Rights concerns for overseas Thai investors

By PRATCH RUJIVANAROM 
THE NATION

 

 

Visit by UN group coincides with demands for new regulation of abuses in foreign nations.
 

THE GOVERNMENT has been urged to create a legal mechanism to assure human-rights protections associated with Thailand’s outbound investment on the occasion of the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights official visit to the country.

 

The Thai Extraterritorial Obligation-Watch Working Group (Thai ETO-Watch) released a statement yesterday demanding legal measures to prevent and mitigate human-rights violations by Thai investors overseas, after the group met with the UN delegation.

 

The UN group is paying is first official visit to Thailand in response to a government invitation.

 

During the visit, which will last until April 4, the UN group will inspect government and businesses’ implementation of human-rights obligations and responsibilities in line with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha announced the government’s commitment to endorse and implement the UNGPs last year.

 

Although businesses operating in the country are regulated to ensure investors’ accountability on human-rights and environmental protections, Thai ETO-Watch stated there were not similar mechanisms to regulate outbound investment, so people in destination countries were vulnerable to negative environmental and social impacts.

 

The group stated at least eight large investment projects involving Thai investors had been found to have caused adverse impacts to local citizens and violated people’s rights, including at sugarcane plantations in Cambodia, a coal-fired power plant in Laos and a tin mine in Myanmar.

 

The group also stated that affected people also faced legal barriers when making complaints and litigating against irresponsible Thai investors in Thailand.

 

Thai ETO-Watch demanded the government establish an official channel to receive complaints about overseas Thai investments, legislate to force investors to respect UNGPs and be responsible for rights violations, and set up a legal mechanism to ensure corporate social responsibility and prevent lawsuits.

 

The group added that investors had a duty to operate their businesses transparently, be responsible for impacts of their investments, and allow public participation to solve problems and provide proper remedies for people who affected by their projects.

 

“We call for Thai investors to conduct due diligence and to comply with the UNGPs and other international human-rights best practices and standards,” the statement said.

 

Meanwhile, the UN group was meeting with authorities, businesses and civil-society organisations on the implementation of the UNGPs in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen and Samut Sakhon during its visit. The group will issue a report on its findings and provide recommendations about the situation of business and human-rights protections in Thailand after the visit.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30341882

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-03-28

Andy hall will be pleased to contribute 10 mill towards this!!

They aren't bothered about violations in their own country so how are they expecting any compliance outside unless forved upon them. The only thing Thailand is really good at in this area is pretence and the law certainly provides ample roads to injustice to accusers.

I don’t see them cracking down on India the worst environment in the world 

3 hours ago, jonstarjon said:

Andy hall will be pleased to contribute 10 mill towards this!!

What if donated money ? I herd there are allot of 5 star hotels that he can stay in around these areas. I am sure he looks after your donated money very well

11 hours ago, webfact said:

THE GOVERNMENT has been urged to create a legal mechanism to assure human-rights protections associated with Thailand’s outbound investment

I'd think Prayut would rather see all Thai investments be made Inbound (domestically) than Outbound.

As to "associated with Thailand's outbound investment," what does that mean?

Is it about human rights violated by Thai outbound investments, is it human rights violated against Thai outbound investments, or both? But frankly, I don't think Prayut - who recently made an agreement with Cambodia to return any Thai political refugees back to Thailand - would care in any circumstance.

6 hours ago, BigC said:

What if donated money ? I herd there are allot of 5 star hotels that he can stay in around these areas. I am sure he looks after your donated money very well

Do you know who Andy Hall is?  Just curious.