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'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.

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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.

 
 

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