Environmental Legislative Measures Regarding Industrial Water Management of Stakeholders in the Lower Mun River Basin, Ubon Ratchathani Province

Abstract

The objectives of this research were 1) to explore the problem; 2) to assess the problem condition and its impact; and 3) to propose policy improvements. This was a qualitative research by surveying 8 districts, in-depth interviews with a sample of 10 people divided into 2 groups: stakeholder groups, and academic groups. There were a specific group discussion of 8 people and organizing a forum to transfer knowledge to a group of representatives of 30 stakeholders. The results of the research revealed that 1) Ubon Ratchathani had two wastewater treatment systems, namely Ubon Ratchathani Municipality and Warin Chamrap Municipality only. The treatment system had overestimated the rate of wastewater and the division of administrative boundaries did not match the watershed; 2) the people lack the process of real participation, lack of prior knowledge.There should be a decision-making process to determine the implementation of water management and natural resource management. The government's environmental governance should be seen as concrete, clear, practical, not just a policy, but must be fair, transparent, have a process for disclosing information to the public and seriously defining the responsibilities of all sectors; and 3) problems in the enforcement of industrial water management laws found that the Enhancement and Conservation of National Environmental Quality Act B.E.2535 empowered the state to manage water in a comprehensive manner for all relevant agencies that did not meet the guidelines, resulting in delays in solving problems and the Factory Act B.E. 2535 had been in force for a long time, making some provisions inconsistent with the current situation. The amendment of the factory law to reduce the burden on small-scale factory operators of Group 1 and Group 2 had resulted in gaps in the law in factory operations. Laws had been circumvented and powers had been transferred to other agencies that were not yet ready to manage the water.