Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha on Tuesday mentioned a plan to set up an executive committee to conduct environmental assessments at the strategic level in the future.

Prayut did not explicitly reference SEAs but the inference was clear that such assessments would be introduced in the near future.

He said such studies would enable policymakers to better plan strategy for natural resources, both at the agricultural and industrial levels, while Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) would be conducted at the project level.

However, the public knows relatively little about the process compared to the frequently referenced EIA process, leading to questions on how SEAs differ from other assessments.

Independent researcher Somnuek Jongmeewasin, an expert on city planning, said the main purpose of SEAs was to study the potential of each area and the most appropriate development.

“The SEA is an in-depth study to evaluate natural resources, environment, society and the economy of an area, which will give us an understanding of the area and its potential for development in the future. With a proper SEA study, we can draft the right strategic plans, which suit the environment and the local people’s demands the most,” Somnuek said.

He gave the example of a Krabi coal-fired power plant, arguing that if the government had conducted an SEA, such a controversial project would not have been initiated in the first place.

Resources in the area would have been closely studied, as well as the local people’s traditional fisheries and income from tourism, he added.

Projects with many impacts such as a coal-fired power plant would not have been chosen for such a site, he said.

However, Somnuek said Thailand did not have SEA procedures written into the law and such studies were voluntary and lacking official regulation.

“Academics and NGOs have tried to push forward a new Enhancement and Conservation of National Environmental Quality bill, which involves the principle of SEAs, but so far our effort have failed,” Somnuek said.

Natural Resources and Environment Ministry permanent secretary Wijarn Simachaya said the ministry had a first meeting on Tuesday to consider the inclusion of SEAs in official procedures before drafting national strategic plans.

“We are drafting our principles of SEAs based on the lessons from other countries. Currently, we already have SEA guidelines for the Office for the Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning, but we will make them better and more up to date,” Wijarn said.

“In the first stage, SEAs will still not be included in the law, but will be governed by regulations of the Office of the Prime Minister.”

Foundation for Ecological Recovery director Srisuwan Kuankachorn said that even though SEAs were very good tools to optimise development plans for an area, the process itself could be a problem if it is biased.

“We have lessons from many cases where EIA studies have become a problem because the project owner hires a consultant company to conduct an EIA study to the company’s benefit. They will do anything to make the EIA study receive approval,” Srisuwan said.

“One of the clearest examples is the Krabi coal-fired power plant EHIA [Environmental and Health Impact Assessment] study, as it did not include many essential issues such as the rich biodiversity of the project area or the impact on tourism in the province.”

He said similar problems could occur with SEA studies, so authorities had to make sure that neutral parties conducted the studies and did not benefit from development projects.

Somnuek also said that the ethics of the SEA researchers were very important, adding that proper SEA studies could lead to appropriate strategic plans for the country, enabling Thailand to achieve sustainable development goals.