Protesters choose
to stay in jail
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Members of the Student
Federation of Thailand stage a protest at the Democracy Monument
yesterday against the arrest of over 200 of northeastern villagers
who had rallied outside Government House to demand quick solutions
to problems arising from the construction of Pak Mool Dam in Ubon
Ratchathani province.
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THE 84 female protesters arrested over the weekend
for trespassing on Government House grounds refused yesterday to leave
their jail cells unless their grievances are addressed and their male
counterparts also freed.
The female detainees, some of them minors, were
offered their freedom in return for pleading guilty to the charge of
trespassing. They refused to accepted the deal.
The jailed protesters were among the more than
1,000 farmers and fishermen from the country's poor Northeast who arrived
in Bangkok last week to campaign for authorities to open sluice gates of
the Pak Mool dam in Ubon Ratchathani to allow fish upstream.
They clashed violently with police on Sunday as
they tried to scale the wall into the Government House compound. More than
40 were injured during the confrontation.
Sompan Kuendee, a leader of the female villagers,
said she was willing to remain in jail until the government promised to
seriously consider their plight from the loss of fishing, brought about by
the Pak Mool dam.
"I am urging the government to follow the
recommendation of the committee [of inquiry] to open the sluice gates at
the Pak Mool dam to restore fisheries in the river," she said.
Last month, Deputy Prime Minister Banyat
Banthadthan appointed a central committee of academics, biologists and
engineers to look into the protesting villagers' proposal to restore
fisheries in the Mool River by opening the dam's floodgates.
The committee resolved this month that the
Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) should open the
floodgates for four months during the rainy season to allow fish from the
Mekong to feed and spawn in the Mool River.
However, Banyat said yesterday the appointment of
the central committee should not be taken seriously as he only intended to
"ease the tension" when an earlier confrontation between Egat
and the protesting villagers was deadlocked.
"The committee did a good job," he said.
"But whether their recommendations will be put into practice depends
on the [government] agencies responsible for the problem," he said.
Prasitiporn Karn-onsri, from the Assembly of the
Poor, which represents the protesters, said friends and supporters were
allowed to visit the women detainees, locked up at the Police Private
School in Nakhon Pathom.
But the 141 males detained at the Border Patrol
Police's command centre in Pathum Thani, on the other hand, were denied
visitors. They were allowed to meet with their lawyers for only 20
minutes, said Sarawuth Pathumraj, of the Law Society of Thailand.
Sarawuth said he and his fellow lawyers were
closely monitored and videotaped by police while offering consultation to
the detainees. He condemned the action as against the constitution.
"This cannot be interpreted as anything else,
but an attempt to threaten lawyers who are performing their duties
provided by law," he said.
Leaders of the 225 arrested Pak Mool villagers
could face up to five years in jail. They have been charged with invading
the Government House compound, an illegal gathering of more than 10
people, and masterminding a demonstration, police said.
National police chief Gen Pornsak Durongkapibul led
a group of reporters to visit the male detainees yesterday morning. But
reporters were not allowed to speak with the villagers.
Another group of reporters who attempted to see the
detainees later in the evening were denied access to the centre by about
40 policemen armed with batons and shields.
Police said the 221 adult detainees would be sent
to Klong Prem Remand Prison today, while four teenagers were sent to Baan
Karuna Juvenile Detention Centre yesterday.
More than 30 groups representing academics, human
rights and democracy activists, as well as newly-elected senators
yesterday released statements condemning the government for using force to
suppress the unarmed and poor villagers.
They demanded the unconditional release of all
detained villagers. They also urged the government to seriously consider
the plight of the protesters and open the sluice gates at Pak Mool.
Scores of Bangkok office workers showed up in front
of Government House yesterday to support the remaining Pak Mool villagers,
who are still camped in the area.
"I was saddened by the scenes on TV of the
violent crackdown of the villagers," said Tassanee Tonpaisan, a
finance company worker. "I feel partly responsible for it because,
after all, I am a consumer of the electricity generated by the Pak Mool
dam.''
Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai yesterday continued to
defend the use of force against the villagers.
"Injuries were not only sustained by the
protesters' side," he said. "Police officers were hurt as well.
One had his finger broken."
BY CHAIYAKORN BAI-NGERN,
SUBHATRA BHUMIBRABHAS and
PENNAPA HONGTHONG
The Nation, July 19
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