Policy and Legal Framework

on Soil Contamination
Management in
Thailand
Workshop on Strengthening Contaminated Soil Monitoring in Vietnam, 29-30 November 2011
Rationale
 Hazardous wastes generation has been increasing
each year.
 The majority of household hazardous wastes have
been disposed of with municipal wastes.
 Land contamination has become a growing
concern due to increased amount of hazardous
wastes generation and improper disposal.
 Amount of Hazardous Wastes
Generated

Million Tons
Current Status of Soil Contamination
in Thailand
 Common sources of contamination
 Illegal dumping of hazardous wastes (11 in 2010)
 Incidents (17 in 2010)
 Mining
 Leaks from underground storage
 Misuse and mishandling in agriculture
Illegal Dumping in Nakornratsima
and Chonburi Provinces
Contamination from Mining
Current Policy
 Promote waste segregation at its source of
generation.
 Capacity building for local authorities on
household hazardous waste collection, transfer,
and disposal.
 Integrated centers for infectious wastes.
Current Policy
 The Ministry of Industry passed the law that
controls waste generators, transporters, and
disposers.
 Construction of high temperature incinerator,
managed by the Ministry of Industry.

 Green Mining Initiative by Department of

Primary Industry and Mine
Thailand’s Environmental Laws
Environmental Laws Related to
Land Contamination
 Hazardous Substance Act
 Enhancement and Conservation of National
Environmental Quality Act
 Land Transportation Act
 Factories Act
 Public Health Act
 Mineral Act, Petroleum Act
 Atom Power for Peace Act
 Groundwater Act
Land Contamination Counter-
Measure Mechanisms
 Pollution Control Department
 Emergency response
 Sample collection and analysis
 Inspection and investigation
 Department of Industrial Works
 Issue clean up orders if the cause of the contamination comes from
a factory or if the contaminants are hazardous material
 Department of Mineral Resources
 Geophysics investigation
 Issue clean up orders if the cause of the contamination comes from
mining industry
 Department of Groundwater Resources
 Hydrogeologic investigation
 Department of Public Health and local authorities
 Issue clean up orders in case of public health hazard
Thailand Twinning Project (2009)

 Identify the current gap in the regulation, policy, and

institutional frameworks that need to be improved for
better prevention and rehabilitation of contaminated
land.
 Conduct a draft blueprint for improving the
regulation, policy and institutional frameworks for
preventing and rehabilitating contaminated land and
proposed to the decision makers.
Challenges to Land Contamination Counter-
Measures in Thailand
 There are several laws that are related to soil contamination
problem and each law empowers different agencies to take
action. However, there are no specialized laws and
regulations in Thailand for land contamination remediation.
 Neither legislative nor institutional arrangements have been
systematically installed to tackle soil contamination in
Thailand.
 There are two alternatives to improve the law. First is to
pass a new specialized law for land contamination
prevention and remediation. Second is to improve the
existing laws to better deal with the issues.
Challenges to Land Contamination Counter-
Measures in Thailand

 Land contamination counter-measures in Thailand are

short-termed including emergency response, inspection,
removal, excavation, and containment.
 There is no standardized set of guidelines for remediation
for each government authority to follow.
 PCD has no authority to declare contaminated sites,
prohibit land use, or order responsible party or land owner
to conduct site assessment and remediation.
Challenges to Land Contamination Counter-
Measures in Thailand

 There is a limited fund available for short-termed

measures. Funding should be made available for
remediation because court ruling takes too long.
 No effective financial mechanisms where
revenues collected from polluting land owners can
be used to support subsequent land owner’s
remediation of the contaminated land.
Future Works

 (Draft) Soil and ground water contamination in factories area

Act is under process to be approved by the cabinet in order to
protect human health and environment by contaminated soil
and groundwater in factories.
 It is implemented unofficially.
 Guidelines for soil and ground water monitoring
are also drafted.
Thank You