Chinese factories in Thailand raided for legal violations
Three Chinese-owned factories in Samut Sakhon’s Mueang district were raided and had their operations suspended for multiple legal violations.
The Industry Ministry and the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division of the Royal Thai Police led the inspections after residents raised concerns about night-time black smoke emissions.
The factories were engaged in metal smelting and processing non-hazardous waste like scrap metal. The first facility, although licensed, failed to inform the police about its plastic melting processes. Meanwhile, the second factory contained a large number of hazardous electronic circuit boards.
Both facilities belonged to a 39 year old Chinese entrepreneur who was arrested and charged with operating without proper notification, unauthorised factory expansion, and processing hazardous materials without approval.
At the third location, inspectors discovered the metal smelting factory also did not comply with regulations, leading to the arrest of its manager, Yee Kwat.
In a separate incident, officials inspected a factory producing electrical switches, power plugs, sockets, and related equipment, finding them to be substandard.
Confiscated items included 83,200 sets of extension plugs, 42 rolls of copper cables, and 50 household electrical items, valued at nearly 5 million baht (US$146,817), reported Bangkok Post.
The factory owner faced charges for breaching industrial product standards, including manufacturing without authorisation and distributing non-compliant items.
Pongpol Yodmuangcharoen, secretary to the industry minister, confirmed the suspension of operations and stated that the seized equipment would be destroyed due to non-compliance.
In similar news, an unlicensed recycling facility in Samut Sakhon province has been found with illegally stored power lines, following a fire at a nearby plastics factory.
The incident occurred on January 29 in Ban Phaeo district when a fire erupted at a plastics factory, leading to an investigation. Police discovered materials marked for recycling by a Chinese-owned company, including power lines from a facility 500 metres away.
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