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He added that the meeting of the economic ministries Wednesday would discuss the case. The ministry will also order the relevant state agencies to seek urgent solutions to the situation.

Santi Vilassakdanont, chairman of Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), voiced concerns Wednesday that the injunction might affect the confidence of the investors planning to invest in Thailand.

He added that most of the temporarily halted projects are the upstream petrochemical projects and their operation would help the country's reduce

its dependence on imports worth Bt300 billion per year and is expected to create 100,000 jobs.

Thailand's industrial investment scene on Tuesday suffered another blow as the Central Administrative Court issued an injunction against proceeding with 76 projects slated for Map Ta Phut and nearby areas in Rayong with a combined investment of about Bt400 billion.

The court's ruling in favour of villagers in and outside the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate will affect 76 projects that have passed an environmentalimpact assessment (EIA).

These projects are pending construction licences under the Constitution's Article 67, which requires a healthimpact assessment (HIA), public consent and approval from the yettobe established independent environment body.

The court ruled that the minutes of a meeting of government agencies showed pollution problems from existing facilities in the area had intensified. That was enough to justify the injunction, as more industrial activity would increase the damage, it said.

The injunction will remain in place until there is a judgement in the environmental case against a number of government agencies.