Government spokesman Yongyuth Maiyalarb said Cabinet was informed Tuesday of the results from a meeting of experts hosted by the Pollution Control Department over the past few days.

The experts agreed evidence pointed to the barge that sank while carrying 650 tonnes of sugar on March 3, as the main cause of the pollution. A particularly high amount of sugar was detected in the polluted water.

And scientific experiments show that when a large amount of sugar is dissolved in water, dissolved oxygen (DO) levels sharply decline, as occurred in affected areas of the Chao Phya, the spokesman said.

Yongyuth said the two provinces would be in charge of financial assistance to fish farmers affected by the polluted water. They should contact the Fishery Department to get fish hatchlings for the farmers and support a coop for fish farmers, or apply for loans from the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives.

It was up to relevant departments such as the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry to cooperate with affected farmers in regard to lawsuits for compensation, he said.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Kasem Sanidwong na Ayudhaya told reporters that legal action would be filed according to Article 97 of the environmental law - and undertaken in two parts.

First, the Pollution Control and Fishery departments would file a civil suit to demand compensation from the sugar barge owner and the boat rescue firm for the PCD's expenses to rehabilitate the river as well as what the Fishery Department spent to assess the loss of fish and riverlife.

Second, the government would contact the Law Society of Thailand and the Lawyers' Council to help the affected fish farmers sue the sugar barge owner for compensation.

The Nation