Govt Forms Four Task Forces to Crush Illegal E-Waste Plants, Hike Penalties
The Thai government has created four special task forces to crack down on illegal electronic-waste factories and smuggling, with plans to significantly raise fines and prison terms. The move follows a high-level committee meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Supachai Sutthamphan and includes stricter oversight of local officials and legal action against foreign operators.
Industry Minister Warawut Silpa-archa revealed the results of the first meeting of the Committee on Electronic Waste Problems, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Supachai Sutthamphan. The meeting resolved to establish four special task forces: 1) a law-enforcement task force led by the Ministry of Industry to suppress and prosecute illegal factories; 2) a public-complaint inspection task force led by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to verify and track environmental-impact complaints; 3) an import-export control task force led by the Customs Department with relevant agencies to intercept smuggling and false declarations; and 4) a legal task force chaired by the Industry Ministry's permanent secretary, with Wirat Kowsurat, advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister, as co-advisor, to revise laws and increase penalties.
Warawut stated that importing electronic waste into Thailand has been 100% illegal since a 2020 ban, and the Industry Ministry has ordered factories not to use illegally imported e-waste as raw material. Therefore, any current false declarations or smuggling constitute criminal offenses. The Factory Act and related laws are being amended to raise both imprisonment terms and fines; Warawut personally favors fines up to hundreds of millions of baht, while the Customs Department has proposed a maximum fine of 500,000 baht, pending further discussion.
The meeting also discussed controls on scrap metal exports, especially copper, after detecting anomalies where Thailand's copper exports exceeded domestic production capacity, prompting urgent Customs investigations.
On enforcement, Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul ordered all provincial governors to tighten supervision of district officials, kamnan, and village heads. If negligence or tolerance of illegal activity is found, disciplinary committees will be formed and strict punishment imposed.
Measures were also set to prosecute foreign nationals who establish bases for e-waste crimes damaging Thailand's natural resources and environment, using existing laws and royal decrees.
The Ministry of Industry has already inspected over 700 target factories and issued more than 400 administrative orders, including document requests under Section 35, improvement orders under Section 37, temporary suspensions under Section 39 paragraph one, and suspensions with license revocation under Section 39 (3). Nationwide factory inspection targets remain ongoing.
