Seven environmental groups have filed a lawsuit against the National Environment Board (NEB), Natural Resources and the Environment Ministry and the Industry Ministry for failing to deal with the country's pressing air pollution problems, saying every citizen has the right to breathe clean air.
The lawsuit was filed with the Central Administrative Court by representatives from Greenpeace Thailand, Environmental Law Foundation (EnLaw), Ecological Alert and Recovery-Thailand, Chiang Mai Breathe Council, Northern Breathe Council, the Rural Doctor Society and Climate Strike Thailand.
The groups want the NEB to bring the nation's benchmark for atmospheric micro-pollutants measuring less than 2.5 micrometres in line with World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations.
At present, the WHO sets the safe threshold for exposure over a 24-hour period at 37 microgrammes per cubic metre (μg/m³) of air, or 15μg/m³ annually.
The so-called safe level in Thailand is 50µg/m³, according to the Pollution Control Department (PCD).
The groups also urged all concerned state agencies to come up with a new standard for factory emissions, which has to be in line with internationally accepted guidelines.
They urged the Industry Ministry to require industrial facilities and factories to publicly disclose the amount of PM2.5 pollutants they emit, to allow continuous monitoring by state agencies and the public.
Surachai Trongngam, secretary-general of EnLAW, said the court is expected to decide if it would hear the case within one month.
He noted the NEB has yet to update its PM2.5 measuring standards -- used for over 10 years -- despite a push from the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment last year.
"This is clear evidence of the board's failures," he said.
