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dam-l LS: Villages ask urban middle class to support struggle

The Nation, January 16, 2000.

Local & Politics 
 
    VILLAGES ASK URBAN
    MIDDLE CLASS TO
    SUPPORT STRUGGLE
 
    STAGING a rally in Bangkok to voice
    his problems to the government is
    nothing new for San Mabkhuntod, one
    of the many villagers to be adversely
    affected by the Pak Mool Dam in Ubon
    Rachathani. What makes this one a
    different occasion for San and the rest
    of his group is a change of strategy. 
 
    Instead of heading straight for
    Government House and demanding to
    meet the Prime Minister, San and his
    fellow villagers, who have named their
    protest group The Assembly of the
    Poor, are on a public-relations tour. 
 
    The villagers are protesting against the
    dam built by the Electricity Generating
    Authority of Thailand (Egat), which they
    say has cut off the waters of the Mool,
    where they live, from those of the
    Mekong downstream. This has caused
    a severe depletion in the number of
    migratory fish to the villagers' area,
    resulting in a loss of livelihood. 
 
    Every day the group of villagers, roughly
    1,000 in number, set off for various
    destinations from their chosen
    stronghold in Saranrom Park. These
    range from department stores in central
    Bangkok through Skytrain stations on
    Silom and Sukhumvit to communities in
    suburban areas. 
 
    ''We want to simply ignore the
    government for the time being, because
    they have never been interested in
    solving our problems,'' San said.
    ''Instead we are working to create an
    alliance with the middle classes in
    Bangkok. All we need is their
    understanding and sympathy, which
    could be indirect pressure on the
    government.'' 
 
    The villagers and their advisors have
    chosen to target the urban middle class
    for support because they believe that
    they have a great deal of influence on
    the government. They are convinced
    that such support will be crucial in
    helping to attract government attention
    to their problems the next time they
    return to Bangkok. 
 
    Thus there has been no stage set up to
    attack the government, no makeshift
    shelters for the protesters to gather
    under and no mass street rallies
    exacerbating traffic congestion.
    Villagers only carry small banners in
    their hands to protest against their
    troubles to Bangkokians. 
 
    Understanding and sympathy may not
    be too far-fetched a dream, but it is still
    difficult to achieve. For example the
    State Railways of Thailand (SRT) as
    well as some members of the public
    questioned the villagers' ''free ride'' on
    the train from Ubon Rachathani to
    Bangkok. 
 
    Sarawuth Thammasiri, SRT's governor,
    threatened that he would not allow the
    train to leave Hua Lamphong station if
    the villagers once again did not buy
    tickets when they boarded to go back
    home next week. 
 
    Sompong Viengchan, another villager
    from the Pak Mool Dam region, said
    she and her group did not pay for the
    train from Ubon to Bangkok simply
    because they did not have enough
    money. A one-way ticket normally costs
    Bt155. 
 
    Sompong said her income from fishing,
    which had fed her family for decades,
    had vanished since the presence of
    migratory fish dramatically declined
    following the building of the Pak Mool
    Dam by the electricity authority. 
 
    ''This is why we have to come to
    Bangkok time and again to demand that
    promises of compensation be met,'' she
    explained. ''Egat failed to meet its
    promise to give us land or cash
    compensation to buy land so that we
    could turn to farming.'' 
 
    Sompong said the villagers had decided
    to campaign more passively in Bangkok
    after their marathon 10-month rally at
    the dam site failed to attract government
    attention. 
 
    Regular visitors to Saranrom Park have
    expressed discontent at having the
    villagers in their midst. Some adopted
    discriminatory attitudes and language.
    For instance, one woman interviewed by
    a radio reporter described the rural
    villagers as ''smelly'' whereas another
    said she did not feel safe when they
    were in the park. 
 
    Today is the villagers' fifth day in
    Bangkok, and they have decided to
    move out of Saranrom Park following
    the media reports of park visitors being
    upset by their presence. Instead they
    have camped out under bushes by a
    footpath nearby. 
 
    ''We don't want to disturb people whom
    we expect to be our allies. We will do
    our best to avoid doing anything they
    don't like,'' Sompong said. 
 
    After their three-day public-relations
    tour, Sompong and San seemed to be
    satisfied with the feedback they had
    received from people they met. She
    said that many sympathetic city
    residents Had criticised the government
    for doing nothing to solve their
    problems. 
 
    ''At least some of them opened their
    minds to listen us. This is good enough
    for the first step of the campaign,'' she
    said. 
 
    The villagers plan to return to their home
    town tomorrow. They hope that SRT will
    allow them to catch the train free of
    charge. 
 
    ''People here understand our problems.
    We hope SRT will also be sympathetic.
    If we have money or any way of making
    a life we will not come here again,'' San
    said. 
 
    A statement by the Assembly released
    to the press stated that the villagers
    would pay what they owed to the SRT
    once they received total compensation
    from the government. 
 
    BY PENNAPA HONGTHONG 
 
The Nation