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dam-l LS: Thai dam occupations seen as peaceful protest
The Nation, June 9, 2000
Occupation seen as peaceful protest
AN ADVOCATE of non-violence yesterday
defended the occupation of the Pak Mool Dam
power plant by villagers as a peaceful protest.
Chaiwat Satha-anandh of Thammasat
University's faculty of political science said that
even though the protest is a violation of the law,
it is not violence.
"If you raise the issue of law, you have to
question the process drawing up the law. Many
laws are unfair to people," he said.
Chaiwat, who has devoted himself to promoting
peaceful movements for years, said a peaceful
protest was merely a means to communicate to
the public.
"If Thoncharoen [Sihatham, a leader of the
protesters] could have talked directly to Prime
Minister Chuan [Leekpai], the protest would not
have occurred. But because he never listened
to the villagers, they had to speak louder [by
taking any action that would make the
government listen]," he said.
But while Chaiwat tried to get the public and the
government to understand the protesting
villagers' point of view, other parties appeared
to be trying to foment trouble.
A letter was faxed to media stating that the
Assembly of the Poor had fired Wanida
Tantivittayapitak from the position of adviser to
the assembly due to her decision to lead the
villagers' to occupy the plant. The letter was
purportedly signed by many academics
including Chaiwat and three others in the
neutral committee set up to resolve the Pak
Mool Dam conflict.
However the letter did not anger Wanida,
Chaiwat or the other academics who were
named in the letter.
"We will not dignify this with a response, we
simply laugh at it," said Chaiwat.
Dr Nirand Pitakwatchara, a senator from Ubon
Ratchathani and a member of the neutral
committee set up to collect and examine facts
related to the issue, said the letter had vitiated
the atmosphere for resolving the conflict. He
added that the committee is trying to prevent
violence and to find a solution, but someone is
trying to stir up trouble.
"If both sides don't stop misleading the public,
we the committee cannot work at our best," he
said.
Meanwhile, Witoon Pirmpongsacharoen,
director of the Towards Ecological Recovery
and Regional Alliance forum, said the Pak Mool
Dam could stop operating for five years without
causing any power problems.
Witoon, who has monitored the electricity
reserves of the country for years, said he had
just discovered that the Electricity Generating
Authority of Thailand (Egat) had last year
bought electricity from Laos' Huay Hoh Dam,
which could be used instead of the electricity
generated from the Pak Mool Dam.
Moreover, he said, Egat figures show that the
country has about 40 per cent of electricity
reserves for the period 2000 to 20006, while
the national energy policy requires only 25 per
cent.
"There is no reason to refuse the villagers'
request. No side will lose, except for Egat
which may lose face," he said.
BY PENNAPA HONGTHONG
The Nation
LAST MODIFIED: Thursday, 08-Jun-00 13:48:40
EDT
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Aviva Imhof
South-East Asia Campaigner
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley CA 94703 USA
Tel: + 1 510 848 1155 (ext. 312), Fax: + 1 510 848 1008
Email: aviva@irn.org, Web: http://www.irn.org
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