Following the 2022 court ruling “The Beach Case” that ordered the cleanup and restoration of environmental damage to Maya Bay’s beach, the media inquired about progress in this case during a civil court symposium to promote cooperative processes for the judiciary held on June 26 at Ratchadapisek Road.
Kriangkrai Chanyaman, Deputy Chief Justice of the Civil Court, responded that the Krabi Provincial and the Ao Nang Administrative Organization, as plaintiffs, have sent a letter to the Environmental Case Division, in accordance with the court’s ruling, indicating that the second defendant (Royal Forest Department) is in the process of selecting private sector partners to participate in the restoration. Experts will also be involved in the process.
Suwicha Sukasemhati, Deputy Chief Justice of the Civil Court, stated that the Supreme court’s ruling in the Maya Bay case obligated the Forest Department to restore Maya Bay to its original condition, as it had approved the private sector’s involvement in the shooting back in 1998.
In addition, the Twenty Century Fox company was ordered to pay another 10 million baht (nearly 290,000 U.S. dollars) in compensation and to support environmental protection. The company is required to provide funds to the Forestry Department for the restoration of Maya Bay and submit annual reports to the court on the progress of the work for a period of 3 years or until the allocated funds are exhausted. This case is important for the enforcement of court judgments.
Suwicha said that since the case had a serious impact on the environment and caused significant harm to public interests, the Court proposed to the Cabinet a draft Royal Decree on Procedures for the Assessment of Environmental Cases. This draft decree contains Article 55, which gives the Court the power to supervise the restoration of environmental conditions in cases where it is not possible to enforce court judgments or orders.
The passage of this bill by Parliament would benefit the restoration of Thailand’s natural resources and environmental conditions, not only in the Maya Bay case, but also in other environmental cases involving forests or air pollution such as PM2.5.
This process would facilitate proactive and fair dispute resolution and allow for the determination of punitive damages to prevent and deter such damages, as well as compensation for damages incurred in a restorative manner.
