Pollution, chemical leaks, industrial fires and other dangers are hurting local people in Rayong
Suddenly, I lost my sense of place. I was not sure where I was. Last Sunday, I was supposed to be at the Nong Fab school to attend a meeting of those involved in the Map Ta Phut industrial estate problems, but the hoardings on the walls of the school and temple suggested to me otherwise - they carried big corporate names from one end to the other.
Even the legend on the stone in front of the temple that shares its grounds with the school confused me - it read: "Wat Nong Fab, Constructed in 2006". Below this were the names of two companies. The temple is more than 100 years old.
Unlike most Thai schools, there were none of the slogans, mottos or poems that are supposed to inspire pupils, and teach them how they should behave. Inside this school, which shares the temple grounds, corporate logos could be seen, even on the walls of the buildings.
There were several different waste bins sponsored by companies to encourage pupils to segregate and recycle rubbish. But unfortunately the companies only sponsor them - they don't monitor their use. All the bins hold the same kind of rubbish.
There were two hydroponic plots for growing vegetables without soil sponsored by a refinery company. But there were no vegetable growing there.
These examples of sponsorship may be perceived by the companies involved as going some way to meeting their corporate social responsibility (CRS).
Former Prime Minister Anand Panyarachun chairs an 18-strong, four-party committee charged with coming up with ways to implement Section 67, paragraph two, of the 2007 constitution. This concerns health impact assessments (HIA) and an independent organisation to determine the viability of HIAs and projects that may seriously affect the livelihoods and health of people in the local community.
Mr Anand has urged companies to distinguish between CRS and simple public relations. He said many companies might misunderstood what CSR is, and confuse it with public relations. Public relations aims to sell products and improve a company's image, and is very different from CSR. Mr Anand, who was once a businessman, said CSR encompasses social awareness, the provision of social benefits to the local community and the promotion of the public interest. It's not about building up a corporate image.
Mr Anand was in Rayong last weekend on a mission to listen to the views of all those concerned in the Map Ta Phut disputes, and to discover the facts.
He told the meeting at Nong Fab school that he could smell the "rotten egg" fumes from his hotel room in Ban Chang district, about 10 kilometres from the school. However, he was also aware that it is impossible to pinpoint which company's operations produced the fumes.
Mr Anand and his committee also heard how companies undertaking environmental EIAs had been seeking consent from local people. The committee heard that many villagers had been asked to attend meetings, and had been given meals and 200 baht a day, and asked to sign their names to a list, which was then given in the assessments as consent.
Some companies provided mobile medical units to serve local communities, members of which were asked to sign their names, and these were then used as the list of local people who gave consent to a project or as part of the public hearing that is a stipulated part of the EIA.
Other companies had invited community leaders on field trips, mostly to tourist venues, paid for their accommodation and asked them to sign their names, which were used in the same manner.
Generally, CSR is a voluntary practice by businesses to help ensure that they adhere to the relevant laws and ethical standards. But do any companies in Rayong practice real CSR? Have they shown they are trying to eliminate leaks of harmful chemical substances, even if there is no law stipulating that they do so?
If you ask local villagers, they will say no, and then you will hear the list of their complaints, no matter where you go in Rayong. But one group, Rayong Saman-nachan (Rayong Solidarity), which has arranged some big events, including a mussel-eating fair and big concerts, would say otherwise. They say the operations bring jobs and money, and want the committee to solve their problems too. They also want to be part of the committee.
"Most factories are good, very few are bad, therefore it should be clear who should be punished," said Sutha Hemsatol, a Rayong Saman-nachan coordinator.
People living on the eastern seaboard have been the victims of many incidents involving the release of toxic substances. Many have become used to such incidents, while a lot of the cases are being kept quiet by different means. For example, medical bills are paid and money is donated to schools and temples. The public rarely learns of such cases unless they are serious.
The day before the meeting at Nong Fab school, on Dec 5, Mrs Ampha Pongsuk, who makes her living fishing in Ta Kuan bay in Muang district of Rayong, felt dizzy, experienced chest pains and could not breathe properly after smelling rotten egg fumes.
"Normally, we smell this once in a while, only for five or 10 minutes and then it disappears, but on that day it was strong and I felt bad," said Mrs Ampha.
Mrs Ampha and her six-month-old boy were sent to hospital. She was hospitalised for two days and her son was kept in overnight. It was reported that another 28 people were also affected.
Details of this incident were not made public, even though it took place when the committee was visiting the area.
The committee questioned concerned authorities on Dec 6 in a meeting with the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (Ieat). The testimony of Ieat officials revealed that the Ieat has no proper mechanism or warning system as it needs to go through bureaucratic channels. An official told the meeting that after the incident happened at 3pm, a report was issued at 5pm. The governor of Rayong was made aware of the situation at 6pm, and Deputy Prime Minister Korbsak Sabhavasu, who was in charge of resolving the problems at Map Ta Phut and was in Rayong at the time, only found out about it at 7pm.
Mrs Ampha and the others were affected by butene-1 gas that had leaked from a safety valve at a port in an industrial estate in Rayong. Butene-1 is flammable, and readily forms an explosive mixture when released. The day after the incident, there was another leak at the Genco toxic waste treatment company.
This happened only a few months after the Supreme Administrative Court ruled out suspending 76 projects in the area and later, on Dec 2, it allowed 11 projects to go ahead as planned.
Two weeks earlier, a reported nine tonnes of sodium persulphate - a strong oxidizing agent used as a bleach - caught fire, spreading thick smoke and fumes, causing more than 200 families living near the old Laem Chabang port in Chon Buri province to be evacuated to a nearby temple.
Despite the fact that officials described the incident as "not dangerous", people in the area were soon vomiting, had eye irritations and breathing difficulties. Sunee Phupetch was among those affected. The next day she collapsed in front of her house and was rushed to the mobile medical unit at Laem Chabang, where Deputy Public Health Minister Manit Nopamornbode was visiting people affected by the chemical fire. Attempts to resuscitate Sunee failed, and Mr Manit witnessed the death of the 54-year-old.
Acting Port Authority of Thailand director Sunida Sakulrattana said Sunee's family had been paid funeral costs and compensation, even though the cause of her death was unclear. Sunee's sister, Ms Samorn, sent her sister's body for autopsy by Khunying Porntip Rojanasunan.
"We are still waiting for the result of the autopsy," said Ms Samorn.
All the incidents over the past few weeks indicate that the Ieat might have compromised its safety standards or misunderstood what it has to control and monitor.
One of the committee members asked why the Ieat only reported on levels of sulphur oxide, nitrogen oxide and the particulate matter (dust) in its presentation to the committee. A huge electric sign in front of the Nong Fab school also gives real-time reports on these three levels.
Veerapong Chaiperm, the Deputy Governor of the Ieat, said the agency uses the parameters because it was stipulated by the EIA. Saksit Tridej, the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment who is on the committee, told the meeting that each EIA does not stipulate looking at only nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and particulate matter. EIAs normally cover many other chemical substances and indicators.
Another member of the committee asked if the electric sign was working properly, as it does not reflect the reality of the quality of air in the area. She told the meeting that in her previous visit, her group came with an air quality expert who questioned the figures indicated on the screen.
This is because the quality of the air on the day was dusty. One of the Ieat officials told her group that the billboard does not operate properly. But in the meeting last Sunday, there was no answer from the Ieat as to why the huge billboard, which is supposed to give a real-time report of the quality of the air in the area, did not operate.
Many villagers at the meeting at the Nong Fab school were happy to see Mr Anand experiencing the situation for himself.
"The words of small people like us may be worth nothing, but what Mr Anand experienced speaks louder and confirms our experiences," said Jaroen Dejkum, a local resident.
He said local people have had to put up with all kinds of smells for years. A rising number of people in the area have developed cancer and other illnesses, but such things could not be linked to the operation of any particular factory or refinery as their reports all claim they have complied with existing regulations.
Many concerned agencies, including the government, want to solve the deadlock of the remaining 65 projects after the Administrative Court's verdict on Dec 2. Many business operators claim their EIAs have already been approved. The investors promise they are ready to comply with all regulations.
But most locals know how the EIAs are being conducted. The incidents over the past few weeks have exposed a plethora of problems that have been going on for too long - the recklessness of industrial operations, the competition for water between farmers and industry, the air quality, land confiscation, health problems, social divisions and so on.
Local villagers want companies to be self-regulating in their industrial operations as they know it is hard for them to catch any bad operators red-handed. They want state agencies to strictly enforce the relevant laws. They also don't want cosmetic problem solving and a superficial CSR.
"After this hullabaloo, if the root-cause of our problems is swept under the carpet again, we will gradually all die from toxins and be cremated in the temple with beautiful signs provided by corporate sponsors. And for what?" lamented local resident Mr Jaroen.
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