Proposal for Environmental Crime laws in new Thai Constitution

Post Today•Politics•1h ago

Reader Briefing

Experts and politicians call for stricter environmental laws and constitutional amendments to combat hazardous waste smuggling in Thailand.

•An academic seminar on environmental crime was held on November 14, 2026, at Chulalongkorn University.
•Weerayuth Kanchoochat proposed including environmental crime in the next constitution to enable harsher penalties.
•Penchome Saetang highlighted the role of corruption and official collusion in illegal waste disposal networks.
•Promet Kumarbun warned about the threat of eco-terrorism and the complexity of prosecuting environmental crimes.

•On November 14, 2026, the Department of Criminology and Justice at Chulalongkorn University hosted a seminar on environmental crime.
•Weerayuth Kanchoochat stated that current fines for environmental offenses, maxing at 600,000 Baht, are 25-50 times cheaper than treatment costs.
•The People's Party is drafting a law on the circular economy and proposed the PRTR law to track pollutant emissions and movement.
•Penchome Saetang warned that environmental crimes are often carried out by networks involving private companies, officials, and legal consultants.
•The people's sector version of the PRTR law is awaiting Prime Minister certification as it is interpreted as a financial law.
•Thailand aims to join the OECD by the year 71, which requires member countries to have PRTR laws.
•Promet Kumarbun identified the risk of eco-terrorism, citing examples such as the use of water as a weapon by ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
•The Ecological Alert and Recovery Thailand foundation requested the Department of Special Investigation to take on electronic waste import cases as special cases.

Full article content is available on the original source.

Weerayuth Kanchoochat(วีระยุทธ กาญจน์ชูฉัตร)

List MP and Deputy Leader of the People's Party.

Penchome Saetang(เพ็ญโฉม แซ่ตั้ง)

Director of the Ecological Alert and Recovery Thailand foundation.

Promet Kumarbun(ปรเมศวร์ กุมารบุญ)

A cyber criminologist.

People's Party(พรรคประชาชน)

A political party proposing the PRTR law and drafting circular economy legislation.

Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University(คณะรัฐศาสตร์ จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย)ℹ️

The host of the academic seminar on environmental crime.

Ecological Alert and Recovery Thailand(มูลนิธิบูรณะนิเวศ)

A foundation that monitors environmental crimes and petitioned the DSI.

Department of Special Investigation(กรมสอบสวนคดีพิเศษ)ℹ️

The agency requested to handle electronic waste import cases as special cases.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development(องค์การเพื่อความร่วมมือทางเศรษฐกิจและการพัฒนา)ℹ️

An international organization that Thailand hopes to join by the year 71.

Office of the Council of State(สำนักงานคณะกรรมการกฤษฎีกา)ℹ️

A law-screening agency mentioned as having private executives in its management.

Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear Operation Unit(หน่วยปฏิบัติการด้านเคมีชีวะ รังสีและนิวเคลียร์)

A Thai unit mentioned in the context of environmental sabotage handling.

A group cited for using water as a weapon in Iraq and Syria.

Win Process Company(บริษัทวินโพรเสสฯ)

A company involved in a historic pollution case in Thailand.

Prachin Buri(ปราจีนบุรี)ℹ️

A province experiencing pollution and illegal waste dumping.

Kabin Buri(กบินทร์บุรี)ℹ️

A district in Prachin Buri where waste landfill sites are located.

Pollutant Release and Transfer Register Act(พระราชบัญญัติการรายงานและเปิดเผยข้อมูลการปล่อยและเคลื่อนย้ายสารมลพิษ)

A proposed law known as PRTR to track the source and movement of pollutants.

Constitution(รัฐธรรมนูญ)ℹ️

The supreme law of Thailand which is proposed to be amended to include environmental crime.