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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