The department, Military Circle 16 and local authorities yesterday conducted a random inspection of 1,082 factories in the province to ensure that factories that polluted the environment or had unhealthy working conditions would be punished under the Factory Act.

Industry Ministry deputy permanent secretary Sukda Punkla said it had been found earlier that many factories, especially in Samut Sakhon, did not follow the laws and caused severe environmental and health problems in nearby communities.

“The ministry has set up a committee on factory inspection and law enforcement, which consists of the Industrial Works Department, Military Circle 16 and local authorities, to proceed with this task, as the ministry was informed earlier that the local authorities did not have enough manpower to inspect all the factories in the province,” Sukda said.

He emphasised that this inspection aimed to enforce the Factory Act, so the officers would mainly check on factory registrations, environmental impacts, and working conditions.

However, if the officers found other law violations such as on human trafficking, child labour, or illegal migrant workers, the committee would notify the relevant agencies such as the Labour Ministry or the Fisheries Department.

Military Circle 16 Commander Maj-General Chaowalit Phongpitak disclosed that since the operation was first implemented from November 2015 to March this year, 109 factories had been inspected. Of that number, 85 had been found in violation of the law and had been ordered to fix the problems, and 24 had been temporarily shut down.

“It was the National Council for Peace and Order’s policy to prioritise the law enforcement, so the military has taken part in this operation in order to ensure that all factory owners follow the law strictly,” Chaowalit said.

Industrial Cluster 4 Bureau director Thaned Juntaklin said the committee would continue its work until August 25 for this term of implementation and the operation would conclude on August 30.

To get rid of small, illegal seafood-processing plants, Sukda said the ministry was considering amending the Factory Act to modernise the law to suit the current situation.

“The small seafood-processing plants are our major concern because it is hard to keep monitoring them and make sure they follow the law, so we are considering [whether] the Factory Act should be changes to make these small plants larger and easier for inspection,” he said.

He explained that currently a seafood-processing plant can legally register if it has more than seven employees, but the new amendment would raise that minimum to 50 workers and force a more systematic working pattern.

Acting Samut Sakhon Governor Narong Clalermkiat said the province was one of the biggest industrial cores of Thailand and a bustling centre for the seafood industry.

It has more than 5,000 factories of all kinds, around 300 of which are in the fishery and seafood-processing industries, and 67 per cent of the province’s annual revenue, or Bt335 billion, came from the industrial sector.