space Press Releases, News Stories

By Pennapa Hongthong, THE NATION

Thailand, 3 October 2001  -- Whether the victory of Usa Rojanapongkasem - one of the most badly injured victims of the 1991 Klong Toey Port chemical fire - is an exceptional case or not, things will never be the same as far as the justice system is concerned. Law experts hailed the case as a milestone for the system. In its historic ruling last Friday, the Civil Court ordered the Port Authority of Thailand (PAT) to pay Bt3.2 million in compensation to Usa who is almost blind and deaf and has a high risk of developing cancer after exposure to the chemical fire a decade ago. The verdict is significant in that it is not only the first victory by an ordinary member of the public over a state agency, but also the first time the court has ordered a defendant to pay almost 100 per cent of the compensation asked for by the plaintiff.

Legally, when compared to previous similar cases, Usa had a much more convincing case, said Suthee Yuanyong, head of the Law Society of Thailand's Environmental Case Division and a member of Usa's legal team. In another case, a female worker at an electronics factory filed a lawsuit with the Labour Court against her company and the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand alleging damage to her health. Yet, she lost the case as her lawyers failed to convince the court to prove just that. Usa's case is different, said Suthee. "We have clear evidence - her severe illness - as well as strong witness statements that won the case for her," he said. Even a female lawyer representing the PAT sympathised with Usa and gave her some money, he said. However, he conceded that if her illness were not so prominent, she might have lost the case. With photos from the Scientific Crime Detection Division, he said his team could prove to the court that the PAT had been careless in its storage of several hazardous chemicals. The court was even more convinced by medical reports from Chulalongkorn, Royal Police and Rajvithi Hospitals, which all confirmed traces of methyl bromide in Usa's blood. This chemical was found among the other chemicals in the Klong Toey blaze.

Usa's chief medical witness, Dr Orapan Methadilokkul from Rajvithi hospital, an expert in occupational health, has stood by her since the beginning of the case. She found the tumour in Usa's brain and the methyl bromide in her blood.

Panas Tassniyanont, a senator and an expert on environment-related law, believes that the change in the court's perception is a key factor in Usa's victory. "In ruling in favour of Usa, the court has shown signs of getting out of the old tradition in which the ruling was normally based on the literacy of law," he said. "The justice system has been alerted to a great change. It did accept that there are people suffering from environmental problems which they themselves were not the cause of," said Panas. But both Panas and Suthee said it was way too soon to say that the court verdict in Usa's case would set a precedent for other similar cases. However, they said the verdict was a good lesson for Thai society as it would set an example for victims of other environmental disasters to become more aware of their rights and file lawsuits against polluters if their rights had been violated or they were harmed. Suthee said other cases concerning environmental mismanagement might not be as hard as Usa's case, since the 1992 Environmental Protection Act was recently amended to make the burden of proof lay with the polluters. It does not matter to him whether Usa's victory is an exceptional case or not. The most important thing, he said, was that people must realise their legal right to fight the polluters, who in turn must be aware that they must properly manage all hazardous substances or face legal action and end up like the PAT.