Charoen Pokphand Foods (CPF), a unit of the Charoen Pokphand agro-industry giant, has filed a libel suit against BioThai secretary-general Witoon Lianjamroon, over the accusation that CPF was responsible for the current spread of the Blackchin tilapia non-indigenous species of fish in Thailand’s watercourses.
Vitoon said today that he received a summons from the police yesterday, to report to Rattanathibet police station in Nonthaburi province on Thursday at 1pm, to acknowledge the charge.
The summons, according to Vitoon, came one day after a group of fishermen and fish farmers in Samut Sakhon province filed a class action civil suit with the Bangkok South Civil Court, demanding 2.5 billion baht in compensation from CPF for the damages rendered to their fish farms and watercourses in the province by the spread of Blackchin tilapia since 2017.
They also filed charges of gross negligence in the performance of duties against 18 state agencies and officials with the Central Administrative Court.
Vitoon said he has authorised EnLaw, a non-profit foundation dedicated to the protection of the environment, to defend his case in the court.
CPF imported 2,000 Blackchin tilapia fish from Ghana on December 22nd, 2010 for research, in partnership with three universities. Most of the fish died within 16 days of their arrival. Only 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 remains of the dead fish were buried.
