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dam-l LS: Protestors in DC march, threaten hunger strike against Thai dam



Agence France Presse 

June 15, 2000, Thursday 

HEADLINE: Protestors in Washington march, threaten hunger strike against
Thai dam 

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, June 14 

BODY: 
   Protestors marched from Thailand's embassy in Washington to the
headquarters of the World Bank Wednesday, in support of Thai fishermen who
claim their livelihoods have been wrecked by two huge dams. 

Some 30 demonstrators handed letters of protest to the Thai ambassador
before marching through the streets of downtown Washington with a message
for World Bank President James Wolfensohn. 

Villagers seized the Pak Mun dam and the Rasi Salai dam in northeastern
Thailand last month, calling on the authorities to open flood gates and
offer compensation for what they claim are dwindling fish stocks. 

The Thai government cites environmental studies which say the dams have had
no impact on the fish population. 

It says families displaced by the Pak Mun dam, completed with the help of
World Bank finance in 1994, "received exceedingly generous compensation." 

"The Thai government must understand that the international community will
not tolerate any violence against the villagers currently occupying Pak
Mun," said Washington protest leader Gila Neta of the International Rivers
Network (IRN). 

"Several of the protestors here today are intending to fast if the
villagers' demands are not met." 

Villagers involved in the Thai protests quote a World Commission on Dams
report which said 56 species of fish have disappeared in the Pak Mun
vicinity. 

The IRN says Pak Mun has forced the resettlement of 912 families who
received inadequate compensation. 

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