Don't
link us to raid, says Banyat
Egat refuses to pay for fire damage
Post Reporters, Bangkok Post, November 22, 2000
The Democrat party protested yesterday it
was being unfairly linked to Sunday's raid on Pak Moon dam protesters in
which 30 people were hurt, three of them seriously.
Banyat Bantadtan, interior minister and deputy party leader, said it was
unfair for civic groups, academics and protesters to accuse the party of
condoning, if not encouraging, the attack by guards hired by the Electricity
Generating Authority of Thailand.
It was still not clear who instigated the attack and torched the
protesters' shelters as local authorities had yet to file a report on the
incident, he said.
If Egat was behind the raid, it must take responsibility, said Mr Banyat,
who has been assigned by Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai to investigate the
case and bring the attackers to justice.
Mr Chuan said PM's Office Minister Savit Bhodivihok, who oversees Egat,
had no information on the attack. The Assembly of the Poor, meanwhile, said
the protesters would rebuild Ban Mae Moon Man Yuen 1 and continue their
campaign.
The protesters said 500 huts, each costing 20,000-30,000 baht, were razed
in the dawn raid, and Egat must pay.
But Amnat Chotechuang, Egat spokesman, disagreed, saying: "We won't
pay a single baht because we had nothing to do with the fire." The
incident was staged, he said, and exploited by a "third party".
However, he said, protesters could remain in Ban Mae Moon Man Yuen 1.
A unit of 30 police have been sent to the dam, while some 50 so-called
"guardians of Egat's property" gathered at the generation station.
Protesters reported some of the "guardians" carried batons and
bottles of kerosene. They have been hired by Egat to protect the dam and to
ask the protesters to leave. Pol Maj-Gen Bamrung Sukpanich, the Ubon Ratchathani police chief, said
there would be no more violence and that both sides had filed complaints. |
