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City folks must share blame over dam crisis 

Irate Bankokians fail to understand that their affluent lifestyles have brought protesters to the city

Supara Janchitfah

Bangkok Post: perspective, August 13, 2000

'The traffic is terrible!" growled a taxi driver. "These Pak Moon mobsters, they have nothing to do! They're being paid by politicians to oust the government."The taxi driver is not alone in holding this assessment. If recent polls are any measure, a great number of Bangkok residents share his belief. "These villagers camping in front of Government House are seasoned protesters," said one office worker. "They have nothing to do. They're lazy. And what's worse, they have ulterior motives in their protest. Simply put, they're nothing but paid trouble-makers."Similar opinions have also been voiced by the nation's ruling elite. "If residents of Bangkok joined hands to oppose these mobsters, they would have second thoughts about coming here," said Interior Minister Banyat Bantadtan in early July, upon learning that protesters from Ubon Rachathani were on their way to Bangkok. When the protesters announced a hunger strike, he told them: "Don't use your children and your old people to put pressure on the government. It will not change anything in our perspective."

 

DEAF EARS

The lack of response from an indifferent government to years of struggling prior to the protesters arrival at Government House left many of them with little hope that their exhausting walk would achieve anything.

"It isn't fun to be in Bangkok. If the dam hadn't been built across our river, our shadows would never have fallen on the gates of Government House," said Mrs Sompong Viengchan, a leader of the Pak Moon Dam group. "It is sad to see that people think that we are too demanding. They say that when we are given an inch we ask for a yard and that we have violated the city people's rights by causing traffic congestion," said Sompong.

"But if they only examined the cabinet resolution of July 25, they would see that there is no long-term recovery plan for us. The resolution continues to deny the right of locals to participate in the process of demarcating forest boundaries. And this is despite the fact that some of our friends have been living in the area since long before it was declared a national park."

 

SENATOR ON THEIR SIDE

According to Senator Wanlop Tangkhananulak, city people cannot understand the movement of the poor because they do not know how their lifestyles harm the natural resources on which rural people depend.

"We drain most of the rural areas' natural resources to serve our city's never-ending needs. We use water and electricity at the cost of the environment and the livelihood of people upcountry. City people should be aware of this," said Senator Wanlop.

Demonstrations are a social phenomenon which occurs in societies with a developing democratic system.

"These people have to protest; they have no other mechanisms to explain what has happened to them," said the Bangkok senator.

"Officials have public relations officers, they have budgets to disseminate their information. But the poor have nothing except themselves."

 
 

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