On September 13, 2022, Mr. Athapol Charoenshunsa, Director General of Pollution Control Department (PCD), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE), revealed that pollution problems, foul odors, solid waste, waste, wastewater, and hazardous wastes cause trouble to people and the quality of the environment. There is a continuous statistics of complaints about pollution. Most of them are caused by industrial plants and small establishments in the community. H.E. Varawut Silpa-archa, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) and Mr. Jatuporn Buruspat, Permanent Secretary of MNRE, raised concerns about the matter and ordered PCD to strengthen environmental proactive role in law enforcement and the enforcement of administrative law. PCD established the Environmental Protection Unit (EPU) as an ad hoc center to monitor and take legal action against non-compliance sources of pollution, as well as penalize offenders and bring compensation to the environment and people.
Mr. Athapol said EPU has integrated operations with Operations Coordination Center 4, the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), Royal Thai Police, Department of Special Investigation, Office of Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission, Department of Industrial Works, Local Government Organization, and public sector networks. Over the past two years, EPU resolved more than 700 cases of suffering for the people in the area, including the case of an offense that caused environmental pollution, leading to legal proceedings. In some cases, the polluters have already paid government expenses. Some cases are in the process of suing for damages for environmental rehabilitation, supervising the removal of waste from the area and proper disposal. In addition, some cases are in the process of filing complaints and assessing damages.
EPU has a concrete empirical work and creates the greatest benefit to the people and the quality of the environment. As a result, PCD received the Public Sector Excellence Awards (PSEA) 2022 from Office of the Public Sector Development Commission, chaired by H.E. Mr. Wissanu Krea-Ngam, Deputy Prime Minister. This award is an award for participatory public administration in the category of Effective Change at a good level, which is “Environmental Protection Unit (EPU): a model for solving pollution proactively with an integrated approach”. Moreover, PCD has also received the government service award in the category of Information Integration for Service at a good level, which is “Integrated System of Information on Water Resources and Environment (Rain, Particulate Matter, and Water Quality), totaling 2 awards. PCD is determined to become an environmental protection organization in order to solve environmental problems for the people, Mr. Athapol said.
