Klity Creek’s Pollution Remediation: Case Victory Reveals Failed System

Abstract

The story of lead contamination in the Klity Creek in Kanchanaburi and the movement of the Karen community to assert their rights to live in a healthy environment through courts that led to environmental remediation processes are widely perceived by the general public as the progressive environmental case. The Klity Creek Case is the first environmental remediation resulting from a court case in Thailand, and it revealed to the public, for the first time, the incompetence of the pollution management and environmental remediation systems in this country. In this case, Thai authorities have spent more than 23 years and much public money to address the problem that has not been finished yet. The Klity Creek Case is relevant to Thai society because it demonstrates through the actual case that the existing pollution management system in Thailand is not prepared to respond to pollution problems. This article examines major causes that contribute to Klity Creek’s pollution management ineffectiveness. The authors compare the Klity Creek Case to a case study in British Columbia, Canada, to see how Thailand can learn from the British Columbian pollution management system. The authors argue that the ineffectiveness in the Klity Creek Case is a systematic problem. Three significant factors contributing to the ineffectiveness are, first, the lack of comprehensive law designed to systematically address pollution and remediation problems; second, the lack of responsible agency to manage pollution problems and remediate the polluted environment; and third, the lack of an expert’s role in environmental problem management processes. If Thailand commits to protect the rights to live in a healthy environment of Thai people, the government should reform its pollution management system.