Govt urged to establish EPA, introduce clean-air legislation

By PRATCH RUJIVANAROM 
THE NATION

 

A woman wears a face mask as heavy air pollution continues to be a problem in Bangkok, Thailand, 21 January 2019. // EPA-EFE PHOTO

 

CLAIMING THE authorities had failed to protect citizens from PM2.5 smog, especially the underprivileged in urban slums, academics have called for a clean-air act and an independent environmental protection agency (EPA) to safeguard the “people’s right” to a healthy atmosphere.

 

Nuchanart Tantong, coordinator of the Four Regions Slum Network, said she and most of her neighbours living in a Bangkok slum had no idea that the haze lingering over the capital since December was toxic.

 

“We just carried on with our daily lives in our non-air-conditioned homes and worked outdoors without any protection,” she said.

 

“Having had no warning from the authorities, the poor people in the slums only learned from the media that the dense smog was harmful and we realised our health had been at risk for weeks.”

 

Noting that most slum dwellers earn their living outdoors and often toil along polluted roads for up to 12 hours per day, Nuchanart said they were most vulnerable to health problems caused by the smog.

 

Many slum dwellers had recently contracted respiratory ailments, especially children and the elderly, she said. All they could do to protect themselves was buy cheap facemasks and plant as many trees as they could around their communities.

 

These measures were proving far from adequate in protecting health because the number of sick people continues to rise, she said, and the additional expense for healthcare only worsened their financial situation.

 

 

“We know our daily activities such as outdoor cooking are partially contributing to the problem, but the bigger proportion of the pollution is coming from heavy traffic and industry,” she said. “We need urgent help and swift, official mitigation measures here before all the poor people in the slums die from polluted air.”

 

Academics speaking at a public seminar at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital last Friday expressed similar sentiments. 

 

Siwatt Pongpiachan, director of the NIDA Centre for Research and Development of Disaster Prevention and Management, pointed out that the Constitution enshrines the right to a healthy environment with clean air other laws protect the environment and tackle pollution. But the government had done such a poor job of mitigating the smog lately that it’s clear there are problems with enforcement.

 

“Right now, the core agency in charge of tackling the problem is the Pollution Control Department, but its primary work is making policy. It’s unable to effectively coordinate all the agencies to deal with the smog,” Siwatt said.

 

Thailand needs a specific law comparable to the Clean Air Act in Britain and the United States, as well as a central, independent agency directly focusing on keeping the environment clean, like the EPA in the US, he said.

 

Asst Professor Kanongnij Sribuaiam of Chulalongkorn University’s law faculty said Thailand was behind neighbouring nations such as Singapore and the Philippines in ensuring its citizens had clean air.

 

“The Philippines has a Clean Air Act and an environmental-protection agency to oversee pollution measures,” Kanongnij said.

 

“The Philippines has also adopted a ‘polluter pays principle’ – PPP – to help finance pollution control, and we have nothing like that in Thailand.”

 

Witsanu Attavanich, an economics lecturer at Kasetsart University, said it was academically proven that a properly enforced Clean Air Act effectively tackles pollution. He cited a 2009 study by Aufthammer, Bento and Lowe in the US that examined PM10 dust levels over the long term.

 

Witsanu said strict regulations could reduce PM10 by 7-9 microgram per cubic metre of air annually, representing a decrease of as much as 14 per cent. “The longer we wait for efficient measures, the longer the air pollution will be harming our human resources and jeopardising our country’s economy,” he warned.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30363881

 

 -- © Copyright The Nation 2019-02-11

,,,, but the considerably more dangerous component of air pollution is PM2.5, and we already have laws and regulations to control air pollution. The problem is that these are not adequately enforced. Why would a clean air act fare any better?

Wonderful idea , but just a ''trendy green phrase'' to create the appearance Thailand is a player on the world stage.

Edited February 10, 20197 yr by mok199

Telling rice farmers to stop the burning after harvest and

sugar cane farmers and

the constant burning of household plastics 

changing mindsets on these practices is a battle no government has taken seriously, coup or no coup, 

education on these habits is a generation away, at least

 

"...Siwatt Pongpiachan, director of the NIDA Centre for Research and Development of Disaster Prevention and Management, pointed out that the Constitution enshrines the right to a healthy environment with clean air other laws protect the environment and tackle pollution..."

 

Two points;

 

First, a Constitution in Thailand is, for all intents and purposes, meaningless. See modern Thai history. The average Thai person's 'right' to... anything is, for all intents and purposes, meaningless. See modern Thai history.

 

Second, who would enforce these measures, the police? See just about any police station in the country, the carnage on the roads, the "traffic control measures. the investigative energy on display, the sheer competence exhibited everywhere, etc, etc, etc.

 

It is a sad, sad thing to say, but it is doubtful that there will be any action taken until it affects tourism numbers (and thus the economy) or Thailand gets sustained shaming in the international media.

 

I wish it were different, but...

 

 

Edited February 10, 20197 yr by Samui Bodoh

3 hours ago, DNPBC0 said:

,,,, but the considerably more dangerous component of air pollution is PM2.5, and we already have laws and regulations to control air pollution. The problem is that these are not adequately enforced. Why would a clean air act fare any better?

It'd the "mirrors" thing, it makes them "look" like their doing something, but in effect we know they do nothing, same as flying drones, and using water tankers, to spray water... what a joke these people are.

I would hazard a guess the EPA would be identical to the RTP....useless!

just another law to ignore or to circumvent with a brown envelope, who do they think they are kidding?

555

Zero enforcement. The end.

todays pm2.5 at my house is 73. best in over 6months!!!! Sugarcan farmers have held back from burning as much it looks like. They aint happy thats for sure!

As said above pass all the laws you want. If no one enforcesthem what good are they?????

I'm sure there are already laws against

Pollution why have more. USELESS

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand needs a specific law comparable to the Clean Air Act in Britain and the United States

Do Thais generally obey laws? If yes, then a law is the solution! If not... 

Edited February 11, 20197 yr by Fex Bluse

14 minutes ago, Fex Bluse said:

Do Thais generally obey laws? If yes, then a law is the solution! If not... 

There are means to make sure Thai people obey laws.

 

http://www.prisonstudies.org/country/thailand

     Our two key words for today from the article are: 'properly enforced'.  Used in a sentence: There's not a snowball's chance in Hell that any new legislation on pollution will ever be 'properly enforced'.  Likely lots of rules and laws already on the books that are currently not being 'properly enforced'-or even enforced at all.  Talk, talk, talk.