Villagers have just cause, Anand says
The Nation , Aug 8, 2000
FORMER prime minister Anand Panyarachun yesterday called on Bangkok residents to have sympathy for the destitute Pak Mool villagers and tolerate the inconvenience caused by their marathon protests.
After giving a speech at a seminar on the United Nations' role in the 21st Century, Anand sought to stem urban suspicion about protest leaders' motives and frustration over the sometimes-unruly activities of the villagers, who have invaded Government House and caused traffic snarls in the area.
Asked if he thought the government had treated the problem properly, Anand said: "It would perhaps be too easy to comment on things that are outside my responsibility. All I want is for Bangkokians who have routine jobs or own cars to sympathise with the villagers. Don't presume that the protests are masterminded by people with ill intentions."
Anand, who played a significant role in the drafting of the current Constitution, said he believed the majority of the protesters came to Bangkok because of their plights.
"A small minority [may have ulterior motives], but most protesters have really suffered from past development programmes," he said.
The Pak Mool protest has drawn mixed reactions from Bangkok residents, and fresh emotional debate has focused on whether the villagers are being used as pawns or whether they are truly desperate.
Anand called on the government to mix moral and legal principles in tackling the problems, noting that some existing laws were a cause of social disparity.
He also asked that the government heed the villagers' conditions on a proposed public hearing on the Pak Mool Dam controversy. The villagers want the forum to be held at a neutral, academic venue, and the government's insistence that the hearing be conducted on Channel 11 has resulted in a deadlock.
The government cited security concerns, fearing a repeat of the violence that abruptly ended a recent public hearing in Songkhla on the Thai-Malaysia gas-pipeline project.
"It should not be a big deal for the government to find a venue acceptable to the villagers," Anand said. "A topic like this should not have become a conflict in the first place. There are much bigger problems waiting to be solved."
The number of villagers staging a hunger strike dropped to 295 yesterday from 473 on Sunday. Many of those who have quit said they had joined the fast voluntarily because they thought it was the only way to attract government attention.
"Allegations that we were hired to stage a hunger strike are not true," said Prasert Popkhunthod, 54, who said he had not eaten from July 27 until yesterday. "Who would want to risk their life for that?"
The oldest hunger striker, 88-year-old Chane Homsilp, vowed to continue his fast although protest leaders had urged him to stop.
The impasse over the venue for the public hearing remained yesterday, and the protest leaders are planning to hold their own hearing next week.
They and their sympathisers also reacted angrily yesterday to former prime minister Suchinda Kraparayoon's remark that the military's brutal crack-down on pro-democracy demonstrators in May, 1992 had been unavoidable, and their wrath spilled over onto Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, who has been under attack by the Pak Mool protesters.
"Chuan has a new friend," Chaiyapan Prapasawat, adviser to the Assembly of the Poor, said sarcastically.
EDITORIAL: Democratic approach would be a big help
The Chuan administration says the Assembly of the Poor protesters have no
legitimate claims for compensation for the environmental impact of
large-scale dams or land rights in designated forest reserves and disputed
public land. As a result, only demands deemed reasonable by the government
have been met.
In turn, the protesters, mostly poor villagers, who have the support of some
NGO workers, political activists and academics, say the
democratically-elected Chuan government has lost the legitimacy to rule. All
because of the government's "insensitive and uncaring" attitude towards poor
rural folk in general and, particularly, the protesters who have camped out
for months in front of Government House.
The months-long protest has turned into an anti-government demonstration
which has since been joined by political activists seeking an immediate end
to the Chuan administration's tenure through a House dissolution to pave the
way for an early general election.
The confrontational stance of both sides is evident. But it is the
government which
must take the initiative to break the ice. After all, the plight of the poor
people must be attended to with compassion and understanding rather than an
attitude based on legalistic and bureaucratic judgement.
From the government's viewpoint, the July 25 Cabinet resolution is supposed
to settle once and for all the 16 cases of grievance claimed by the
villagers. But the protesters see it differently. They say the resolution
does nothing to solve the stalemated issues from previous rounds of
negotiation over the past several years.
The government recently agreed to hold a public hearing on the Assembly of
the Poor's demands. A public forum to be broadcast on television and radio
was scheduled for yesterday. Unfortunately it sees the protesters as "the
other side" and insisted that the meeting be held at TV Channel 11. The
protesters refused, and a chance to bridge the gap has been wasted.
It cannot be stressed enough that the government's decision not to meet the
protesters on neutral ground is gripped by fear. According to the
government, Channel 11 was chosen because it does not want to see a repeat
of the violence that led to an abrupt end to the recent public hearing in
Songkhla on the Thai-Malaysian gas-pipeline project. The project's opponents
stormed the hearing hall and some briefly engaged in fistfights with project
supporters.
But it is the duty of the government to listen to the people and meet their
aspirations. It is its duty to work towards increasing communications with
the protesters. Living in a civilised, democratic society means much more
than exerting one's political rights with total disregard of the public
interest or exercising one's right to freedom of speech by slandering
others.
Perhaps a reminder of what democracy is all about is in order. Democracy
requires of its citizens and government a distinct set of civilised values
and orientations: moderation, tolerance, civility, efficacy, knowledge and
participation, among other things.
For democracy to take root and grow in this country, the democratic process
must be allowed to run its full course on every issue of national or local
significance. For the government and the protesters, and indeed any other
interest groups, losing or winning an issue through the democratic process,
which is never perfect, is not the end of the world.
The plight of the poor is something the government must attend to, even if
it means twisting rules and regulations, breaking the rigid Thai bureaucracy
or suffering a loss of face. The Pak Mool dam protest is symptomatic of the
past mismanagement of the country. It should be quickly resolved.
Message to the deaf and the dumb (Chang Noi's article)
"We weren't poor before. We had a home and a livelihood. We had a sufficient
life made possible by nature, by the earth and the waters. Even though we
were not rich, we did not go hungry.
We were not poor. Then the government put a dam down in front of our house,
right where we had made a living for many generations ... So we became poor.
Or more exactly, we were made poor by the government and by the kind of
development that takes resources away from the countryside."
The Message of Peace issued by the Assembly of the Poor at the onset of
fasting is destined to become a classic. Chang Noi has put a full English
translation on the web |
