Effectiveness of Health Impact Assessment (HIA) in Thailand: a case study of a Potash mine HIA in Udon Thani, Thailand

While health impact assessment (HIA) theory and practice has emerged worldwide to consider ‘human health’ as a core component of sustainable development, the benefits gained from HIA have been questioned. The ways people perceive HIA seem to be context specific and, therefore, this research aims at reviewing the aspects of HIA theory, practice, roles, and its contributions to the development of policymaking and projects/programmes in the Thai context. Procedural, substantive, transactive, and normative effectiveness were conceptualised using a criteria-based framework for HIA in this study. The framework was applied to measure the effectiveness of a community HIA case study, previously conducted for Potash mine development in Udon Thani, Thailand. Documentary analysis and both semi-structured and unstructured interviews (30 cases) were conducted. Procedural and substantive categories, driven by legal regulations, were found to be critical in influencing the application of HIA in decision-making. Levels of involvement in the HIA process were critical determinants of the interviewees’ ability to share their perspectives on transactive and normative effectiveness. Human resource and capacity building were also found to be crucial components influencing the effectiveness of HIA. The four effectiveness categories tend to have connections between one another. These connections were shaped by the components within the context: public demand for HIA; knowledge and financial supply; voluntary cooperation of the practitioners; and political context. In conclusion, HIA is expected to contribute multiple roles in Thai society. Key elements to consider for the improvement of the effectiveness of HIA in Thailand are the provision of policy and a regulatory framework for HIA implementation, capacity building and knowledge production at all levels and providing human resources for HIA practice and development.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

phd

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of East Anglia

Year dc:date.issued

2012

Author dc:creator

• Chanchitpricha, Chaunjit

Language dc:language

en