PUBLISHED: 30 Mar 2024 at 05: 25
Fourteen fishermen’s organizations and small companies in Rayong have filed a class action lawsuit against the owner of an underground oil pipeline that resulted in a significant oil flow in 2022, which they claim has ruined their lives.
The plaintiffs represent small-scale fishermen and fishery workers in the area as well as a fishing community called Pak Nam, Ban Rao (” Pak Nam, Our Home” ).
On Thursday, they were taken to the Civil Court by Somchai Armeen, the head of a sub-panel on economic situations at the Lawyers Council of Thailand. There, they sought 4.2 million baht in compensation from Star Petroleum Refining Company ( SPRC ), the owner of the ruptured pipeline.
The event, which saw at least 50, 000 gallons of crude fuel seep into the Gulf of Thailand and Rayong’s shores on Jan 25, 2022, affected at least 2, 600 fishing, according to the state’s Fisheries Office.
The business claimed that the area’s fish stocks were severely damaged and that the rest of the fishermen’s catch was unusable due to the oil leakage.
The office added that since then, local fishermen have n’t been able to support themselves because their regular catches have largely disappeared from their regular fishing locations off the Rayong coast.
Many have been forced to go further out to lake or begin fishing entirely, it said.
Apart from the hunting area in problem, the members were also suing five other parties for violating the environment security law, according to Lamom Boonyong, chairman of the Pak Nam Ban Rao hunting community.
The defendants represent different organizations with over 800 users. If the court decides in their favor, the law may allow the rest of the members to bring legal action, which may cost the business around 240 million baht.
The organizations also requested that the state support the restoration of the native marine ecosystem.
On May 17, the Civil Court does analyze the case.