Thai villagers to force True Corp. to take down tower
Residents of Khiriwong, a subdistrict of Krabi in Thailand, voted in an April 10 referendum to require True Corp. to remove an area cell tower due to fears of radiation.
A report in the Bangkok Post also notes that True has agreed to “immediately and unconditionally” comply with the vote outcome.
True is a Thai-based communication company that controls the Southeast Asian nation’s largest cable TV provider TrueVisions as well as mobile operator True Move, which offers LTE service.
The wrangling started when construction began on the tower and unaware villagers complained to the Phuket office of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission.
The tower was going up in close proximity to homes, which prompted radiation-based health concerns.
Complaints in hand, the national regulators halted construction of the base station to allow for the public meeting, which, in turn, prompted the referendum.
Aside from the outcome, the Thai situation is similar to a scene that recently played out in Massapequa Park, N.J.
In that town, residents opposed the installation of a distributed antenna system node by infrastructure company Crown Castle.
The residents cited health concerns, but Massapequa Park officials said the town doesn’t have many options to derail the project because safety concerns related to cellular infrastructure aren’t accommodating in any regulatory relief schemes.
