ECO-INDUSTRIAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT IN THAILAND: A CASE STUDY OF AMATA NAKORN INDUSTRIAL ESTATE

Abstract

Greening industrial activities is one of a key success for sustainable development. This research aims to investigate the status of eco-industrial estate development in Thailand and to identify the significant factors affecting eco-industrial development using Amata Nakorn Industrial Estate as a case study. There have been several attempts between Thai and Japanese government to transform existing Thai industrial estates into eco-industrial estate since there is a significant proportion of Japanese factories in Amata Nakorn industrial estate and in Thailand. However, previous attempts have stranded or with very little progress. There have been not studies to investigate the key factors impacting the transformation. Several factors were identified during the One Stop Service (OSS) project implementation by using questionnaire survey. The questionnaires were distributed to all tenant companies in Amata Nakorn Industrial Estate to identify key factors affecting their decision to participate in eco-industrial project. Key factors were identified for improving potential implementation of OSS project. The research result found out that the government’s active involvement is needed for the development. The most important expectation of tenants from OSS project is a cost reduction on waste management and most important factor affecting making decision on using OSS is a reasonable service fee. A foreign company involvement has no significant impact on decision making process. The tenant factories preferred more involvement of the government in the development of the project. In summary, Strategies to promote future eco-industrial estate development in Thailand and Amata Nakorn were suggested based on key factors and SWOTs analysis and the actual project observation experiences.