Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered the halted environmental and health impact assessment processes for the Krabi coal-fired power plant project to be scrapped, said government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd.
The environmental health impact assessment (EHIA) and environmental impact assessment (EIA) processes have been cancelled on the premier's instructions.
He said the prime minister issued the order out of concern that without the cancellation, there might be some issues with public participation in deciding which fuel source was best suited for the controversial project.
Gen Prayut has instructed the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning to write to the Energy Ministry, getting it to inform the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand formally to scrap both the EIA and the EHIA processes, according to the spokesman.
The processes had been put on hold due to growing opposition to the use of coal to fuel the planned power plant in Krabi. Critics fear its effect on the environment.
The prime minister's order followed some apparent confusion over whether the EIA and the EHIA processes should be resumed from where they had left off, or started from the beginning.