‘Radio waves from cell phone towers are not as harmful as you think” has become the official government tagline. It’s heard on radio spots, published in leaflets and banners on song thaew vehicles, as well as printed on billboards in front of schools and government buildings.
In 30-second radio spots produced by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission in four dialects, a man brushes aside an older person’s concern that her headaches and insomnia might be caused by the tower near her house.
The NBTC even has a website dedicated to the cause as part of its project to educate the public about the effects of radiation from electromagnetic fields (EMF). With the URL conveniently called sao song meu teu (mobile towers) dot com in Thai, the website contains local news articles, ads and commercials echoing the same message over and over: EMF radiation from cell phone towers do not harm people’s health.
With more than 100 complaints filed annually to the NBTC requesting mobile towers be removed in recent years, the government has reason to be concerned. Several towers, also called base stations or cell sites, have already been relocated from communities, while some disputes have even reached court.
Critics, however, say that cherry-picking the facts and misleading the public is causing a backlash, as the government is unlikely to allay the fears of worried citizens who have already been self-educated about the effects. Among those who disagree with the NBTC’s tactics is a high-ranking official in the organisation itself.
“So far, attempts to create an understanding [with the public] have been terrible,” said Prawit Leesatapornwongsa, an NBTC commissioner. “The statement that towers are safe is an outright lie.”
SETTING STANDARDS
In one of the first instances of tower-related complaints filed to the NBTC, a housewife in 2006 requested the removal of three cell sites located near her townhouse in the Dusit area. When the NBTC asked her to submit more information, she printed out news articles regarding similar occurrences overseas.
Although her request was not granted, the complaint led to the enactment of two laws related to safety standards of cell phone towers published in the Royal Gazette a year later.
While in some countries cell phone towers are prohibited from being placed within a certain range of populations to minimise exposure, Thailand’s safety measures only include exposure limits used by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).
Mobile operators must seek a licence from the NBTC before installing a base station. Under the new law, they must provide evidence of attempts to enhance the understanding of residents near the station site, particularly in areas such as hospitals, schools and childcare centres. This is to build confidence in the towers’ safety and allay any possible public fears.
“So far, companies have not abided by these rules due to concerns that the talks will fuel fear and create an increase in complaints,” Dr Prawit said.
Following a meeting of experts in 2011, the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer classified EMF as possibly carcinogenic based on an increased risk for glioma, a malignant type of brain cancer.
An online fact sheet provided by the NBTC points out that the evaluation puts EMF on the same level as coffee, pickles and engine exhaust.
“But it’s not right to say that with regards to a mobile tower. You can avoid purchasing a mobile phone, but you can’t switch off a tower,” said Dr Prawit, who was the director of the NBTC’s Telecommunications Consumer Protection Bureau for four years before becoming a commissioner in 2011. “What people want to know is whether or not the towers are safe. What we can say is that there is no conclusion yet.”
The WHO announcement gave rise to the number of complaints regarding mobile towers, with a total of 652 complaints filed to the NBTC since 2010. The top three complaints were filed against True Group (272), Advanced Info Service Plc (AIS) (217) and Total Access Communication Plc (Dtac) (97).
Some of the complaints described symptoms such as headaches, insomnia, tiredness, nausea and depression, while some say they had not been informed of an installation, according to details of the filings seen by Spectrum.
DISPUTES LINGER
Mobile towers hold antennae and other communications equipment. They flood the area for kilometres around with powerful high-frequency radio waves to support the use of mobiles as well as Wi-Fi, wireless LAN networks and Bluetooth-supported devices.
There are more than 60,000 mobile towers in Thailand, and it is common for mobile operators to install the towers near communities due to the convenience of the existing electrical cables.
Although there have been several tower-related disputes between communities and mobile operators, no court case has ever resulted in mobile operators being forced to remove or relocate their towers, as most are withdrawn before the start of a trial.
This is because in some cases where operators install the towers before gaining NBTC approval, they are quick to pay the fine and relocate the towers, said Dr Prawit. Although violation of the law carries a fine of up to 100,000 baht and/or up to five years in prison, the NBTC has imposed fines of less than 10,000 baht in the past.
On occasions where there is a strong community backlash, the company decides it is in their best interest to relocate the tower.
The NBTC has a 30-day timeframe for resolving disputes, in which they tend to ask both sides to enter a mediation process with a third-party mediator. Many disputes, however, are not resolved within the given timeframe, leading a large number of people to seek help from the Foundation For Consumers.
FFC secretary-general Saree Aongsomwang said most of the complaints relate to not creating an understanding with communities before installing mobile towers. The foundation has assisted in over 30 cases, all of which have resulted in towers being shifted from their original locations.
“The companies’ cooperation therefore resulted in communities withdrawing their legal complaints,” said Ms Saree, a former chairwoman of the NBTC’s consumer protection panel.
Both Ms Saree and Dr Prawit themselves had a close brush with the law when True Move filed a lawsuit against the two and telecommunications researcher Sumet Vongpanitlerd for defamation.
The 2010 complaint followed a seminar a year earlier in Khon Kaen province on the effects of EMF radiation.
An exhibition in the event contained pictures of the towers at the centre of a complaint against True Move, the country’s third-largest mobile operator.
The court dismissed the case without trial, as government officials are protected under the law, and the complaint must be filed against the organisation instead.
WHAT’S THE FREQUENCY?
The NBTC commissioned the King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang to conduct a survey on the effects of radiation on those living less than 300m from mobile towers. The full report was published in 2014. The research, which cost the NBTC 15 million baht, tested the power of radio frequency waves at more than 40 mobile towers in 20 provinces.
The ICNIRP said radio frequency radiation exposure should not exceed 58 volts per metre for the 1,800 megahertz frequency. The survey found the highest exposure rate was only 1.5 V/m, in Saraburi province.
That the survey found mobile towers in Thailand emitted electromagnetic waves well below the maximum level set by the ICNIRP would be the NBTC’s standard explanation regarding the health effects of EMF radiation.
“If the waves emitted from cell sites conform to international standards, then they are not harmful,” NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith told Spectrum.
Mr Takorn said the non-specific health symptoms described by those who have filed complaints are largely imaginary, as in one case in Khon Kaen where a team was sent to inspect the area but found the tower had not been completed.
He said the NBTC has cooperated with the Thai Biomedical Engineering Research Societies to perform on-site checks to ensure the waves do not exceed radiation standards. “If the level does not exceed the standards, then the towers are not removed,” said Mr Takorn. “Expanding the telecommunications network is necessary, or else coverage is lost and people will not be able to make calls. I want people to cooperate with us in order to develop the network.”
Several critics have disputed the NBTC’s stance, including Dr Prawit, who said the WHO classification of EMF radiation was already based on extremely low signals, adding that mobile towers usually emit waves 1,000 times lower than the standard requirement in order to keep costs down by consuming less power.
However, the exposure limit will automatically decrease in the future as part of the introduction of 4G and 5G mobile networks.
“In the future, 5G waves will only follow the cell phone as opposed to emitting waves through a large area,” Dr Prawit said.
LACKING TRUST
The NBTC has aggressively stepped up its campaign to create a positive image for mobile towers. The Telecommunications Consumer Protection Bureau has spent about 15 million baht to educate the public on the effects of mobile towers near residents and communities from 2015-16 in the form of leaflets and billboard ads, as well as seminars nationwide.
“Government agency statements are not neutral, and that causes public mistrust,” said Dr Prawit. “They don’t believe it anyway, because they know how to read news articles and research papers. Saying that there is no harm causes more disbelief.”
Ms Saree, from the FFC, is considering filing a lawsuit against the NBTC for violating section 22 of the 1979 Consumer Protection Act, which prohibits advertisements from containing statements which are unfair to consumers, based on false or exaggerated claims.
Another long-time critic of the NBTC is Mr Sumet, whose 2008 research paper on the health effects of EMF radiation was among the first local studies on the subject. A telecommunications engineer by training, Mr Sumet worked for over a decade as a researcher director at the Thailand Development Research Institute before becoming a commissioner of the now defunct Telecommunications Consumer Protection Institute.
By studying science and medical journals, Mr Sumet concluded in his paper that although there is no undisputed evidence that EMF radiation causes cancer, research from several countries has found that mobile towers cause non-specific health symptoms such as nausea, sleep disorders, dizziness and headaches to people living nearby.
Mr Sumet resigned after two years at the NBTC due to the organisation’s “lack of enthusiasm”. In 2011, the publication was removed from the NBTC website in what Mr Sumet and insiders described as an attempt to censor information, and Mr Sumet resorted to posting the publication to other online sources.
Mr Sumet accused the NBTC of being “no longer credible”, and that they will reach the-boy-who-cried-wolf territory if they continue to fail to provide the full facts to the public.
“The NBTC has never expressed concern about people’s interests, as they mainly serve the interests of the industry sector,” he said, suggesting that current radiation emission standards should be revised, and that the law should prohibit the installation of towers near schools, hospitals and nurseries.
A CAUSE FOR CONCERN
Three years ago, when True and AIS set up mobile towers a few metres from his house, Saman (not his real name) had no idea about the raging debate about the health effects of EMF radiation. But his engineering background led him to believe there could be reason to be concerned, and after reading several news articles, research papers and watching YouTube videos, he came to a conclusion about the dangers of mobile towers.
“Even if it is still disputed, we need to assume that it is unsafe,” said Mr Saman, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution.
The upscale Chaiyapruek Ramintra housing project, developed by the real-estate company Land and Houses, is located on the outskirts of Bangkok and houses over 2,000 people in 795 households.
The estate now has seven towers and one cell site located within 50-100m of the estate walls. The juristic board claimed residents were never informed of the installation, which is required by law.
A year later, TOT set up another tower 50m from Mr Saman’s house, and last year Dtac, which meant that he had four towers less than 100m from his house. He brought up the issue with the juristic board, and was asked to file a complaint with the NBTC on behalf of the board in July last year.
The letter that was submitted named TOT, True Move, AIS and Dtac and asked for the towers to be relocated over 400m from the community. It also asked the NBTC to investigate two other towers near the area.
Representatives from AIS and True contacted him only once to ask him where the towers are located, while attempts to follow up with the NBTC have failed.
“I was asked the question, ‘Don’t you know that they [mobile towers] are safe?’ When I asked the staff to explain, she couldn’t answer the question,” said Mr Saman, referring to the only instance he was able to make contact with an NBTC representative via phone.
The NBTC sent a letter asking him to enter a mediation process with the operators, which he refused. He is now discussing with juristic board members the possibility of filing a lawsuit against the NBTC for dereliction of duty.
Mr Saman now complains of headaches and insomnia, and has resorted to using aluminium foil to seal the windows of his bedroom.
“There are so many people who are not aware of the dangers, and [the NBTC] is using propaganda tactics to inform those who aren’t aware of the issue,” Mr Saman said. “We don’t know what is behind the scenes and whether or not they may have something to do with mobile phone operators.”
Shiny happy people: Advertisements claiming ‘mobile towers are not as dangerous as you think’ and ‘the NBTC will look after the towers’ provide a link to a dedicated website.
Poles together: A staff member looks at two of the towers near the Chaiyapruek Ramintra estate.
Close to home: A staff member at the Chaiyapruek Ramintra estate says residents are concerned about the number of mobile phone towers around the property.
Speaking out: Prawit Leesatapornwongsa, a doctor and NBTC commissioner.
Wires crossed: The increasing number of towers in populated areas like this one in Kanchanaburi have some concerned about adverse health effects.