VZCZCXRO6514
OO RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHBK #2597/01 2821001
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 091001Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY BANGKOK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8574
INFO RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEAWJL/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI IMMEDIATE 7137
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS PRIORITY
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 002597 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, EEB, DRL 
STATE PASS TO USTR FOR BWEISEL, BKLEIN 
COMMERCE FOR EAP/MAC/OKSA FOR JKELLY 
TREASURY FOR OASIA 
SINGAPORE FOR FINATT BLEIWEIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:N/A 
TAGS: ECON EINV ELAB ETRD SENV PREL TH
SUBJECT: ENVIRONMENTALISTS VERSUS INDUSTRIALISTS: THE MAP TA PHUT 
DISPUTE WORSENS 
 
REF: A. BANGKOK 2555 (AMBASSADOR ENGAGES WITH DEPUTY PM) 
¶B. BANGKOK 1909 (AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH TRANSPORT MINISTER) 
¶C. BANGKOK 701 (ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISTS AND BUSINESSES CONCERNED) 
 
BANGKOK 00002597  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: On September 29, a Thai administrative court 
issued an injunction to halt 76 new industrial projects -- valued at 
$10 billion -- at the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate in Thailand's 
much vaunted Eastern Seaboard Industrial Development Zone over 
allegations that the government failed to follow the environmental 
provisions of the Thai Constitution when approving the projects. 
However, implementing legislation for these constitutional 
provisions has never been finalized -- a significant legal quandary 
that the courts (and parliament) must now resolve. The 76 Map Ta 
Phut projects, including a $1.5 billion investment project of Dow 
Chemical, are now frozen in legal and bureaucratic limbo. End 
Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Comment: Thailand is experiencing the growing pains of 
modern economic development.  Whereas industrial growth in the past 
could proceed almost unfettered for anyone willing to put in the 
money, Thai civil society has now matured to where labor, 
environmental and local community organizations have found a voice 
and the political clout to force consideration of their interests. 
Abhisit's government has a tough nut to crack -- how to balance its 
support for environmental and other activist groups with existing 
commitments made to businesses and investors. As reported in 
reftels, several U.S. businesses, including Dow and Chevron, are 
worried about previously-approved multi-billion dollar investments 
that now may be halted. The Ambassador recently raised their 
concerns directly with the Deputy Prime Minister (ref A) and the 
Transport Minister (ref B), but our advocacy efforts are more 
complicated now that the case has moved into the courts. Abhisit is 
personally leading the government's efforts to find the 
least-damaging resolution to the problem, but most analysts believe 
the longer the case drags on, the greater the damage will be -- both 
to Abhisit's government and Thailand's investment and business 
climate. End Comment. 
 
Industrial Projects Grind to a Halt 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) On September 29, the Central Administrative Court of 
Thailand issued an injunction suspending the development of 76 new 
industrial projects -- valued at more than $10 billion -- at the Map 
Ta Phut Industrial Estate in Rayong Province, less than 150 miles 
from Bangkok.  The injunction will remain in place until the Court 
has ruled on a larger suit filed by environmental activists against 
the government, accusing eight agencies of failure to comply with 
environmental provisions in the 2007 Constitution when approving the 
Map Ta Phut projects. While the government appealed the injunction 
to the Supreme Administrative Court on October 2, environmental and 
citizen groups continue to push for the revocation of all industrial 
project approvals since August 2007 when the Constitution went into 
effect. 
 
¶4. (U) Article 67 of the 2007 Constitution requires that prior to 
the operation of any project or activity that "may seriously affect 
the community with respect to the quality of the environment, 
natural resources and health," the following must be completed: an 
environmental impact assessment (EIA); a health impact assessment 
(HIA); a public hearing for affected citizens; and an assessment 
from an independent environmental body consisting of private 
environmental organizations and educational institutions. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The implementing regulations required under Article 67 of 
the Constitution have never been finalized. While existing laws 
contain guidelines for environmental impact assessments, no such 
guidance exists for the health impact assessments, public hearings, 
or the required assessments from the yet-to-be established 
independent environmental body.  A working committee had been set up 
to draft these, but without any laws or regulations (other than the 
verbiage in the Constitution itself), questions have arisen from 
businesses over how Article 67 would affect the issuance of 
government licenses for industrial projects, such as those at Map Ta 
Phut.  In short, why should their projects be halted when they have 
done all that they can to comply with existing regulations? 
 
BANGKOK 00002597  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Environmental groups, on the other hand, believe the projects should 
never have been given even preliminary approval. 
 
A Complicated Case Gets More Complicated 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) The September 29 ruling follows a March 2009 decision from 
the Rayong Administrative Court that declared the Map Ta Phut 
Industrial Estate and the surrounding area a "pollution control 
area" per the 1992 National Environmental Quality Act (ref C).  As a 
pollution control area, more stringent environmental standards 
should be applied by the National Environment Board. The government 
chose not to appeal this decision and instead required that the 
companies submit pollution-control action plans to the National 
Environment Board within 120 days. The affected companies completed 
these plans in order to comply with the ruling and hoped that the 
proposed plans would satisfy the government's requirements and 
enable them to move forward with their new projects and expansions. 
 
¶7. (U) However, environmental and citizen groups in Map Ta Phut 
filed additional lawsuits in June, accusing eight government 
agencies of violating the Article 67 provisions of the 2007 
Constitution and calling for an injunction order to halt the 
continuation of the new Map Ta Phut projects, many of which are now 
underway. Since the National Environment Board designated Map Ta 
Phut as a pollution control area, the lawyers argued that Article 67 
of the Constitution must apply, as these projects "may seriously 
affect the community with respect to the quality of the environment, 
natural resources and health." 
 
¶8. (SBU) In an attempt to resolve the government's predicament and 
address mounting investor concerns, the Council of State decreed in 
August that that government could approve industrial projects that 
had existing environmental impact assessments -- even though these 
assessments were completed pursuant to laws and regulations 
predating the 2007 Constitution. For projects with pending 
assessments, the government would need to abide by the 2007 
constitutional requirements and follow the (yet-to-be-drafted) 
regulations regarding health impacts before issuing an operation or 
construction permit. 
 
¶9. (SBU) The September 29 court injunction was an unexpected 
development, however, that suspended the activities at the 76 
projects, even if the government had already approved the 
environmental impact assessments. While the government awaits a 
decision on its appeal of the injuction, Prime Minister Abhisit 
hopes to push through the necessary legislation required to 
implement the Article 67 provisions -- something that could take 
many months. 
 
ENTWISTLE