Director General of the Department of Industrial Works (DIW), Jullapong Thaveesri, was reprimanded by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin today, during his visit to Ban Khai district of Rayong province to follow up the chemical fire at the Win Process Company.

The prime minister asked to see Jullapong, after he was informed that the fire at the warehouse, storing chemical waste for Win Process, has not been completely extinguished after almost a week.

The prime minister reportedly told Jullapong that he should have come to the district to address the problem much sooner than today, given the gravity of the matter.

The premier was accompanied by Industry Minister Pimpatra Wichaikul, Public Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew and PM Secretary-General Prommin Lertsuridej,

Then the prime minister turned to the industry minister and the permanent secretary for industry for a private discussion for about 5 minutes. It is not known what they talked about.

The prime minister later met with people living in the neighbourhood of the chemical company, who complained that they have been demanding that the chemical waste be removed from their locality for years, but without success.

Later, the prime minister issued guidelines for relevant authorities to address the chemical waste problem at Win Process and elsewhere.

The guidelines call for:

-Residents affected by the chemical fire to lodge complaints with the Damrongtham Centres in the province

-The Public Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department to extinguish the fire at Win Process Company fully and to restore the situation to normal

-The police to speed up their investigation and bring those responsible for the fire before the courts.