In August, the Faculty of Law at Chiang Mai University, a TCI grantee partner, in collaboration with local and international organizations, launched an Environmental Legal Clinic (ELC)—the first such clinic in Thailand and one of a small number of such clinics in Southeast Asia—to address critical environmental issues disproportionally affecting vulnerable communities in Thailand. Through the clinic, our partner is providing legal education through real-life legal cases and practical experiences to law students; creating and strengthening environmental networks in the country; and utilizing their experience to support those in SEA and other regions with aspiration to establish environmental law clinics in their own country.
So far, the clinic has successfully recruited eleven law students. Together with legal advisors, the students have taken on five legal cases, working closely with affected communities and populations to address environmental and human rights violations as a result of issues such as an incineration power plan project, a local government-installed electrical distribution box, and a projected coal power plant in an Indigenous community, as well as supporting local civil society organizations as they demand government’s action on the dire PM 2.5 air pollution.
Locally motivated, driven, and led by an incredible team and leadership at the Faculty of Law, we are excited to witness the institution using their vision and extensive experience to build infrastructure that will help them train the next generation of public interest lawyers, create a culture of collaboration between civil society organizations and academia, and change the legal landscape in Thailand, with the potential to inspire change across the region and beyond.