The government has identified 767 factories operating illegally nationwide, but mostly in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), with 131 already shutdown.
The finding follows the Ministry of Industry’s shift from routine inspections to a new model that utilises data and technology to analyse for and detect irregularities at factories, deputy government spokeswoman Lalida Persvivatana said on Monday.
The system looked at multiple sources of information, including industrial waste management practices that do not align with production data, imbalances between water, electricity and raw material usage, and actual production processes or output volumes, Ms Lalida said. Some information also indicated possible trade fraud.
The detected irregularities were forwarded to field inspectors through the “i-Auditor” system, helping establish inspection standards, record findings and generate electronic reports, she said.
So far this year, the system had identified unlawful activities at 767 factories nationwide. Of these, 131 factories had already been ordered to suspend operations, 636 were instructed to undertake corrective action and 391 factories faced legal proceedings.
No further details of the detected operations were released.
Ms Lalida said 53% of the factories found in violation were in the EEC, a special economic development zone spanning in Chon Buri, Rayong and Chachoengsao, and surrounding provinces.
According to the Department of Industrial Works, Thailand currently has 77,058 industrial factories registered in the system, with 5,961 factories in industrial estates.
Of those outside the estates, 47 smaller factories had minimal environmental or safety impact, not required to obtain an operating licence (Category 1), and 3,361 medium-sized plants were required to notify authorities before commencing operations (Category 2), along with 67,689 large-scale operations that must obtain an operating permit before establishing and operating the factory (Category 3).
Ms Lalida said the government placed equal importance on protecting the public and ensuring fair competition within the industrial sector.
“Businesses that invest in wastewater treatment systems, waste management and safety standards should not be disadvantaged by operators who cut costs by failing to comply with legal requirements,” she said.
The ministry also opened a channel for public and community participation in monitoring factory activities through the “Jaeng Ut” (report the industry) platform, which allows citizens to report factory-related concerns or provide tips.
People are asked to provide the location of the incident, details of the issue, date and time and any supporting evidence they can safely collect, Ms Lalida said.