Activist Srisuwan Janya is seeking a court injunction to suspend the ongoing construction of the Orange Line western extension, saying the commuter rail project was approved despite not meeting the environmental impact assessment (EIA) standard.
Mr Srisuwan, in his capacity as president of the Stop Global Warming Association that he founded two decades ago, submitted his petition to the Central Administrative Court on Chaeng Watthana Road in Bangkok on Thursday.
Once the country’s most prolific petitioner, Mr Srisuwan has kept a low profile since he was arrested in January last year on a charge of trying to extort money from a civil servant in exchange for dropping a corruption allegation. He denies the charge and prosecutors have still not decided whether to indict him.
His latest petition names the governor of the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand, the Bangkok governor and the committee of specialists reviewing the EIA report, under the National Environment Board.
They are accused of dereliction of duty, given their roles in approving the construction of the mass-transit line extension from Taling Chan to the Thailand Cultural Centre.
The review committee approved the EIA report on April 2, 2021 and it was endorsed by the environment board on Dec 17 the same year, said Mr Srisuwan.
Approval was given despite the fact that the plan to demolish three flyovers in Bangkok was not included. Consequently, there was no mention of a plan for preventing and correcting the environmental impact of the demolition work, as required under the National Environment Act, he said.
As well, when plans for one station were scrapped along with a planned section stretching 3.1 kilometres, the project failed to submit a revised EIA report, said Mr Srisuwan.
And because the 365 large trees along the extension route were not removed for nurturing and replanting properly, as stated in the approved EIA report, they apparently were dying out, he added.