrial Estates Authority of Thailand
manages the infrastructure (Kasemsri Homchean, director, Environmental and
Safety Control Division, Industrial Estates Authority of Thailand, Bangkok
[June 11, 1996]).
54. Outside the estates are another 50,000
factories. Inside, the Industrial Estates Authority of Thailand is
responsible for enforcement that, by its account, is strict because of high
penalties that presumably discourage dilution and other techniques for
avoiding violations. The Industrial Estates Authority of Thailand also helps
companies meet standards by conducting monthly seminars by consulting firms
(Kasemsri Homchean, director, Environmental and Safety Control Division,
Industrial Estates Authority of Thailand, Bangkok [June 11, 1996]).
55. The Thai Industrial Estate Association,
consisting of thirteen private industrial estate developers and the twelve
jointly managed estates, works with the Industrial Estates Authority of
Thailand and BOI to help develop and implement industrial estate standards.
See IEAT (N.d.).
56. BOI has foreign promotion offices, including in
New York City. It interacts with the Economic Development Board in Singapore
and with Taiwan. Neither country is seen as competition yet.
57. BOI has a list of high-polluting industries
from MOSTE. Participants need MOSTE's and MOI's approval. Approval requires
an environmental impact assessment on operations. No explicit category
exists for environmental goods and service industries as yet. Some
nonpolluting industries do not require MOSTE approval.
58. Thailand has three regional industrial zones:
zone 1, Bangkok; zone 2, the ten provinces around zone 1; and zone 3, the
rest of Thailand. BOI has incentives for getting industries into zone 3,
reflecting its main policy.
59. Other incentives include the following:
� The Customs Department creates a tariff list of
equipment with rates of 50 percent, 35 percent, and 5 percent (which
constitutes 90 percent of equipment); BOI cuts the rates in half or can
cut them to zero in zone 3.
� Special incentives are available for
manufacturing, for example, molds and dyes, centering/forging, fixtures,
heat treatment, electronic connectors, rechargeable batteries, and
engineering plastics.
� Companies that bring in foreign exports as
regional offices get nontax incentives, such as land approval and work
permits.
60. Among other shifts in attitude was the rising
awareness among intellectuals of the flaws in the previous development model
(Mr. Panithon, National Economic and Social Development Board, Bangkok [June
11, 1996]).
61. Mr. Panithon, National Economic and Social
Development Board, Bangkok [June 11, 1996].
62. Article 74 of the 1991 Constitution requires
the government to conserve and maintain the environment, prevent and
eliminate pollution, and plan appropriate soil and water use (TEI 1996b,
25).
63. Interviews with Thai officials by the
assessment team consistently found that agencies were working together on
industrial and environmental issues in enforcement and promotion of new
investments, in recognition of the importance of ISO 14000 and the
environmental component of the global marketplace. The elaborate structure
of boards, advisory groups, and committees involving multiple agencies has
increasingly focused on effective responses to environmental concerns that
the public and the media are urging.
64. TEI (1996b, 28, 29).
65. Progress began in the 1980s with better
business-government interchange on policy and regulatory issues. But "[m]easurements
of transparency and predictability in the regulatory environment still rank
Thailand lower than the more advanced high performers�Japan and the four
tigers" (Campos 1996, 97).
66. Section 6 of NEQA states that rights to
information "may be accorded" to individuals "for the purpose of public
participation and the enhancement and conservation of national environmental
quality . . ." in matters related to government information, injuries and
harm caused by pollution, lodging of complaints against pollution offenders,
and assistance to government in performing their required duties.
Although limited, the spirit of the law has opened new opportunities for
public information and engagement.
67. See discussion above on NEQA, section 3.
68. The approval process for EIAs of government or
joint government/private projects do not have time limits. EIAs are prepared
at the feasibility study phase, go to review by NEB, which seeks and obtains
OEPP approval, and then are sent for cabinet approval. For private projects,
OEPP has fifteen days to review a document for completeness and, if complete
and correct, another fifteen days for preliminary comment before submission
to a committee of experts for a review period of forty-five days. Projects
are either rejected or approved at that stage. If the expert reviews on
private projects are not completed within forty-five days after they have
received them from OEPP, the project must be deemed approved. See NEQA, part
4.
69. Chalermsak Wanichsomlat, deputy of
environmental promotion, OEPP, Bangkok, June 11, 1996.
70. TEI (1996b, 41).
71. Chalermsak Wanichsomlat, deputy of
environmental promotion, OEPP, Bangkok, June 11, 1996.
** Unless otherwise indicated, all
dollar amounts are U.S. dollars.
72. The Bangkok Metropolitan Authority is
responsible for issuing six projects in the city's twelve-year program to
upgrade its wastewater treatment facilities serving 12 million residents.
The authority normally pays for 40 percent of project costs; the rest is
paid by the central government (US-AEP 1996).
73. The Wastewater Management Authority will have
authority to build systems, collect service charges, borrow money (both
internally and externally), issue bonds, and establish limited public or
private wastewater treatment companies. The plan encountered some resistance
from the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority, which currently oversees the
country's largest wastewater treatment projects (US-AEP 1996).
74. The manufacturing sector accounts for about 90
percent of the hazardous wastes in Thailand; the top 5 industries are basic
metal, metal products, transport and vehicle assembly, electrical machinery,
and agrochemical sectors (TEI 1996b, 40).
75. Waste Management International will be playing
a major role. This project was jump-started with funding from the U.S.
Agency for International Development for a feasibility study. In its later
stages, site-safety testing was supported by the U.S.-Thai Partnership.
Despite community concerns and other uncertainties, the project has
proceeded as a joint venture between MOI and the Thai company General
Finance; Waste Management International holds a fifteen-year contract to
design, build, and operate the facility (US-AEP 1996). The Thai government
plans four more central hazardous waste management treatment systems (TEI
1996b, 40).
76. "Following the election in 1975, business
became the largest group in the Thai House of Representatives, making up 75
percent of the total membership. During the 1980s nearly 50 percent of the
cabinet members had business background" (Laothamatas N.d., 201).
77. Under the government of Prime Minister
(General) Prem (1981_88) and the Fifth National Economic and Social Plan, a
National Joint Public and Private Consultative Committee was formed,
including the prime minister (as chairman), other government ministers
(including the head of the Board of Investment) and the private sector
(represented by the Thai Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Thai
Industries, and the Thai Bankers Association). Although the committee did
not represent labor, agriculture, or public enterprises, it contributed
substantially to more transparent information exchange on the impacts of
government tax, regulatory, and other policies between big business and the
government. Committee meetings were open to the press (Campos 1996, 96).
78. Primary U.S. competitors are Metcalf and Edy,
Bechtel, Montgomery Watson, PRC, Geraighty and Miller, Black and
Veatch, Stone and Webster, and DFI. They also compete with other Thai firms,
such as, in environment, Progress and Macro, and in infrastructure, Asia
Engineering Company. (Team Consulting Engineers, Bangkok June 1996).
79. Siam Cement, for example, has a company policy
of getting ISO 14000 certified to promote good will and contribute to the
country (Dr. Kanya Sinaxul, secretary general, Thai Industrial
Standards Institute, Bangkok [June 13, 1996]).
80. The Thailand Environmental Institute has
engaged participants from the chemical, pulp and paper, plastic, soft
drinks, and petroleum industries (TEI 1996b, 37).
81. It is working with the Thailand Business
Council for Sustainable Development to (a) conduct environmental
audits small- and medium-sized enterprises in food and electroplating and
(b) establish a cleaner technology information center based at the
Thailand Environmental Institute to collect and disseminate national and
international information on cleaner industrial technologies to serve
industry, government, and the public (TEI 1996b, 39).
82. Carl Webber, dean of School of Environment,
Resources, and Development, and others, Bangkok (July 8, 1996).
83. Pichit Rattakul, 50, an independent who lacks
any experience in city administration, defeated the incumbent and a field of
twenty-nine other candidates, according to the Asian Wall Street Journal
(June 2, 1996).
84. Among these groups are the following:
� The Project for Ecological Recovery,
based in Bangkok, has gained a reputation as one of the country's most
articulate, youthful, and active environmental groups and is a leading
commentator on natural resource and pollution issues. It attempts to
facilitate communication between villagers and the Thai government and its
agencies, while promoting the necessity of sustainable development.
� The Thai Coordinating Committee for Rural
Development is an umbrella group of 220 NGOs involved in rural and
development issues. Although not strictly an environmental group, it has
become more so in the past few years. It organized the "People's Forum,"
which ran parallel to the World Bank/International Monetary Fund meeting
in October 1991.
� The Association for the Development of
Environmental Quality is a nonprofit research and education
organization committed to environmental protection in Thailand.
Established in 1988, its membership includes the general public,
journalists, religious and cultural institutions, and government leaders.
85. The program is jointly managed by the Canadian
International Development Agency and Thailand's Department of Technical and
Economic Cooperation. It targets institution strengthening by providing
linkages between private and public sectors in Canada, Thailand, and other
Mekong River Basin countries (Vietnam, Cambodia, or Laos) (CIDA 1996).
86. See "Asia-Europe Meeting, The Coming Together
of Two Worlds" (The Nation, February 28, 1996, A8).
87. The project, entitled "A Participatory Approach
to Environmental Management and Clean Up in Samut Prakarn," is due to
commence in July 1996 and last for eighteen months. It should result in a
demonstration plant.
88. USAID (1995).
89. These projects include the following:
World Bank
� A $150 million loan was granted to Thailand to
address chronic traffic problems and finance-related environmental
protection measures. Included in the environmental portion are air
quality, environmental assessment, and mitigation related to the financed
highway projects. The project will lead to the establishment of the
Environmental Assessment Unit within the government's Department of
Highways.
� In 1994 the World Bank provided a $40 million
grant for the Montreal Protocol Ozone-Depleting Substances Phase Out
Multicomponent Project, administered by the Ministry of Industry's
Department of Industrial Works. The department also administers a similar
grant of $390,000 provided for the Montreal Protocol Controlled Substances
(Ozone-Depleting Substances) Engineering Project (World Bank 1996a;
1996b).
Asian Development Bank
� The Asian Development Bank gave an $800,000
grant to the governments of the Greater Mekong Subregion, which includes
the People's Republic of China, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and
Laos, to improve their overall capacities to formulate and implement
environmental policies, legislation, and programs that are of common
significance to their countries. Targets include deforestation,
biodiversity, soil loss, water pollution, toxic wastes, air pollution, and
degradation of urban environments (bank press release, May 17, 1996).
� $100 million in loans has been awarded to
Thailand for a Rural Electrification Project as part of the country's
Seventh National Economic and Social Development Plan (See ADB 1996a;
1996b).
� In December 1995, a $150 million loan was used
to help build a major wastewater treatment project outside Bangkok. It is
the first project to adhere to the "polluter pays" principle. The total
project cost is estimated at $507 million. Part of the package included an
industrial pollution prevention and clean technology transfer program as
well as programs aimed at institution strengthening (See ADB 1996a).
� In the 1997 loan pipeline is $50 million for
the Solid Waste Management (Sector) Project and $600 million each in
technical assistance for the Solid Waste Management Project and the Medium
Towns Wastewater Management and Improvement Project (IRG 1994).
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