The House committee on industry will meet to discuss measures to prevent industrial accidents on Wednesday, in light of the recent string of warehouse and factory fires, the latest of which happened at Map Ta Phut Tank Terminal (MTT) in Rayong last week.
Move Forward Party (MFP) MP for Rayong, Kamonthas Kittisoonthornsakul, who is the deputy chair of the committee, said the meeting will discuss ways to improve security measures at industrial facilities and the appropriate compensation for future incidents.
The meeting comes in the wake of the explosion at MTT's pyrolysis gas (pygas) tank at Map Ta Phut Industrial Park on May 9. The incident caused one death and injured four others. The blast brought the number of chemical and/or industrial fires this year to 10.
Five have occurred so far this month, including a fire at a deserted chemical warehouse in Ayutthaya's Phachi district on May 2.
Ms Kamonthas said that she found some irregularities in the environmental assessments carried out in the wake of the blast at Map Ta Phut.
She said authorities determined that the blast did not cause significant pollution because they were looking in the wrong place.
Authorities cited air quality readings in tambon Map Ta Phut, when they should have looked at figures reported in tambon Huai Pong, considering the wind direction at the time of the blast, she said, noting at least 60 people in the area reported health problems as a result of the smoke from the blast and fire.
As the number of factories in Rayong has continued to increase despite the province being included on a list of pollution-control areas in 2009, the province's administration should come up with measures to deal with pollution-related issues, she said.
These include an improved emergency notification system and a pollution assessment for factories in the province, said Ms Kamonthas.
Meanwhile, Samart Ratchapolsitte, a former Bangkok deputy governor, took to his Facebook account to say that the nation's pollution laws have helped to prevent such incidents from happening.