Law Society of Thailand threatens class-action suit against CPF

At a press conference chaired by LST president Wichian Chupthaisong at the LST head office, the LST did not mention CPF by name but referred to “a business operator that sought permission and imported the alien species for an experiment in 2010”.

CPF received permission from the Fisheries Department to import blackchin tilapia for an experiment at its research centre in Samut Songkram in 2010. CPF has previously denied causing the infestation of blackchin tilapia in canals and other water resources in 16 provinces, stating that all of its imported fish died and the carcasses were disposed of as advised by the Fisheries Department.

Wichian told the press conference that the LST received complaints from villagers in Tambon Yisarn and Tambon Praek Nam Daeng in Samut Songkram’s Amphawa district, who reported severe damages caused by blackchin tilapia infesting their shrimp and fish ponds.

Wichian said the LST then assigned its representatives to gather more complaints from villagers in the 16 provinces where the alien fish had reportedly infested. He added that the LST’s environment committee conducted an investigation and discovered that a company was allowed to import the alien fish for research in 2010, and the fish were found to have infested several water resources by 2017.

The infestation was first spotted in Tambon Yisarn and Tambon Praek Nam Daeng, and a study found that the fish originated from the same source with similar DNA traits.

Somchai Ameen, chairman of the LST environment committee, said the LST would file a class-action lawsuit with the Civil Court, demanding that the company responsible for the infestation pay damages for the loss of income to local fishermen and shrimp and fish farmers. The company would also be required to cover the cost of restoring the destroyed ecology, based on the principle that the polluter must pay for rehabilitation, Somchai added.

He said the LST would also file a lawsuit with the Central Administrative Court against the Fisheries Department for dereliction of duty, citing their failure to stop the infestation. The Central Administrative Court would be asked to order the department to solve the infestation, rehabilitate the destroyed ecology, and charge the costs to the company that imported the fish.

Wichian said it would be up to the Civil Court to decide how much compensation the company in question would have to pay to the villagers. He mentioned that the villagers wanted the Interior Ministry to declare disaster zones due to blackchin tilapia infestations so that provincial administrations could pay compensation immediately. He added that he would relay the villagers' wish to the Interior Ministry as soon as possible.