Climate project with Nasa to proceed, Plodprasob says
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Science Minister Plodprasob Surassawadee said yesterday that the government would continue its cooperation on climate research with the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) after consulting with Parliament.
As a majority of parliamentarians agreed that the project was useful for the country’s weather forecasting and disaster management, the minister said he would begin a new round of negotiations to reactivate the project.
Nasa cancelled the Southeast Asia Composition, Cloud, Climate Coupling Regional Study (SEAC4RS) in June as the Cabinet was not able to approve the project on time because of Thailand’s internal political conflict.
The opposition Democrat Party raised concerns that the United States might use the scientific project as a pretext for a security operation to contain China’s influence in Asia and the Pacific. The project, which would require use of facilities at U-tapao airbase, would bring Thailand into conflict with China, the opposition said.
The Democrats called on the government to bring the project proposal before Parliament for approval in accordance with Article 190 of the Constitution. However, the Cabinet decided to consult with Parliament in accordance with Article 176, saying the project had no economic or social implications.
Plodprasob said he had talked to Nasa about reactivating the project once Thailand was ready and the weather conditions over Thailand matched the research requirements.
The project is purely scientific and has nothing to do with petroleum resources in the Gulf of Thailand as alleged by the opposition, he said.
However, giant gas company Chevron is involved in the project, as Nasa needs to use one of its sea platforms as a research facility, he said.
