Asbestos Profile: Thailand
Between 1950 and 2020, Thailand used in excess of 4 million tonnes (t) of asbestos with annual consumption between 2001 and 2005 averaging 172,470t. By 2012, the country had become Asia’s fourth largest asbestos consumer. Although usage has fallen in recent years to an annual average of ~38,000 tonnes, Thailand, remains one of the top ten asbestos-consuming countries in Asia [Report from the Asbestos Frontline 2012].
In the summer of 2010, Thailand reported its first case of mesothelioma, the signature cancer associated with asbestos exposure. For over 40 years, Thailand had been importing asbestos, most of which came from the Russian Federation, with additional imports from Brazil and Canada. Considerable pressure was exerted by these supplier countries on the Thai Government to uphold the status quo which permitted the use of asbestos [Thailand's Asbestos Time Bomb].
A meeting of the National Health Commission, chaired by the Prime Minister on February 25, 2011 “issued a resolution on banning the import of all types of this mineral [asbestos].” Simultaneously, the Commission delineated a road map to achieve this objective which assigned specific roles to various Ministries. In a press release dated March 30, 2011 issued by the National Health Commission Office, it was officially announced that the Thai Government planned to outlaw asbestos use [Progress on Thailand Asbestos Ban].
Pursuant to the Government’s new support for phasing out asbestos use, on February 17, 2012, the Thailand Ban Asbestos Network (T-BAN) was established at a conference in Bangkok attended by a hundred representatives of civil society groups [Ban Asbestos Mobilization in Thailand] [Report from the Asbestos Frontline 2012].
As was to be expected, asbestos vested interests from Thailand and abroad mounted a multi-pronged attack on the Thai Government’s proposal to outlaw asbestos, using a variety of methods including the dissemination of mistruths and disinformation. [Thailand's Asbestos Liars] [Thailand: Update on Ban Asbestos Campaign] [Thailand's Asbestos Status Quo: 2013] [Countering Asbestos Propaganda in Thailand] [Thai Ban Asbestos Struggle 2014] [Multisectoral governance for health: challenges in implementing a total ban on chrysotile asbestos in Thailand].
On January 29, 2014, the Thai Public Health Ministry passed a resolution calling for the immediate prohibition of the use of asbestos. This action was welcomed by members of the Thailand Ban Asbestos Network who had been waiting for nearly three years for the government to honor its pledge to prohibit asbestos use [Thailand Ministry Backs Immediate Ban].
Unfortunately, no prohibitions on asbestos use have been implemented in Thailand although national consumption has reduced drastically. It seems that the ructions caused by the industry’s propaganda and the political pressure it exerted have, as of 2023, derailed government plans to protect citizens from potentially deadly asbestos exposures at work and at home. [The Battle over Asbestos in Thailand] [Open Letter to Thai Minister of Industry].
For more information relating to asbestos issues in Thailand, see IBAS news items: [News Item Archive (Thailand)].
September 2023
