On Oct 18, about 500 local people from various districts of Ratchaburi province visited the Energy Ministry to submit to the permanent secretary their petition to order the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) to scrap its affiliated companies' planned bids to build new power plants in their neighbourhood.

They said that their province already houses 6 power plants with 3 more planned. Their concerns include pollution that will affect agricultural crops and their respiratory health.

The local people were prevented from going inside the ministry compound as the police closed the main gate. They were upset and opened the gate themselves. Later the ministry's deputy permanent secretary Norkun Sitthipong came out to meet the protesters.

Norkun told the protesters that there are three steps that must be followed prior to approving the construction of a new power plant; a project developer must conduct an environmental impact assessment (EIA), hold public hearings, and gather comments from independent environmental and health organizations including academic institutes.

He said that a power plant would never be built if local people are opposed to it, even if the EIA report has been approved. And on Oct 28, the Natural Resources Ministry will hold a meeting among relevant agencies to discuss the details of organizing public hearings and gathering comments from independent organizations on environment and health, he said.

The state utility EGAT holds shares in the three companies that plan to build new power plants in the province including the Electricity Generating Co (EGCO) (25%), and Ratchaburi Holding Plc (45%) which owns Tri-energy. The latter two are already running natural gas-fired power plants in the province, which the local people have complained pollute the environment and affect their crop yields as well as cause respiratory problems among residents.

Translated by Ponglert Pongwanan