Thailand is the second largest economy in the 10-nation ASEAN grouping with a 2008 estimated Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$273 billion, second only to Indonesia. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Thailand in 2008 amounted to approximately US$9.8 billion, with Japan, the EU, Taiwan, Singapore, the US and Hong Kong leading the way although India is fast catching up.

Major foreign companies investing in Thailand in recent years include Chery Automobiles, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Tata Motors, Arcelor-Mittal, General Motors, ING, Honda, Nissan and Ricoh. Thailand also has significant oil and gas potential and Chevron has initiated a natural gas investment project in Thailand worth some $3.1 billion. It has been reported that Chevron expects to produce 420 million cubic feet of natural gas on a daily basis with an aim to reach the one billion per day mark in the near future.

ASEAN has recently signed an agreement with China with a view to setting up a China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA) by 2010 and Thailand also recently agreed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Japan which allows 92% of Thailand’s exports to Japan to be tariff-free within 10 years. Thailand also has FTA’s with Australia, New Zealand and India. Thailand welcomes foreign investment in all sectors except for projects related to national security, agriculture and fisheries, and mass media and investment-friendly measures include: enabling company registration in one day instead of nine days previously, and reducing the minimum number of shareholders from seven to three.

SLP Environmental offers a comprehensive range of environmental consultancy and sub-consultancy services to international clients to support business transactions such as mergers, divestitures and acquisitions. We understand the critical importance of environmental due diligence (also known as Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment) and compliance assessment as part of the risk and liability management assessment process associated with any sensitive business transaction.

We are uniquely placed in the Thai market to deliver high quality environmental consultancy services as we combine internationally acquired expertise with an in-depth understanding of Thailand’s regulatory framework. This ensures that our reports both conform to international quality standards, such as ISO 14015 and ASTM E1527-05, and address compliance with local regulatory requirements. Our advice is always carefully tailored, commercially focused and clearly communicated, enabling our clients’ to manage uncertainties and make real-world decisions within challenging timeframes.

Our project sector experience includes the property, manufacturing, petro-chemical, pharmaceutical, energy and telecommunications sectors and our satisfied clients include; private equity investment funds, developers, insurers, lawyers, risk & liability management firms, international environmental consultancies and numerous blue chip corporations.

SLP Environmental can also provide Phase 2 Environmental Site Assessment services (intrusive site investigations with soil and groundwater sampling and chemical testing) to identify the nature, extent and sources of environmental contamination as well as the degree of risk to sensitive environmental and human receptors such as the site users and local water quality. Where the Phase 2 ESA indicates that unacceptable risks are present we can provide Phase 3 Land Contamination Remediation services to clean-up contaminated soils and groundwater to safe levels.

SLP Environmental Directors are Chartered Environmentalists (CEnv) and Chartered Scientists (CSci) as well as members of The Due Diligence and Environmental Compliance Consultants Groups. We also offer international quality Phase 1 Environmental Due Diligence (EDD), Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) and Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) auditing services in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.