Cabinet dismiss Pak Mun case; villagers shoved off government ground

  

 

 

 

 

 

     

 

 

People affected by Pak Mun dam were disappointed their demand was ignored by the Cabinet.  They went inside the Government compound, insisting to talk.   Police forced them out.

 

On July 10, about 70 villagers from the northeastern province Ubon Ratchathani gathered in front of the Government House, anticipating their case to be reconsidered in the Cabinet meeting.   On the day before, they had met with the Council for National Security (CNS) chairman Gen Sonthi Bunyaratklin at the Army Headquarters to demand a reverse of the Cabinet Resolution on June 12, 2007 that the Pak Mun Dam's sluice gates were to be permanently closed.   Gen Sonthi promised them to bring the issue into the Cabinet meeting to which he had attended for some time after the coup.

 

On May 29, the Cabinet had maintained a resolution by the previous administration to open the dam gates for four months a year during the rainy season for fish migration and breeding.   However, on June 12, two weeks later, the Cabinet made an about-face, reportedly under the influence of the military.

(See http://www.prachatai.com/english/news.php?id=43)

 

The villagers, who are members of the Assembly of the Poor (AOP), prayed and lit candles while the Cabinet meeting was ongoing.   At the end of the day, after finding out that their case had not been brought up, around 6pm when it was raining, they decided to enter the compound demanding to meet with the authorities, while the security staff were slow to stop them.       

 

Nantachote Chaiyarat, advisor to the AOP, said that later they were told to send 10 representatives to meet the Prime Minister's Office Minister Theerapat Serirangsan, but they actually met an advisor to the minister, instead.   And the talk yielded no result.

 

The talk took over 2 hours, and the rest of the villagers sought shelter from rain inside the compound.  Until 9.30pm, the representatives came back to report the fruitless, even backward talk.  The government's representative insisted that the Cabinet resolution could not be reversed, and was not sure if the villagers were really in trouble, they said.   And yet another panel to study the problems will be appointed.

 

"[The government] is not sure if we are really affected [by the dam].  This prime minister only listens to bureaucrats, dismissing us to go see the provincial governor, again.   They said they could not open the gates, as they have only two months left, being like a caretaker government that can do nothing," said Sompong Wiangchan, one of the representatives.    

 

The villagers insisted to stay on inside the compound for another talk next morning.  The police tried to convince them to move outside.   After 30 minutes, about 50 policemen started to push them out, while the mainly elderly villagers were praying.

 

There were commotion and crashes.  4 villagers were injured; two elderly women, 70 and 80, were sent to hospital.   Later they gathered at a bus stop in front of the compound, and finally dispersed.

 

Chey Laitong from Ubon Ratchathani's Pibunmungsahan district said that last year the sluice gates were opened from May, and a lot of fish came to the Mun River [from Mekong].  They could catch fish and earned some income.  This year, in anticipation, some of them have borrowed money to buy catching tools.   The June 12 resolution made them suffer.    

 

In the meeting with the CNS chief on July 9, there were some academics and activist businessmen attending to support the villagers' cause.

 

Former Senator Kraisak Chunhawan, Friends of Forest Foundation chairman, said during the meeting that the Pak Mun Dam was a failure since the beginning, a failure of the state.   There were no studies on both the environmental and social impacts.  Now all information available points out that this dam is of no use, even the electricity generation which is its main purpose, he said.

 

Supawit Piampongsan, former chief inspector of Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, said that the Cabinet's decision to close the dam gates was not based on academic information and actual data from the field.   According to several studies, it can be concluded that the dam affects the livelihood of the villagers.  And when the gates were opened, it was obvious that their lives improved as the eco-system recovered.   This decision on June 12 reversed all previous resolutions and mechanisms that had been set up to solve this particular case, and all previous efforts became futile.

 

Sutthichai Eamcharoenying, chairman of Business Network for Society and Environment, said that he agreed with the study by Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) and Ubon Ratchathani University which suggest the opening of the gates for ecological recovery.  The livelihood of traditional fisher folks and the ecological diversity are worth much more than the electricity output that is insignificant compared with the construction cost of over 7,000 million baht

 

Translated and compiled by Ponglert Pongwanan

 

 

Source: PRACHATAI(TH)

 

??????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????

 

???.???????? ???????????????????????? ?????????????????? ???????????????? ????

 

????????????????????? ???. ?????????????????????????????????

 

Since 2007, Prachatai English has been covering underreported issues in Thailand, especially about democratization and human rights, despite the risk and pressure from the law and the authorities. However, with only 2 full-time reporters and increasing annual operating costs, keeping our work going is a challenge. Your support will ensure we stay a professional media source and be able to expand our team to meet the challenges and deliver timely and in-depth reporting.

• Simple steps to support Prachatai English

1. Bank transfer to account “โครงการหนังสือพิมพ์อินเทอร์เน็ต ประชาไท” or “Prachatai Online Newspaper” 091-0-21689-4, Krungthai Bank

2. Or, Transfer money via Paypal, to e-mail address: [email protected], please leave a comment on the transaction as “For Prachatai English”