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dam-l Villagers Face Rising Water Again at Rasi Salai
Villagers Face Rising Water at Rasi Salai with Rice Planting Ceremony
Southeast Asia Rivers Network(SEARIN)
Feb 5 2000
After Depaetment of Energy Development and Promotion (DEDP) drained
the water from Rasi Salai's reservoir in December, 1999, they closed
the dam gates once again to refill the reservoir on Jan. 6. The
reason for this is, district officials in a town downstream of the
dam discovered ancient boats (200 years old) and DEDP used this
excuse to close the dam gets once again so that the boats could be
uncovered and put on display. Because this is the dry season, water
in the reservoir rises about 1 cm per day, and the protest village
Mae Mun Man Yuen 2 within the reservoir has once again become an
island. Also, the road leading into the village has been flooded
over, forcing the villagers to use boats to reach the land.
Even though the villagers are facing such risks, they still continue
their struggle in the hope that eventually their demands will be met
by the government and DEDP.
In early January, 2000, the villagers established another village,
Mae Mun Man Yuen 3 across the river from Mae Mun Man Yuen 2. Around
300 families occupy this new village.
On Jan. 30, the protesting villagers at Rasi Salai planted rice in
the reservoir as a symbolic gesture to reclaim the land that had once
been theirs. They performed a traditional ceremony to pray for the
spirit of the rice and the spirit of the land, to protect the rice
and their lands. They hope that the rising waters will not flood the
newly planted rice, so that they may have more food to sustain them
in their protest. Mr. Sulak Sivaraksa, the social critic, sat in as
chairperson of the ceremony. About 1,000 villagers and
students joined in the ceremonies and planted rice together.
Mr. Sulak says that "the construction of this dam illustrates just
how ignorant the dam builders were. They did not take into
consideration the vast environmental impacts that the dam would have,
nor did they concern themselves with the social impacts that would
seriously affect the lives of hundreds of villagers whose whole lives
were based around the Mun River. In the Thai beliefs, the river is
the mother of all the villagers, it provides everything for the
villagers, just as a mother would." He added that, "I support these
people's struggle for their rights, but because the politicians and
state officials are not concerned with the villagers plight, we need
to appeal for support from our colleagues, both nationally and
internationally."
************************************************
Chainarong Sretthachau
Southeast Asia Rivers Network(SEARIN)
25/5 Moo 2 Soi Sukhapibarn 27
Changkhien-Jed Yod Road
Chang Phuek
Muang
Chiang Mai 50300
Thailand
Tel/Fax: (66) 53-221157
Email: <mailto:searin@chmai.loxinfo.co.th>searin@chmai.loxinfo.co.th