Publication Code: Y90H
by Phanu Kritiporn, Theodore Panayotou, and Krerkpong Charnprateep
Thailand, traditionally an agricultural country and a major food exporter, is undergoing rapid rates of structural change and industrial growth. The country's industrial output has grown at double-digit rates in recent years and is expected to continue to do so well into the twenty-first century. Already, the industry's share of the gross domestic product (GDP) is more than twice that of agriculture's, and Thailand is well on its way becoming a newly industrialized country (NIC). However, both the rapid rate and the pattern of Thai industrialization are generating many environmental problems with which the country is ill-prepared to deal.
The heavy concentration of industry in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR) and the surrounding coastal provinces is accelerating urbanization and compounding urban problems. Traffic congestion; water shortages; solid waste; and air, water, and noise pollution problems have noticeably worsened during the last few years. Both environmental awareness and environmental legislation (setting of standards) have advanced considerably in recent years, but subsequent environmental enforcement is lagging. In the meanwhile very little is known about the environmental implications of (1) the changing structure of Thai industry, and (2) the government's industrial and trade policies, including industrial promotion.
Recent developments in the industrial sector have important environmental implications for Thailand. While technological advances in pollution control and abatement offer considerable potential for environmental improvement, technological development--compounded with a change in the structure of industry and in the types of materials used in production processes--is leading to a new type of pollution problem. The marked shift from traditional pollutants, such as biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), to more complex toxic pollutants included the introduction of heavy metals, toxic air and water pollutants, and hazardous waste into the environment. There also has been a substantial increase in the number and use of different kinds of chemical products, some of which may present risks health and environmental damage during their handling and disposal.
The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between industrial growth, structural change, and industrial polity for environmental problems and to propose policies that would both "minimize" and internalize the environmental cost of industrialization in Thailand, an advanced developing country. The study also attempts to demonstrate that the uncontrolled environmental problems generated by rapidly advancing and geographically concentrated industrialization ultimately become a constraint to industrial growth itself, apart from their impact on the quality of life.
The following research questions are addressed:
Finally, the study derives the implications of the analysis for industrial and environmental policies and examines the feasibility, cost, and effectiveness of alternative policy instruments such as incentives to influence industrial location, effluent charges, pollution permits, and environmental funds, bonds, and audits.
The study is divided into seven chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the study, and Chapter 2 presents the overall environmental perspectives of industry in Thailand over the last three decades. Chapter 3 presents the overall geographic distribution of industry and the related distribution of industrial pollutants in terms of air quality, water quality, and hazardous waste. Chapter 4 reviews the effect of Thailand's industrial activities on environmental quality with specific focus on human health effects. Chapter 5 reviews the environmental policies and institutional aspects of industrial and environmental development in both the past and the present. Attempts are also made to assess the present effectiveness of environmental enforcement and the effect of industrial promotion on pollution. Chapter 6 evaluates the economics of pollution control including the use of incentives, charges, and fees for the management of the industrial pollution. Chapter 7 outlines appropriate policy recommendations based on findings from the analyses discussed in the previous chapters. Special attention s given to the elements of environmental strategy designed to deal with the problems of enforcement, monitoring incentives, charges, and industrial location
December 1990