The Senate approved 10 bills during the first ordinary session of 2026 and completed consideration of the amended Clean Air Bill, according to a legislative performance summary released yesterday.
Phisit Apivatanapong, a senator and spokesman for the Senate whip, said the upper chamber held 30 sittings between March 14 and July 11, spending 197 hours on legislative business during the session.
Among the key measures considered was the Clean Air Bill, whose review was completed on Wednesday before it was returned to the House of Representatives with Senate amendments.
During its final sitting, the Senate approved a key amendment removing a proposed deposit-refund system from the bill.
The majority committee argued the scheme was intended primarily for waste management and recycling rather than directly addressing air pollution. It warned that it could impose unnecessary costs on consumers and businesses and would be difficult to enforce.
However, committee adviser Natthapat Thawiwannabun and Senator Angkhana Neelapaijit opposed the move, arguing that many countries have successfully used deposit-refund systems to encourage recycling, reduce waste burning and tackle pollution at its source.
Despite their objections, the Senate voted 113-10, with three abstentions, to remove the provision before returning the bill to the House.
Mr Phisit said senators also held 15 pre-agenda discussion sessions under parliamentary rules, raising 233 public issues over nearly 13 hours.
During the session, the Senate received 20 bills from the House of Representatives. Ten were approved, while several others were amended and returned to the House for reconsideration.
One bill, the Bankruptcy Bill, has been referred to a joint House-Senate committee after the House rejected Senate amendments.
Two other bills remain under committee scrutiny in their second reading, while two proposed laws lapsed following the dissolution of the previous House of Representatives because the new cabinet did not seek their reinstatement.
On parliamentary oversight, Mr Phisit acknowledged continuing problems with ministers responding to Senate questions.
Of 94 written questions submitted by senators, 51 required ministers to respond in the chamber. Only 22 had been answered, eight remained pending, and 21 had lapsed.
Another 43 questions required written replies for publication in the Royal Gazette, but only six responses had been provided, leaving 36 outstanding. Ministers also answered 16 oral questions in person, while 28 lapsed. Mr Phisit said Senate committees completed studies on 51 issues and considered 17 motions from state agencies.
