After years of hazardous seasonal smog and other environmental crises, Thais have been given new hope as a draft clean air law moves through Parliament
This month, the House of Representatives approved the Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR) bill and formed a committee to review its details.
Penchom Sae-Tang, director of the Ecological Alert and Recovery-Thailand (EARTH), says the new law is vital for tackling the curse of Thailand’s industrial pollution, adding that “if it isn’t passed, the air pollution problems will never go away”.
For Penchom and other environmentalists, the PRTR bill will ensure the transparency and accountability in industry needed to protect people’s health.
Understanding PRTR
Inspired by the 1992 Rio de Janeiro UN Earth Summit, which urged member countries to compile national pollution inventories, the PRTR Bill requires industries to disclose the types and quantities of pollutants they release into air, water and soil. This data will be made public, giving communities a direct insight into factors affecting their health and environment.
The PRTR Bill is modelled on the United States’ Toxic Release Inventory (TRI), which has for decades held industries accountable for chemical spills and pollution.
The TRI also ensures transparency on hazardous materials used by industries, while keeping local communities informed of any industrial activities in their neighbourhood.
“Once the PRTR is in place, and registration is required, mechanisms for the protection of communities will improve,” said Somporn Pengkam, director of Community-led Impact Assessment Platform.
Somporn noted that while current Thai law formally guarantees people’s right to a healthy environment, violations remain widespread.
“We require more tools [like PRTR] to protect this right,” she said, adding that without this bill, people would have no way of knowing if any toxic waste was being released in their area or how it may affect their health.
“People exposed to chemical leaks or factory explosions usually rush for medical treatment, without knowing what they encountered,” Somporn said.
However, if people had access to a list of exactly what chemicals had been released, they could respond more proactively to spills, leaks and pollution, she added.
She said the bill would also give people more influence in controlling the use of hazardous industrial chemicals in their neighbourhoods.
“It is better to engage all sectors, not just a few groups, in deciding which chemicals can be used in a specific area. This will shift decision-making power and strengthen the role of the people’s sector.”
Prospective buyers could also use the pollution register as a guide for the purchase of new homes, she added.
Lives shaped by pollution
For people like Pemika, who lives just one kilometre from a chemical factory in Samut Prakan’s King Kaew district, the issue is deeply personal. The factory exploded four years ago, forcing the evacuation of 1,200 people and the temporary closure of more than 300 factories nearby.
“My house sustained damage, but the insurance company only covered half of the costs,” she said.
A few months later, a fire at a nearby shoe factory reignited her fears of chemical pollution, taking a toll on her physical and mental well-being.
“I’m always worried about my safety,” she said. “After these accidents, I know that when I buy a new home, I’ll make sure to check carefully if there are any nearby factories.”
Somporn said the PRTR system would offer the public and authorities early warnings and real-time information, helping them to make safer choices and manage risks more effectively.
Air pollution in Thailand is fed by emissions from around 60,000 factories, according to data collected by EARTH.
Heart of the PRTR Bill
Two pollution bills were presented to the House of Representatives – one from the people’s sector and the other from the People’s Party. The ongoing deliberation focuses on the first bill.
This draft law requires individuals, legal entities and government agencies to disclose data on their release and transfer of substances potentially harmful to people, plants, animals, assets or the environment.
This information is submitted to the Pollution Control Department (PCD), which will analyse, compile and make the data available to the public both online and offline, ensuring that access is both easy and free.
If enacted, the bill will penalise businesses that fail to report, or submit incomplete or inaccurate information, with fines of up to 1% of their annual revenue. Deliberately filing false information carries stiffer penalties of up to two years in jail and/or fines ranging from 500,000 to 5 million baht.
Refusal to cooperate can result in up to a year in prison, and/or a fine of 20,000 to 50,000 baht, plus daily fines until the polluter complies with the law.
A long fight for change
The PRTR Bill is the culmination of more than two decades of advocacy, according to Penchome. Her group and allies have been pushing for effective anti-pollution legislation through petitions and signature campaigns, emphasising the need for systemic change.
The current draft law, created in collaboration with ENLAWTHAI Foundation and Greenpeace, was backed by a petition signed by nearly 12,000 citizens, demonstrating widespread public demand for pollution transparency and accountability.
“Fighting one polluting factory at a time is a never-ending battle,” Penchom said, reflecting on years of efforts that have failed to shield Thais from industrial hazards.
The law offers a win-win solution, arming the public with information to protect themselves while also helping authorities to enforce the law more effectively, she added.
“With PRTR, communities and authorities will have the data they need to address pollution at its root.”
Challenges, however, remain. The first two years may bring compliance gaps or enforcement problems, she noted, though in the long term, the benefits will far outweigh these early hurdles.
“Economic growth at the expense of people’s health is not worth it. Thailand can pursue development that brings wealth while also ensuring its citizens remain healthy and its environment is protected. PRTR is a critical step towards that,” she said.
