twitter

Saturday 30 April 2016

Environmental impact assessment system in Thailand and its comparison with those in China and Japan


  • Department of Environmental Science and Technology, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan


Highlights

Reviewed current EIA procedures in Thailand, Japan and China
The EIA database is getting improved so as to generate profile of EIAs in the past.
Thailand needs to empower the local EIA authority within the EIA system.
The potential impacts should be more concerned than their scale in Japanese EIA.
Time limits and transparency should be reconsidered in China's EIA system.

Abstract

This paper aims to find ways to streamline the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) system in Thailand to increase its effectiveness by comparative analysis with China and Japan. This study is mainly focused on review, update and comparison of EIA systems between these three countries. It is intended to clarify fundamental information of the EIA systems and characteristics of the key elements of EIA processes (screening, consideration of alternatives, prediction or evaluation of impact, and public participation). Moreover, the number of the EIA projects that have been implemented in all the provinces in Thailand are presented. The results identified the similarities and differences of the EIA processes among the three aforementioned countries. The type of EIA report used in Thailand, unlike those in China and Japan, is an Environmental and Health Impact Assessment (EHIA), which is concerned with the health and environmental impacts that could occur from the project. In addition, EIA reports in Thailand are made available to the public online and the shortcomings of the process have details of barriers resulting from the projects to help future projects with reconsideration and improvements. In this study, it is pointed out that Thai's EIA system still lacks local EIA authority which needs to be empowered by implementing a set of laws or ordinance.

Keywords

  • Thailand;
  • China;
  • Japan;
  • Environmental impact assessment
Corresponding author at: G5-9, 4259 Nagatsuta, Midori-ku, Yokohama 2268502, Japan.
Kultip Suwanteep, M.A. After graduating from Master's course of Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, She entered Ph.D. course of Tokyo Institute of Technology in October of 2013. Her research topic is focused on EIA as well as SEA systems in her country comparing with other Asian countries.
Takehiko Murayama, Ph.D. After graduating from Ph.D. course of Tokyo Institute of Technology, he moved to Fukushima university as an associate professor, and Waseda University as a professor. In 2012, he is in the current position. He has been conducting researches on environmental impact assessment as well as risk management. In addition to a member of International Advisory Board of this journal, he is active as a member of IAIA, and vice president of Japan Society for Impact Assessment. Also, he is an international member of editorial board of the journal for Korean Society for Environmental Impact Assessment.
Shigeo Nishikizawa, Ph.D. After graduating from Ph.D. course of Tokyo Institute of Technology, he moved to Shiga Prefectural University as a lecturer, and went back to his current university as an associate professor in 2009. His research topics include environmental impact assessment, public participation and consensus building. He is a member of editorial board of the journal for Japan Society for Impact Assessment. he is active as a member of IAIA.