THE TRAIL of an illegal hazardous-waste smuggling network to Thailand by a group of Chinese investors has been exposed, after officers yesterday launched inspections at an electronic parts importing company accused of distributing imported hazardous electronic materials to waste management plants in Chachoengsao.

Meanwhile, an environmental law expert said that a legal loophole in the Basel Convention banning transnational hazardous waste movements had been exploited by the network of smugglers, with the situation exacerbated by a lack of cooperation between responsible agencies.

At least up to 96 tonnes of environmentally harmful waste, including e-waste, has been carelessly disposed of in Thailand, the investigation found.

A team of police and officers from related agencies searched Virogreen (Thailand) Co Ltd in Lat Krabang Industrial Park, after officers found evidence in previous raids of other hazardous waste disposal plants that Virogreen had supplied them with electronic wastes.

The search leader, national police deputy chief Pol General Weerachai Songmetta, said interrogation of the Taiwanese company’s board of directors found that Virogreen has been importing electronic parts from Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, and Singapore as second-hand electronic appliances.

However, he said, tracing the movement of the of hazardous waste revealed a different story, with the imported electronic parts from Virogreen being disseminated to a network of electronic waste recycling plants and hazardous industrial waste disposal plants in Chachoengsao, rather than to the second-hand market.

“From these investigation findings, we are certain that these companies are linked in the hazardous waste smuggling network of foreign investors,” Weerachai said, “so this company has been charged with allegations of falsely declaring importing goods, importing-tax avoidance, and smuggling hazardous waste into the Kingdom.”

The officers have found that three companies – OGI Co Ltd, GPL Metal Group International Co Ltd, and Virogreen – were responsible for importing electronic parts from various places around the globe and transferring them to the recycling company, WMD Thai Recycling Co Ltd. There parts suitable for reuse would be segregated, while the remainder of parts and toxic substances were disposed of by the lowest cost and improper methods at disposal plants.

Surapol Chamart, the Industry Ministry’s inspector-general, said that the electronic waste recycling plants in the network were licensed for managing electronic hazardous wastes in Thailand. Still, it was against the international convention to import hazardous waste into the country, and there would be further investigation into how the toxic waste had been allowed into the country.

Environmental law expert Sonthi Kotchawat says he knows the answer Surapol’s question. Because Thailand ratified the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes, bringing them into the country is forbidden, he said.

“However, the Basel Convention allows the importing of electronic parts for second-hand applications, so these companies take advantage of this exemption and falsely declare the environmentally harmful electronic waste as second-hand electronics to avoid the ban.”

THREE senior monks have lost their place in the Sangha Supreme Council (SSC) over a corruption scandal, which prompted police to stage unprecedented and simultaneous raids on temples yesterday.

SSC, which is Thailand’s highest body for monastic affairs, resolved to dismiss Sa Ket Temple abbot Phra Phromsitti (Thongchai Sukhayano), Sam Phraya Temple abbot Phra Phromdilok (Euan Hasadhammo), and Samphanthawongsaram Temple abbot Phra Phrommedhi (Chamnong Dhammajari) as its members yesterday.

The three senior monks were wanted for alleged embezzlement of state funds for their temples. Also implicated are Sa Ket Temple’s three assistant abbots Phra Srikunaporn (Boonthavee Khamma), Phra Khru Siriviharnkarn (Somjit Jansri), and Phra Wijitdhammaporn (Terd Yanawachiro) and Phra Attakij Sophon, the secretary to Bangkok’s monastic chief.

All the suspects except Phra Phromsitti and Phra Phrommedhi were nabbed. The two very senior monks could not be found during sweeping searches at their temples yesterday and are believed to be on the run.

Phra Phromsitti, 62, is the chief of Monastic Region 10 and also the chairman of Dhammaduta Office, while Phra Phrommedhi is an SSC member.

“We have taken action based on evidence. We hope temple followers understand that Buddhism and individuals are two different things,” Central Investigation Bureau commissioner Pol Lt-General Thitiraj Nhongharnpitak said yesterday.

According to police, there is clear evidence of budget irregularities at the Sa Ket Temple. Even though the temple does not operate a Dhamma school, it asked and received a budget of Bt87.5 million for the school in 2014.

Two years later, Sa Ket Temple also suspiciously implemented two projects. The temple received Bt37.2 million for the first project, which had the written objective of promoting morality. However, financial flows showed the Sa Ket Temple transferred the amount to two other temples and suspiciously received Bt29.2 million back.

The second project received a Bt32.5 million budget for Buddhism promotion. Of the amount, Bt25 million was transferred to the bank accounts of Nuchara Sittinok, who turned out to be a housemaid of Armed Forces staffer Second Lieutenant Thititat Niponpittaya, and Thirapong Pansri.

Nuchara, Thirapong, Thititat’s mother Kamporn Niponpittaya and Sa Ket Temple’s Tawich Sangyoo are now charged with money-laundering.

Police said as for the Samphanthawongsaram and Sam Phraya temples, both received Bt5 million in funding from the government but suspiciously transferred money to nine bank accounts of laymen.

It is widely believed that Phra Phromsitti and Phra Phrommedhi are on the run. An informed source said Phra Phromsitti was last seen at the Sa Ket Temple at 4pm on Wednesday.

“I’m not worried about [the abbot’s disappearance],” Crime Suppression Division (CSD) commander Pol Maj-General Maitree Chimcherd said. “No matter where he goes, we will find and arrest him eventually.”

Maitree, who led the raid on Sa Ket Temple, said 10 bank passbooks belonging to Phra Phromsitti had been found.

“The passbooks show he had Bt132 million in his accounts. But the Anti-Money Laundering Office has already frozen them,” he said.

Reached by phone, Immigration Bureau commissioner Pol Lt-General Sutthipong Wongpin said there was no indication that Phra Phromsitti had left the country and his office had now put the monk on the blacklist.

The five accused monks were denied bail by the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases.

Uncertainties prevail, despite the many pledges and efforts for education reform.

New initiatives, which include reducing class hours to give children more time for well-rounded development, have kicked off only to falter over the past four years.

The junta may take pride in the fact that several education laws have been passed under its tenure.

But concerns linger over the preparation and drafting of the laws, given that the new Education Bill is not yet ready.

“The National Education Bill, or framework, has not yet come out. But [much of] what is supposed to be inside this framework has already been rolled out. This means problems may occur in the future,” pointed out Assistant Professor Athapol Anunthavorasakul, a lecturer at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Education and director of the Thai Civic Education Centre.

He also hinted that education laws and reform might not head toward the same direction.

Athapol

For example, while the Early-Childhood Education Bill seeks to ban exams for children up to the age of 8, school graduates look set to undergo tough examinations to enter universities.

“And what will teacher-producing institutes do with their programmes when the Early-Childhood Education Bill is introduced as law?” Athapol asked.

The educator also raised doubts about the enforcement of the Equitable Education Fund Act and the upcoming National Curriculum Development Centre Act.

“Will works done under these new laws clash with the Education Ministry? Will the Education Ministry, as a key implementation agency, co-operate well with new agencies established under the new laws?” Athapol asked.

He warned that efforts made in good faith could backfire if there were no clear and proper policy direction.

Although Athapol reckons the establishment of the Independent Committee for Education Reform (ICER) is a clear step towards reform, he remained worried that complications could arise.

“By the third anniversary of the coup, we had hardly seen any clear progress on the educational front. It was only after the ICER was established [last May] that we started seeing visible progress. Yet that has also brought us concerns.”

He said that apart from the lack of direction for the overall picture, there are issues of a lack of co-ordination, inclusion and integration.

“How will the civil sector and the government sector work together?”

He added that the Education Ministry is in fact apparently reluctant to make any moves.

“Agencies under the ministry have hardly moved forward. It’s as if they are waiting for new agencies to start new things,” he said.

Such an approach suggests that new agencies established for so-called educational reform may merely follow in the footsteps of the Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment (ONESQA).

Established under the 1999 National Education Act, ONESQA assesses schools’ quality but its findings have rarely translated into school improvements given indifference on the part of authorities.

Kunthida

Kunthida Rungruengkiat, an independent academic with knowledge of Finland’s famed educational systems and who recently co-founded the Future Forward Party, said she had noticed little tangible progress on the educational front during the past four years.

“There are some new projects, such as coupons for teacher development and the Pracha Rath schools. But I don’t see what students get from these initiatives,” she said.

She also lamented the fact that instead of decentralising educational organisation, the authorities have centralised power under the current government.

“The government should have realised that each area may have different educational needs. So it’s best to offer independence to local agencies in handling educational affairs.”

Under an order of the NCPO chief, provincial education committees were established with a goal of preventing corrupt promotion of local teachers and educational staff. However, the committees have caused management problems in several areas with top local education officials unwilling to co-operate.

Athapol said problems in the country’s education sector stemmed partly from a failure to base decisions on empirical research.

“That’s why we have this back and forth movement. Whenever a project attracts protests, policymakers will show reluctance and sometimes backtrack. This is because nothing has been built on solid research. They have no clear reason or evidence why they should not back down,” Athapol said.

Daranee

ICER member Daranee Uthairatanakit is optimistic about what can be done in the future, though.

“We expect new agencies such as the National Curriculum Development Centre to prepare curriculum and the Education Ministry to keenly implement it,” she said.

During a recent TV interview, Education Minister Teerakiat Jareonsettasin said he recognised that a clear direction was crucial to education-reform success and that the focus should be on students, teachers and schools.

“Key education laws will be introduced during the term of the current government. Then, we will get a clear picture. Also, I will ensure the Education Ministry works efficiently. Good relationships among all stakeholders can make a difference,” he said.

Kunthida, however, does not believe the ICER’s reform efforts will provide a solution.

“In my opinion, decentralisation is the answer. One has to believe in the potential of schools and the civil sector,” she said.

Multinational firms and some Thai businesses have taken steps to comply with the EU data protection law, whose punitive measures include fines of up to 4 per cent of a company’s global sales turnover or 40 million euros.

Google said starting today its user data would be retained according to users’ settings in compliance with the EU law, while Google Analytics would automatically delete data that is older than the retention period its users have selected.

Google’s approach is similar to that of other foreign and Thai companies that have taken steps to comply with the EU law, which aims to protect the rights of EU citizens regarding their personal data stored and used by businesses around the world.

Thai Airways International, which serves a large number of EU passengers, is subject to the data protection law. The national flag carrier recently required all members of its Royal Orchid Plus programme to renew their membership by agreeing to new terms and conditions consistent with the EU’s GDPR.

Rajiv Bava, chief of corporate affairs and business development for DTAC, one of the country’s major mobile phone operators, said the company has been working towards overall GDPR compliance.

This includes measures to strengthen the rights of its customers such as easy-to-use solutions for customers to consent to processing, and better solutions for internal consent management.

DTAC is also sharing its best practice with the regulators and across industries including healthcare, airlines and tourism.

Paiboon Amonpinyokeat, a cyber-legal expert, said enforcement of the EU data protection law would have a significant impact on Thailand as far as EU citizens’ data is concerned. As a result, Thailand needs to enact its own data protection law so as to avoid problems with the EU, he said.

Regarding the proposed Thai law, Paiboon said the draft approved by the Cabinet earlier this week does not have specific measures to deal with data leaks. The EU law requires that data processors report any leaks within 72 hours.

Paiboon said Thailand could be blacklisted by the EU if there were serious problems regarding compliance. Also, the EU law includes the “right to be forgotten”, and so Thai authorities must be able to comply with this requirement.

E-commerce and other businesses, such as hotels and tourism, could be affected if there are compliance problems, he said, adding that the EU may also impose sanctions on countries that do not have strong data protection laws.

Arthit Suriyawongkul, coordinator of Thai Netizen, said standards in the Thai data protection law are likely to be lower than those required under EU law. Thai businesses that deal with EU customers will need to seek certification on this matter on a case-by-case basis to avoid compliance problems, he said.