Thailand should create an independent body to tackle issues regarding environment and health impact assessments (EHIA), says the National Reform Council's Environment and Natural Resources Committee.
Some members are concerned the existing body which studies EHIAs cannot be impartial as it made up solely of state officials.
Hannarong Yaowalert, a member of the committee, told a forum on environmental reform yesterday that the proposed body must be independent of politics and state power.
It should comprise representatives of the civic, government, private and academic sectors to ensure impartiality, he said.
As it stands, a committee under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment's Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning is responsible for studying EHIAs.
It is the office's job to determine whether the measures proposed by those involved with construction projects are effective enough to protect the environment and locals' health, Mr Hannarong told participants yesterday.
Aside from the independent body, Mr Hannarong said the forum suggested that at least 20 obsolete laws concerning environmental protection should be amended, in keeping with the spirit of the new constitution.
It will take around four years to finish amending the laws, he said.
The new charter will make it easier to protect the environment and natural resources, Mr Hannarong said.
Amendments to the new charter will also ensure that decisions on whether to approve megaprojects will not only rest with the government, but with all those involved, he said.
However, Eco-culture Study Group coordinator Lertsak Kamkongsak said he was still unsure whether the new charter would make it any easier to safeguard the environment than the previous ones.
He said he did not have high hopes for the new charter where the environment is concerned.
Meanwhile, the ENRC also visited the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment yesterday where committee members and ministry officials discussed environmental reform.