Opas Boonchan, an executive of Win Process company, a chemical waste plant in Rayong province, which was embroiled in numerous lawsuits concerning environmental damage and more, died in hospital on Sunday.
Opas was sentenced to five years in prison in February, after being found culpable in a case filed by the Industrial Works Department, for possessing hazardous materials and leaking chemicals into public watercourses.
Opas had been suffering from diabetes and other chronic diseases before his detention. On February 5th, in the middle of the night, he was transferred from the Central Rayong Prison to Ban Khai Hospital as his condition deteriorated and he was pronounced dead on Sunday.
Opas fled to Phetchabun province to evade arrest on multiple charges, before being apprehended in May last year.
In September, the Rayong Provincial Court ordered his company to pay 1.7 billion baht in compensation for environmental rehabilitation, after industrial waste had been leaking from the company’s storage facility since 2011.
The civil lawsuit was brought against the company, after it was discovered that the firm had violated environmental laws by failing to recycle hazardous waste and, instead, had discharged it into the environment, contaminating farmland and natural water sources.
