The authorities have prohibited an anti-coal power plant group in a northeastern province from hosting religious fundraising event, reasoning that it threatens national security.
Transborder News reported on Thursday, 24 March 2016, that military officers urgently summoned 30 villagers of Bamnet Narong District, Chaiyaphum province, to their office.
The villagers are oppenents of the Bamnet Narong coal power plant. They planned to to host a religious charity event Thot-Pha-Par charity event on 26 and 27 March 2016.
The officers told the villagers to cancel the event because of a message written on the envelope containing the invitation letter. This reads “to raise funds to oppose the Bamnet Narong coal power plant”.
The authorities claimed that the message threatened national security and could stir up local conflict, Transborder News reported.
One of the villagers told Transborder News that they asked the officers if they could change the message in exchange for hosting the event, but the authorities refused.
The military officers also threatened to prosecute anyone who tries to contiunes with the event, Transborder News reported.
(The invitational envelope stating “to raise funds to oppose the Bamnet Narong coal power plant” source: Transborder News)
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