Thank you, Madame Chair,
0. Thai delegation would like to associate ourselves with the statements made by
the Republic of Indonesia on behalf of G77 and China.
1. Mining in Thailand can be traced back for centuries and is important to our
national development, especially in term of economic growth. Over the years, we
have learned some lessons and used them to adjust our practice, decision and
policy making processes. We have placed great concern on environment and
geo-resource sustainability and promoted the participation of people and local
community to ensure that mining will not or will least affect their ways of life.
2. There are some problems still exist. These include:
a. The Existence of hazardous substances and wastes deposition from
mining activities and abandoned mines:
b. Lack of National Mineral Resources Strategic Plan;
c. Local communities and government authorities have not been clearly
informed on the mining technologies and their possible long-term
problems.
3. However, Madame Chair, there are challenges to be pushed forward:
a. The International and National Policy on sustainable mining are
needed to be developed. These policies so called ?Green and Clean
Mining Policies? aim to fulfill the following actions: mineral resources
survey technologies, research and development for maximum use of
mineral resources, mineral resources prioritization for the need of
sufficient national development.
b. The introduction of the SEA (Strategic Environmental Assessment) to
all mining activities is recommended in order to simultaneously
consider all relevant issues including Economic, Social, Environment
and Technology. This process improves the sustainable management
of the mining activity on both area-based planning and specific mineral.
The SEA should be carried out prior to the project-based
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Health Impact
Assessment (HIA) processes.
Thank you, Madame Chair
