The Bangkok South Civil Court decided today to accept a class action lawsuit filed against Charoen Pokphand Foods (CPF), a unit of the Charoen Pokphand Group, by a group of fishermen and fish farmers in Samut Songkhram province, demanding a compensation of 2.5 billion baht for the damage caused by the proliferation of Blackchin tilapia fish.
Somchai Armine, a lawyer from the Law Council of Thailand said that the court agreed to accept the matter as a class action because so many people have been affected and that the plaint is clear.
The court said, however, that class members can only be from Muang, Bang Khon Thee and Praek Nam Daeng districts of Samut Songkhram.
Panya Tokthong, one of the affected fishermen, said that he is relieved that the court has accepted the case, as he insisted that they bear no ill will towards CPF, but merely want to protect their interests.
CPF has seven days to appeal.
CPF imported 2,000 Blackchin tilapia from Ghana for research purposes on December 22nd, 2010, in partnership with three universities. Most of the fish died, either in transit or within 16 days of arrival. 600 survived initially but, by January 2011, only 50 remained alive and CPF decided to terminate the project, using chlorine to destroy the remaining fish. The dead fish were buried.
CPF claims it followed the Fisheries Department’s guidelines for reporting the disposal, and the method thereof, of the fish and submission of samples.
In 2017, the Fisheries Department inspected CPF’s Yisan fish farm in Amphawa district of Samut Sakhon, but found no Blackchin tilapia in the ponds. The species was, however, found in natural watercourses connected to the farm and eventually spread to 13 provinces.
