PTT and Siam Cement Group, which together own more than half of the suspended projects in the Map Ta Phut area, have taken the lead in shaping the new face of Thailand's industrial sector.
The "Community Friend" campaign was kicked off yesterday, also involving Dow Chemical Thailand, Glow Energy and BLCP Power in ensuring peaceful coexistence between industrial developments and local communities.
All five companies are affected by a court order to have new projects suspended due to environmental and health concerns, and they have committed themselves to lifting social and environmental standards as well as sharing and transferring knowledge and experience with others for the betterment of Rayong.
PTT president Prasert Bunsumpun said the project was designed to give an example to other enterprises of all sizes in Rayong and elsewhere.
"PTT and SCG have suffered the most from the court's order. We met and agreed to join forces. We aim to share our experience in environmental care with others. We hope this will turn Rayong into the most livable province. Rayong will become a green industrial town, en example for other provinces in terms of sustainable coexistence of factories and communities," he said.
From a total of 25 of its projects in Map Ta Phut, PTT Group still has 18 of them suspended. Eleven of the projects can resume construction and are under healthimpact assessment study, which should be completed in the third quarter.
The other seven are waiting for the official list of hazardous activities, which after winning the fourparty panel's endorsement on Monday now needs approval from the National Environment Board and the government.
"Once this becomes clear, we will decide what action to take [on the seven projects]," Prasert said.
SCG president Kan Trakulhoon said his group would once the list is announced consider legal moves to release SCG's 12 stillsuspended projects. It originally had 20 projects suspended by the court's order.
He said the Map Ta Phut crisis marked the need for joint efforts to rebuild trust and ensure tranquil coexistence.
The campaign announced yesterday will focus on knowledge transfer, exchange of experience, and selfcontrol, he said. In the short term, it will emphasise reducing volatile organic compounds, odours and flare gas, as well as establish the protection strip between an industrial area and the local community.
A "beyond CSR (corporate social responsibility)" approach will be in place, to meet the locals' demands firstly in terms of education and health. A local health database will be put in place, he said.
"We hope that our cooperation will promote concrete and sustainable development for communities, the industrial sector and the nation," he added.
For Chanin Vongkusolkij, chairman of BLCP Power, the campaign shows the private sector's strength in mutually tackling problems for sustainable development.
The five companies will spend Bt70 millionBt80 million in outlining environmental and social standards in three areas.
First, they will voluntarily set higher standards to reduce odours and toxic emissions for a greener town.
Second, they will provide educational courses as demanded by the community, as well as health programmes. Scholarships for 200 nursing students will be extended in order to produce more trained staff for the province's hospitals.
Third, a call centre will be set up to take complaints.