Kamontharat, a Rayong MP from the People’s Party, urged the government to bring the Pollution Release and Transfer Register (PRTR) bill back to Parliament to resolve issues of chemical leaks and pollution exceeding standards, protecting the public from repeated environmental pollution.
On 17 March 2026, Kamontharat Kittisunthornsakul, a Rayong MP for District 1 from the People’s Party, expressed her view on the PRTR bill and requested the government to immediately reintroduce the draft legislation to Parliament.
Kamontharat said that during the 26th House of Representatives, she and fellow MPs from the Move Forward Party submitted the PRTR bill to Parliament, alongside a version supported by 12,328 public signatories. The bill was approved in principle at the first reading on 5 September 2025, and a special committee completed clause-by-clause review by 30 October 2025.
However, the announcement of Parliament’s dissolution on 12 December 2025 caused all thoroughly reviewed bills to be suspended and remain pending at the second and third readings. This is regrettable as many of these laws directly affect citizens’ quality of life.
Given current circumstances, Kamontharat said waiting is no longer an option. Persistent environmental problems in Thailand, especially in the eastern region, force residents to live amid risks from air, water, and soil contamination.
Frequent industrial accidents, chemical spills, or pollution exceeding standards cannot be promptly prevented. The lack of clear pollution data from factories or regulatory bodies hampers effective mitigation of health and environmental impacts, an issue that has persisted for decades in affected communities.
Kamontharat explained the core of the PRTR law requires pollutant holders and polluters to report the types and amounts of pollutants released into the environment. The law also mandates the government to disclose this information publicly, enabling citizens to access pollution data for self-protection and timely emergency response. This shifts environmental management from reactive fixes to systematic, sustainable solutions.
She called on the current government to expedite the PRTR legislation by resubmitting the committee-reviewed draft, which remains pending at the second and third readings, for prompt final consideration. She emphasized that this law would mark a crucial starting point for managing environmental problems from their source, restoring health safety and the right of all Thai citizens to access pollution information.