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The conservation and development of natural resources is one
of the King of Thailand’s main environmental concerns, as a result of which he has initiated more than 3,000 projects across the country. Khao Nang Panthurat Conservation and Rehabilitation Project lies in an area adjacent to the limestone mining lease area of Jalaprathan Cement Plc, and is one of the Royal Initiation Projects that the company has joined as one of the working committee members since 1998.
Khao Nang Panthurat Range - formerly known as “Khao Chao Lai Yai” - is situated in Cha-am Sub District, Cha-am District, Petchburi Province, and is different from other nearby mountain ranges. Looking east-west, Khao Nang Panthurat Range looks like a woman lying down. In the past, local villagers called Khao Nang Panthurat “Khao Nang Norn,” meaning “the lying lady mountain,” and respected it as a holy mountain. In 1994, a heavy rainstorm caused land subsidence around the mountainside, especially in the southern part which is adjacent to Cha-am Plant’s limestone mining lease area. Here, approximately 8 acres of land subsided. Even though the geologist confirmed that the land subsidence had been caused by natural events, people were still skeptical that it might have been caused by the plant’s rock blasting during the limestone mining process, and this affected the company’s corporate image.
Being concerned about the damage caused by the mountain collapse, His Majesty the King and the Queen asked the working committee to focus on the use of natural rehabilitation methods, and adopted this issue as one of the Royal Initiation Projects.
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| Khao Munmoo-Thamwoe before... |
...and after rehabilitation |
In addition, the King appointed the 1st Army Corps, Petchburi Provincial Administration, the Royal Forest Department, the Mineral Resources Department and Jalaprathan Cement Plc. to join the project as working committee members.
Since 1998 the company has taken part in a number of rehabilitation projects together with the other relevant agencies. One example of this was the rehabilitation of an old shale mine.
The company has conducted scenery improvement of the operating limestone mine to bring it into harmony with the surrounding landscape, by discontinuing mining activities at the front of the site where passers-by on Petchkasem Road could previously see them. Furthermore, the company, together with the working committee, has improved the condition of the subsided area at “Kose Nang Panthurat.”
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| The subsided Area before... |
...and after improvement |
These rehabilitated areas have now become places where people who are interested in rehabilitation of previous mining sites come to visit and learn from them as a rehabilitation model. As a result of the company’s continual and intentional work as part of its principal corporate policy to improve methods of conducting mining and environmental conservation – including taking part in the Royal Project on rehabilitation – in 2006 it was awarded a prize by Fundamental Industries and the Mining Department that recognized its good corporate practice in mine workings.
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