A/HRC/41/43/Add.1 pollution on human heath; (b) forced evictions of communities with no or inadequate compensation; and (c) a lack of or inadequate public consultation with communities affected by large-scale development projects. 18. One concern that was consistently raised with the Working Group was the way in which environmental impact assessments and environmental health impact assessments and related public consultations were carried out by private consultants hired by the company promoting a given project. While consultants carrying out such assessments had to be selected from a list of 70 registered companies approved by the Office of National Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning, there was a widespread perception that they were inherently biased in favour of ensuring project approval. Several community members shared with the Working Group instances of interested parties having been prevented from participating in consultations and public hearings, adding to perceptions of a biased process. The Government has informed the Working Group that the Enhancement and Conservation of the National Environmental Quality Act (2018) has been amended and came into effect on 18 July 2018 to strengthen the environmental assessment process. 19. The Working Group also heard concerns about how the push to attract investment could undermine effective impact assessments, including by providing for waivers and introducing a system of fast-tracking project approvals. Reference was made to order No. 9/2016 (of 7 March 2016) of the National Council for Peace and Order, which aimed to speed up the review process for certain public works projects by allowing State-owned enterprises to seek Cabinet approval of projects before the completion of an environmental impact assessment. 20. In Songkhla province, the Working Group met with local authorities and community members to learn more about concerns and protests against a project by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand to build a coal-fired power plant. Community members told the Working Group that the public hearing on the project in 2015 had been held under strict security control and that a number of community members opposing the project were barred from participating in the public hearing. Those opposing the project filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission and staged several protests, including a march in November 2017 to present a petition to the Prime Minister that resulted in the arrest of 17 community members, and a protest in Bangkok. At that time, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for SouthEast Asia issued a statement calling upon the Government to drop charges against all those arrested during a peaceful demonstration. 3 At the time of the Working Group’s visit, the 17 defendants still faced charges of having blocked traffic, marching on a public highway, fighting with police and carrying out an illegal demonstration. 21. In its statement at the end of its visit, the Working Group encouraged the Government to drop the cases against the 17 community members (including 1 juvenile) as a gesture of reconciliation with the affected communities. The Working Group was informed that, on 30 January 2018, the Prime Minister had ordered that the construction of the power plant be suspended, and on 20 February 2018, the Minister of Energy had signed a memorandum of understanding according to which (a) the environmental health impact assessments for the plant projects in Krabi and Songkhla would be withdrawn; (b) the Ministry of Energy would conduct a strategic environmental assessment by independent experts, agreed on by both sides, to consider the suitability of coal-fired power plants in those areas; and (c) the Electricity Generating Authority would have to terminate the project permanently if the strategic environmental assessment was not approved. The Government has informed the Working Group that, on 27 December 2018, the Songkhla provincial court acquitted 15 defendants, with the other 2 defendants ordered to pay a penalty of B5,000 each for failing to acquire the proper permit required under the law on public gatherings. The court ruled that, as the gathering did not involve any harmful weapons or create any disturbance, it was protected under the Constitution. 22. The Working Group notes that the strategic environmental assessment mechanism is a way to improve impact assessments, ensuring that they are conducted independently and 3 See https://bangkok.ohchr.org/news/press/Thailand%20Coal.aspx. 7