Thailand overhauls factory oversight with linked data systems

Thailand’s Industry Ministry is overhauling factory regulation by connecting digital systems and industrial data to sharpen inspections, streamline licensing and strengthen enforcement against pollution and improper waste management.

Nattapol Rangsitpol, Permanent Secretary for Industry, explained that the ministry, through the Department of Industrial Works, the Office of Industrial Economics and the Office of the Permanent Secretary, was revamping the entire regulatory process, from factory licensing and supervision to law enforcement.

For the first time, the e-License system, iSingleForm reporting platform and i-Auditor factory inspection system are being brought together, allowing information to be linked and exchanged across the regulatory process.

The ministry is also tightening its approach to enforcement and penalties, with greater emphasis on protecting communities and the environment, while moving ahead with amendments to the Factory Act and new legislation governing industrial waste.

e-License to cut approval times

Under the overhaul, the e-License system will be fully implemented for factory licensing to reduce reliance on officials’ discretion and make assessments more consistent with engineering principles and legal requirements.

The digital process is also intended to make licensing more transparent and verifiable for business operators, while reducing processing times by more than 28 days.

Factory inspections shift to data-led targeting

The ministry is also changing the way inspection plans are drawn up.

Previously, officials generally scheduled inspections according to lists of factories classified by risk. The new approach will increasingly use data to identify specific factories that require closer scrutiny.

At the centre of the system is iSingleForm, which collects information that can be analysed for industrial indices and used in policymaking for the manufacturing sector.

The platform also allows factory operators to submit a self-declaration to determine whether they have fully complied with legal requirements, encouraging businesses to review their own compliance on an ongoing basis.

Information submitted through iSingleForm will also be analysed to flag possible irregularities for inspection.

These may include unusual industrial waste-management records, water, electricity or raw-material consumption that appears inconsistent with a factory’s production processes and output, or indications that a business may be improperly using trade privileges.

Any anomalies detected will be flagged to field officials. The ministry’s public complaints system will meanwhile enable communities and members of the public to take part in monitoring factories and reporting possible problems.

Officials will then use i-Auditor to carry out standardised factory inspections and submit results through an entirely electronic system, allowing inspection records to be traced and reviewed.

“Data from every system will be interconnected. We are trying to create a medical record for each factory, similar to a patient’s treatment history at a hospital, which will show the factory’s entire operating history so that we can provide support and supervision in a more targeted way,” Nattapol explained.

Pollution breaches could bring immediate shutdowns

The most significant change concerns enforcement against factories that release pollutants above prescribed standards or fail to manage industrial waste correctly.

In the past, when a factory caused pollution by discharging wastewater or air pollutants beyond legal limits, officials could order corrective action within a specified period under the first paragraph of Section 37 of the Factory Act.

However, factories were generally able to continue operating while improvements were being made. In some cases, extensions were sought for months.

The ministry also considers existing criminal fines for breaches of pollution standards too low to act as an effective deterrent. Some operators consequently treated fines simply as a business cost worth incurring, even as communities and the environment suffered damage.

The ministry has therefore shifted its enforcement approach away from focusing solely on protecting industrial economic growth towards a model that promotes responsible operators while placing public and environmental safety at the centre of regulation.

Factories found to be releasing pollutants above prescribed standards or improperly managing industrial waste can now be ordered to stop operations under the first paragraph of Section 39 of the Factory Act while corrective work is carried out.

The ministry views an immediate shutdown as a way to halt pollution from the date the order takes effect, while using the business consequences of suspension, including lost income and economic opportunities, to encourage factories to correct problems more quickly and operate with greater care.

The approach also shifts responsibility for restoring legal compliance back to factory operators.

The ministry believes this will provide greater protection for communities and the environment while creating fairer conditions for manufacturers that comply with the law.

Alongside the tougher enforcement system, the Industry Ministry is accelerating amendments to the Factory Act and drafting an Industrial Waste Management Act to update the legal framework in line with current business conditions and help prevent future problems.