on natural gas consumption for its own sake, he said. Mr. Pinyo said if the country wanted to increase power consumption at a reasonable price, it should build more coal-fired or new nuclear power plants. Thailand risked frequent power Otherwise, 25 outages, which would affect both its economy and credibility. He said Thailand had learned its lessons from power outages in the South last year, caused by a technical problem at a natural gas power plant in Ratchaburi province. The outage caused several billion baht of damages for the frozen seafood business, be said"We are a developing country so we can't use as much renewable energy as developed countries," Mr. Pinyo said. "We have limitations. And under our limitations, we can use the best technology for coal-fired power to limit its impact on the environment," he said, adding that coal-fired power should provide the bulk of the country's power, with renewable energy supplementing it. 35 He proposed solutions to reduce tensions over protests against the Krabi coal-fired power plant project, including compensation and financial help, such as subsidised electricity and tax exemptions, for locals living near the plant. 40 Sirima Panyametheekul, from Chulalongkonn's Department of Environmental Engineering, said sophisticated technology could deal with the pollutant by-products of coal-fired power plants, namely toxic gases and heavy metals. However, investors must be prepared for the high costs of this technology, she said. 45 Sutha Khaodhiar, the director of Chulalongkorn's Centre of Excellence on Hazardous Substance Management, said burning high quality coal would produce only 5% of the ash compared to low quality coal. He said as the technology of coal plants advances, they would use less and less coal, meaning fewer pollutants would be produced