Environmental advocates are urging the government to promote collaboration between the public and private sectors on the development of sustainable, "green technology" in Thailand.
Johansson: Calls for joint effort
The head of Chiang Mai University's Climate Change Data Centre, Dr Sate Sampattagul, said that while the public and private sectors do work together to develop green technology, the results of such collaborations are rarely made available to the public.
When Bangkok was choking from the most recent haze, said Dr Sate, many inventors came up with various innovations that were created to mitigate the harmful impact of the PM2.5 dust particles on human health.
"Some inventors develop and sell their products commercially, while others offers their inventions and innovations to the state," he said.
"While the government has acted as a consumer, it hasn't acted as a development partner, simply because existing attitudes and regulations do not favour these 'green innovators'".
Dr Sate used the example of his research team's "Dust Boy" air monitor project, which was funded by the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT) and the Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC), but has yet to be endorsed by the government.
He urged the government to set up a specific unit to oversee and further propel the development of green innovation for the benefit of the general public.
The State Secretary for the Swedish Minister for Foreign Trade, Niklas Johansson -- who participated in the Special Asean Ministerial Meeting on Marine Debris hosted by Thailand last week -- also urged the government to get behind inter-sectoral collaboration to develop green technology deal with Bangkok's haze problem.
"Swedish automotive companies, for instance, have been working alongside the government in a lot of different ways to reduce their footprint and achieve their sustainability goals," he told the Bangkok Post.
"In turn, the government makes sure that their products -- whether it is electric or bio-gas fuelled vehicles -- are available in the market."