'Attack
was suspicious'
Published on
Dec 17, 2002
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/page.news.php3?clid=1&theme=A&usrsess=1&id=6046
The arson attack
on the camp of Pak Mool Dam opponents in Ubon Ratchathani on Sunday may have
been a ploy, police said yesterday.
Opponents of the dam in Bangkok knew about
the impending attack before it even took place, police said.
Protesters camped outside Government House
held up placards reading "You burnt my house, I will destroy your
dam" as they moved their protest to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's
house an hour before the fires actually started, police said.
Thaksin called the incident
"abnormal", and said that the media had also received reports
about the attack before the fires broke out in Ubon Ratchathani.
"I will have a special investigation
team uncover what happened, and who was behind it," he said.
Assembly of the Poor leader Putham
Wetchaikaen said he believed the attack was masterminded by people who
wanted to derail negotiations between the government and the dam's opponents
scheduled to take place on Friday.
The incident came only a few days after
Thaksin Shinawatra promised to consider villagers' demand that the dam's
sluice gates be opened year round to replenish fish stocks in the Mool
River.
Ubon Ratchathani Governor Chaiyasit
Hotrakit said a former kamnan and 20 villagers from Sirinthorn district had
confessed to police that they attacked the camp because they believed the
protestors were making too many demands. The villagers said the Cabinet
resolution calling for the sluice gates to be opened eight months a year was
enough.
Chaiyasit, however, said he did not
believe the confession, adding that police would question each of the
villagers before telling a press conference today who they believed attacked
the camp.
About 40 hooded men were seen during the
attack, in which about 250 huts were damaged.
Electricity Generating Authority of
Thailand (Egat) governor Sithi-porn Rattanopass also held a press conference
yesterday. He denied that the state agency was behind the attack.
He has asked Energy Minister Pongthep
Thepkanchana to appoint a committee to find out who was behind the attack,
Sithiporn said. Since the dam's opponents believe that Egat was responsible
it would be unfair if the agency did not investigate the incident, he added.
Opponents of the dam yesterday demanded
that Thaksin hold Friday's meeting in their camp outside Government House,
along with their advisers from the Assembly of the Poor.
Thaksin insisted, however, that the
meeting take place in Government House and that no NGO members be present.
"If the villagers do not come to
Government House on their own, there will be no meeting and that is that.
Villagers affected by the dam should be able to speak to me; otherwise it
shows that they are under the influence of someone else," Thaksin said.
He also attacked the NGOs, saying he
believed some of them exist only to seek financial support from foreign
countries.
"The NGOs [working with the dam
opponents] are the same old faces. I know who supports them and I want to
tell foreign countries that support them to shift their support to NGOs who
work more creatively and efficiently," he said.
An adviser to the Assembly of the Poor
said that the group had not demanded that it be present during Friday's
meeting but only that the meeting is transparent.
"At least the media should be allowed
to be present for the sake of transparency," Nanthachot Chairat said.
-----------------------------
Suspicion rules
Chronology of events that have left
suspicions surrounding the latest attack on opponents of the Pak Mool Dam:
Sunday
9am: Mae Mool Manyuen residents leave
their Ubon Ratchathani village for a 1.05pm train to Bangkok, in order to
join other dam opponents at Government House.
Late morning: A group of more than 40 men
start tearing down several huts in the village.
Afternoon: Some leaders of the Assembly of
the Poor, which supports the dam opponents, say the raid could be the work
of professionals. They say they expect a new attack, possibly arson, that
night.
6pm: Dam protesters in Bangkok move to the
house of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, carrying banners with messages
like 'Egat, you set our houses ablaze. We will destroy your dam.'
7pm: Torching of huts reportedly starts.
Police report fires being seen shortly before 8pm.
Yesterday
The Assembly of the Poor insists the
Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand was behind the attack. The
government expresses its doubts, with Thaksin pointing to suspicious aspects
of the incident. Theories abound that the attack could have been
self-inflicted to gain sympathy. Evening: More than 20 villagers in Ubon
Ratchathani turn themselves in and admit they carried out Sunday's attack
because they dislike the opponents of the dam. |