| Author | Rammont, Lalita |
| Note | A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree of Doctoral of Philosophy in Urban Environmental Management, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Ideally, wastewater management (WWM) accompanies water supply system. In
developing countries for financial and technological constrains, WWM did not
receive sufficient policy attention until wastewater (WW) started to seriously pollute
surface water and ground water – the two major sources of water supply. Because of
these negative externalities associated with water pollution and high capital costs of
wastewater treatment system (WWTS), use of economic instruments (EIs) – subsidy
for construction of treatment facility and charges WW customers – is a highly
desirable environmental policy direction to take. Unfortunately developing countries
have not yet been able to make use of EIs, particularly in WWM. Thailand took a bold
initiative as early as 1992 to change this situation, since water pollution has been
rising alarmingly. Its reinvigorated environmental act, established an Environmental
Fund (EF) to provide subsidy for the construction of WWTS, along with setting the
requirement to levy charges to promote the polluters-pay principle (PPP). Since then
sixteen years have passed, and the utilization of EF as well as the levying of charges
is still limited. With this background, this research investigated three selected cities –
Bangkok, Saensuk and Patong – regarding the reasons for the prevailing situation.
The methodology of the study involved a two-level investigation: at the municipal
level, the focus was on constraints encountered by local government in implementing
the charges to the wastewater generators; and at the household level, the focus was on
determining residents’ attitudes and perceptions to WWM in general and charges in
particular. Analysis of the compiled information and survey data suggest (a) the
elected leaders in the local governments – who have been given responsibility to
implement charges – are concerned that levying charges may lead to loss of support
for them in an election; (b) residents are not so willing to pay because they expect
such services are to be paid from tax revenues. Thus, the willingness to charge (WTC)
and willingness to pay (WTP) have become intertwined. The other set of findings
include the complexity in obtaining the required fund from EF. The findings’ policy
implications include actions by: (a) local leaders for keeping the residents informed of
municipal service management & showing the residents the tangible gains associated
with good WWM and (b) central government for easing the complexity in approval of
fund applications and its disbursement from the EF & creating the necessary legal
basis for implementation of the charges by the local governments. |
| Year | 2009 |
| Type | Dissertation |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Urban Environmental and Management (UE) |
| Chairperson(s) | Amin, A.T.M. Nurul ; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Shrestha, Ram M. ;Sajor, Edsel ;Dijk, Meine Pieter van ; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA); |