The secretary-general of the BioThai Foundation is facing libel charges in connection with statements he made about Charoen Pokphand Foods (CPF) and the spread of invasive blackchin tilapia fish in multiple provinces.
Witoon Lianchamroon received a police summons to answer the defamation complaint filed by CPF, a subsidiary of the Charoen Pokphand agribusiness conglomerate, BioThai said on its Facebook page on Saturday.
The summons instructs Mr Witoon to report to the Rattanathibet police station on Sept 12 at 1pm.
Mr Witoon said he received the summons on Friday evening, a day after fishermen from Samut Songkhram province, supported by the Lawyers Council, filed a damages complaint against CPF. The letterhead indicated that this was the second summons and included only one page of documentation without any specifics mentioned.
The details of the summons have been forwarded to the non-governmental organisation’s legal team, led by the Environmental Law Foundation (EnLaw), which is authorised to handle the case, Mr Witoon said.
In July, at a seminar titled "Natural Disaster from Blackchin Tilapia" organised by BioThai, Mr Witoon said that CPF in 2010 imported 2,000 blackchin tilapia from Ghana for research and development at its breeding centre in Samut Songkhram province. CPF was the only company permitted to import the fish by the Department of Fisheries.
CPF subsequently told the department that it scrapped the project after most of the fish died within three weeks of being brought to Thailand. All the fish were disposed of in line with regulations and documentation was sent to the department, the company said.
But the fish later started showing up in local waterways and as their population grew, native fish species started decreasing in number.
Environmental activist Witoon Lianjamroon. (Photo: Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council)
CPF continues to insist that these fish have nothing to do with its aborted research project. It also says it has been actively supporting efforts to find solutions to the problem.
At the seminar, Mr Witoon criticised the government for not taking legal action against those responsible for the spread of the invasive species.
During a forum in Bangkok on Thursday, Mr Witoon told participants that Thailand’s system of governance is highly centralised and closely connected with large corporations. Despite many changes in government, monopolies remain, and small business operators are excluded from the market, he added.
