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dam-l LS: Pak Mun protesters given deadline to clear out.
Dear Colleagues,
Below is 2 articles coverage by The Nation and Bangkok Post, May 17, 2000.
Today, 10 am. The villager will hold the ceremony worshiping the Mun river
at the dam site. Ms.Rataya Janthien, the president of Sueb Nakasathien
Foundation will be a chairperson of the ceremony.
Because the villager given Friday deadline to clear out, we would like you
send the moral support letter to the villager and the open letter to The
Thai Prime Minister Mr.Chuan Leekpai, demand the Gov. not use the violent
method to the villager. The letter can send to searin at
searin@chmai.loxinfo.co.th
In solidarity,
Chainarong(Fiat)
SEARIN
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The Nation, May 17, 2000
Protesters threatened with arrest
BY Pennapa Hongthong
The Nation
UBON RATCHATHANI – Provincial governor Siwa Saengmanee yesterday set a
deadline of Friday for villagers protesting at Pak Mool dam to leave the
site, or face arrest.
Ubon Ratchathani’s Governor said if the protestors had not left the site
within three days they would face arrest.
As many as 1,000 villagers are currently protesting against the dam, which
they say has destroyed prime local fisheries. They have asked the
Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand to open the dam’s gates to
allow the river to flow in the hope of replenishing local fish.
But the governor yesterday deemed their protest illegal, saying they were
obstructing the dam’s operation.
He accused the villagers of trying to damage state property, because they
had maneuvered their boats into a restricted area of the reservoir.
They had sailed close to the lockboom used to prevent floating sewage
passing through the dam’s electricity generating engine, he said.
According to witnesses, the villagers carried only fishing instruments
called chamuak (spears).
Local officials have said that the governor’s stance does not reflect the
will of the people.
“I don’t consider them villagers, but protesters,” Siwa said.
“They tend to be more and more violent. I cannot let them protest freely
anymore.”
Siwa added that people would not support provincial authorities who allowed
breaches of the law.
The governor yesterday afternoon sent his deputy, Prapas Boonyindee, to
meet the villagers’ leader Wanida Tantiwittayaphitak to inform him of the
Friday deadline.
About 500 protesters remain at the site and more fishermen have sailed
their boats into the dam reservoir.
The rest of the villagers have moved their protest to a nearby area where
they have established a temporary settlement.
About 400 police have been sent to take control of the area.
The protesters yesterday insisted they would not be moved until authorities
conceded to their demands.
The group is demanding the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand,
the dam’s owner, admit the dam has destroyed fisheries and killed local
fish stocks.
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Bangkok Post, May 17, 2000Protesters invade car park, urge dialogue
Villagers given until Friday to clear out.
Protesters at Pak Moon dam remain locked in a stalemate with the
authorities and have vowed to continue their sit-in at the adjacent car
park until their demands are met.
Deputy provincial governor Praphat Bunyindee said there was no progress in
talks with the protesters.
The protesters, who have been there since Monday, can stay where they are
until Friday as long as they remain peaceful, he said.
"We will not intervene for the time being but we will try to ensure peace
and order and prevent intervention by a third party," he said.
Led by the Assembly of the Poor, more than 1,000 villagers on Monday
morning stormed the car park effectively sealing off the power generator
monitoring plant.
They said they would stay past the Friday deadline.
They also rejected Mr Praphat's request that they allow workers to enter
the plant for maintenance, saying that the control centre of the dam and
power generator was at the Sirindhorn dam compound.
The protesters wanted the electricity generating authority to open all
eight of the dam's spillways to restore the river ecology, allowing fish to
migrate from the Mekong river and spawn in the upper Moon.
This would also allow many of the protesters, who claim to have lost their
livelihoods, to return to their original occupations of fishing and farming.
Their leader Wanida Tantiwittayapitak blamed the government for ignoring
the villagers' demands since they began protesting next to the dam more
than a year ago.
In what appears to be another tactic to force a government response, a
number of protesters walked down to the river below the dam and threw rocks
into the water channel.
The rocky bed of the Moon was blasted to create a deep water channel to
help in the power generation.
Ms Wanida said this was a ceremony "to return nature to the river" because
fish was abundant before the blast destroyed the rapids which served as a
fish nursery.
"The villagers will return rocks to the river every day," she said.
In another incident which nearly turned violent, an Egat official speaking
through a speaker system on a pick-up truck, criticised the protesters and
urged them to return to their temporary homes across the road.
The villagers did not take this well and a heated argument ensued.
Governor Siva Saengmanee refused to rule out attempts by the authorities to
end the protest.
"We will carry out our lawful duty but I will not say how.... What has been
happening here is illegal.
"State officials cannot be expected to sit idly by. Violence will not come
from officials but from the protesters' behaviour," he said
***********************************
Southeast Asia Rivers Network (SEARIN)
25/5 Moo 2
Soi Sukhapiban 27
Changkhien-Jed yod Rd.
Chang Phuek
Muang Chiang Mai 50300
Thailand
Tel&Fax (66) 53-221157
Email: searin@chmai.loxinfo.co.th