The development of methods for evaluation of industrial development by investigation of its ecological and health, as well as its social and economic, effects was the aim of UNEP/UNIDO Project EP/INT/73-002. Following six weeks' study of the cotton textile industry in Thailand, recommendations were made regarding criteria, team composition, and methods of utilizing existing information and conducting interviews. Interviews with village people and farmers were found to be a feasible method for qualitative assessment of environmental effects, and for providing information on which losses could be estimated. In all cases the costs of prevention or mitigation of damage were small in comparison with estimated costs of the damage caused.

The paper suggest that developing countries have the opportunity to industrialize without the trauma of extensive damage to health or environment, and that such development is not intrinsically more costly than other types in financial terms. It does, however, demand better understanding of the social, economic, and environmental, characters of a locality before planning begins. In many countries, including Thailand, existing university and other resources, assisted by interviews with the communities concerned, can provide the information required for this understanding, and therefore the delay need not be great.