In October 2009, the administrative court issued an injunction to temporary stop 72 investment projects in the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate until the environmental and health issues are addressed according to Article 67 of the 2550 Constitution.

While on vacation in Thailand, Dr. Nisai Wanakule was asked by the E-Team Chair to carry out a fact finding mission and identify areas where E-Team can provide assistance to Thai agencies. He coordinated with Thai University Consortium for Environmental Management (TUCEM) and Center of Excellence for Environmental and Hazardous Waste Management (CoE-EHWM) to compile readily available information on MTP environmental problems. On the mission report, he concluded that the air and groundwater pollution by VOCs required immediate attention and were within the ability of E-Team and its counterparts (TUCEM and CoE-EHWM) to offer some areas of assistance.

Following that mission, Dr. Nisai Wanakule and Dr. Methi Wecharatana were invited to Bangkok in January 2010 under financial support from National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) to team up with professors from TUCEM and the Center. The team visited several environmental agencies and stake holders to perform a need for assistance survey. The trip report summarizing all need requests was submitted to NSTDA. The three-party team organized its First Conference on “Map Ta Phut…A Lesson Learned on Thailand Environmental Issues” at Miracle Grand Hotel on April 21-22 with funding from the Commission on Higher Education (CHE), NSTDA, Chula Global Network and CoE-EHWM. The Conference was well received by more than 150 participants despite the escalating political unrest. The second technical meeting on MTP issues is planed around the ATPAC Annual Meeting in July 2010.

Since January 2010, the two-person team has been working closely with TUCEM and CoE-EHWM in providing technical assistance to various Thai agencies (such as PCD and DEQP) regarding the MTP environmental and health issues. In addition, we often received additional advisory assistant from Khun Suwan Songpracha, the retired ATPAC from Cal-EPA, who still retains his expertise in Hazardous Waste Management.