Anchalee Kongrut
prapaik@bangkokpost.co.th
They shrugged off a call by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha that they stop opposing the project and cooperate with the government's megaproject.
The Pak Bara project adds to the list of megaprojects which makes the southern region a new hot spot for the country's industrialisation. Others include the Songkhla-Satun land bridge to create a new logistics route from the Indian Ocean to the Gulf of Thailand, as well as the expansion of petrochemical and heavy industries on the coast of the Andaman Sea, and a plan to build a coal-fired power plant and a coal-transporting pier in Krabi.
These projects, however, come with a high environmental cost. The Pak Bara project requires the government to revoke 4,000 rai of land in Patra Marine National Park, and also stands to have an irreversible impact on marine ecology in Tarutao Marine National Park, which is now a tourist magnet.
Likewise, the coal-fired power plant plan poses a threat to the Krabi tourism industry which depends on pristine marine conditions.
In addition, the project will seriously harm the livelihoods of local people, especially small-scale fishermen.
The resources-rich southerners have much experience in opposing top-down megaprojects, starting with the Thai-Malaysian gas pipeline in Songkhla province 12 years ago.
The Ban Krut and Bo Nok power plants in Prachuap Khiri Khan were eventually scrapped following local resistance.
It is believed the decision to invoke Section 44 in the Pak Bara case is to suppress potential opponents.
"People are not afraid of Section 44 since they know they are fighting to protect natural resources, and it has nothing to do with politics. They do not belong to any colour group," said Sakkamon Seangdara, an activist working with the Save Andaman group which supports Krabi's campaign against the coal-fired plant.
Residents and a network of activists in the southern provinces plan a meeting in the coming weeks to discuss a strategy to deal with the junta and how to stop these projects. Street protests, however, have already been ruled out.
"The strategy is to mobilise outside pressure to oppose the project. You will see southerners and activists making friends and developing communication channels with the middle class in Bangkok, working with tourism businesses and hotels which are going to be affected by those projects," Mr Sakkamon said.
But the villagers, he said, will not rule out obstructing the project. For example, they are working on plans to block environment consultancies from coming to study or survey the designated area.
Soft and diplomatic tactics are the name of the game. Art is one channel to win friends. Pak Bara villagers last year invited artists to take photos and paint their hometowns for an art exhibition "Pak Bara Paradiso". The event took place last month.
The presence of armed soldiers at the exhibition actually helped many city people who have never heard of the project learn about its threat to the Andaman Sea.
Their message to the government is simple:"The southern villagers must determine our own destiny."
Full story here.