The Supreme Administrative Court has rejected a request from Songkhla residents demanding it nullify the National Environment Board's (NEB) approval of an environmental impact assessment (EIA) report on the Thai-Malaysian gas pipeline project.
Seventeen residents, led by Kittipop Suthisawang, sued the NEB's expert panel in 2004 for illegally approving the project EIA which allowed Trans Thai-Malaysia Ltd to construct the pipeline in the southern province.
The plaintiffs said the NEB approved the assessment despite rejecting a social impact assessment and mitigation plan submitted by the developer. This made the approval process incomplete.
The court yesterday agreed with the plaintiff that social impact mitigation measures should be accepted before the whole environmental report could get the NEB's approval.
However, the court ruled not to revoke the NEB's resolution as demanded by the plaintiff, because no objection to the report was lodged within the 45-day time frame set down by law.
Under the 1992 Environmental Promotion and Protection Act, which covers the EIA approval process, if the NEB does not reject the EIA within 45 days after receiving the report, the EIA is automatically approved.