Wednesday, September 4, 2013


MINING AND DEVELOPMENT IN THAILAND




The  key actors who promote social responsibility among mining MNCs in Thailand include the Thai Ministry of Industry, MNCs and local and international NGOs. The literature from Thai governance and international business sources show 7 aspects of contribution by mining MNCs in Thailand.
The data from existing literature raise a number of interesting issues in terms of the contributions from mining MNCs in Thailand. As a hub for foreign direct investment in the region, Thailand attracts a high number of MNCs and consequently, exhibits higher penetration of CSR activities. 




They include (1) environment (pollution and global warming prevention, sustainable consumption and land use, preservation and restoration of ecosystems and the natural environment, respect for future generation), (2) human rights (civil and political rights, economics, cultural and social rights, fundamental labor rights, community rights), (3) labour standards (occupational health and safety, working conditions, human resources development, worker as a human being), (4) organisational governance (inclusiveness, ethical conduct, disclosure of information, respect for rule of law, accountability), (5) fair business practices (promotion of ethical and transparent activities, promotion of free composition, application of fair and ethical supply and after-supply practice, intellectual and property rights, anti-corruption), (6) community involvement/ social development (development impacts, community involvement, philanthropy), and (7) consumer issues (providing consumer with accurate and adequate information, Provision and development of socially-beneficial services and products, provision and development of safe and reliable products and services, protection of consumers’ privacy). One interesting point from the literature is the focus on ‘transparency’ in actions of mining MNCs. It is confirmed that CSR activities can be easily achieved when transparency is witnessed and practiced by all key stakeholders.






The key issue from mining industry includes the fact that it involves a number of environmental issues. Three mining MNCs, that we examined their annual reports, focus on ‘sustainability’ concept in the CSR actions.  Strategies that lead to sustainability concept include health and safety of the workers, fair and rewarding work relationships and a healthy living environment. Although it is complex to achieve the sustainability concept, the literature in international business (i.e. Esteves and Barcly, 2011; Pimpa, 2013) argue that approaches in relationship management among stakeholders in mining industry in Thailand is very crucial. Multi-stakeholder participation can enhance the quality of relationship and contributions by mining MNCs in Thailand in various forms. When participations among different stakeholders take place, key community’s demands will be discussed and mining MNCs can eventually response to the community needs, which may go beyond MNCs’ centralization approach in development.


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