Ubon Ratchathani Pak Moon dam gates to open fully
Pak Moon dam gates to open fully
Villagers tired of constant Egat delays
By Kultida Samabuddhi
After a delay of one and a half months, the Pak Moon dam's sluice gates will be fully opened next Sunday to allow fish from the Mekong river to migrate to the Moon river in Ubon Ratchathani province. Pak Moon fishermen have already started to fish in the river after the Energy Ministry partially lifted the gates last Thursday to adjust the water level in preparation of the full opening of the dam's eight gates, prompting some Mekong fish stock to swim into the Moon river.
Controversy over the opening of the Pak Moon dam sluice gates emerges almost every year as the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat), the dam operator, consistently delays the gate opening.
A 2004 cabinet resolution instructs Egat to open the gates for four months starting in May, which is the beginning of the wet season, to allow fish from the Mekong river to spawn in the Moon river, boosting fish stocks.
The opening has been delayed for almost 50 days this year, leading to a protest by Pak Moon villagers in Bangkok last month.
The Energy Ministry, which oversees Egat, eventually agreed on May 29, that the Pak Moon dam sluice gates will be fully opened to allow a free flow of the river for four months, starting from June 17.
''Later is better than never,'' said Pak Moon villager representative Sompan Kuendee. ''But we hope that this will be the last time that we are kept waiting because the delays badly affect us.''
The villagers said the beginning of May was the most appropriate time to open the sluice gates because it was the peak of fish migration season.
The delay of the opening would result in a decrease of fish stock in the Moon river because less fish will spawn in the river, they say.
''More importantly, the villagers need money from selling fish during this time of the year, when schools are opened and family expenses are higher,'' Ms Sompan said.
Nantachote Chairat, adviser to the Assembly of the Poor, a network of people affected by state policies and projects, including the dam, said the villagers demanded the sluice gates be opened permanently. Research conducted by various agencies showed that electricity production was only a ''by-product'' of the dam, he said.
The Energy Ministry also says in the May 29 cabinet resolution which acknowledges the dam gates opening that the dam should be operated mainly for fisheries and irrigation purposes, he said.
The ministry told cabinet that even without electricity supply from the dam, there will be sufficient electricity for the northeastern region. ''Therefore, the dam should mainly serve fisheries and irrigation activities,'' according to the cabinet resolution. Pak Moon fishermen will hold a celebration of the dam gates opening on Thursday to welcome the fishing season.
Bangkok Post
Pak Moon villagers look to NHRC for help
Govt slammed for dirty dam tricks
Pak Moon villagers look to NHRC for help
Villagers near the Pak Moon dam petitioned the National Human Rights Commission yesterday to help them regain protection of their fishing rights after the government went back on its word and decided to keep the sluice gates of the controversial dam closed. Local protesters said it was the ''dirtiest decision'' so far and claimed it was politically motivated.
Twelve members of the Committee on the Moon River Community Restoration group sent a petition to the commission's office, asking its chairman Saneh Chamarik to urgently look into the cabinet's reversal.
The cabinet granted the decision to keep the gates closed on June 12 even though it had earlier agreed to open the dam by June 17.
Studies say the dam blocks fish from migrating upstream from the Mekong river to spawn in its tributary, the Moon river.
Following strong protests from fishermen, the Thaksin government agreed to open the dam for four months of the year to allow for the migration.
It agreed to open the dam in May every year, but this year the opening has continually been delayed by dam operator Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand.
Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont personally promised local fishermen that the sluice gates would be opened when he visited the region in April.
The government's decision not to open the dam has drawn scorn from fishermen and scholars who condemned the cabinet for breaking its promise.
''It's the most dirty decision I've ever seen,'' said Prapat Pintobtaeng of Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Political Science.
''The villagers are very angry and want to seize the dam, but we have tried to pacify them for fear of violent clashes.''
Mr Prapat suggested that the military-installed government's decision to go back on its word may be an attempt to put pressure on villagers in the northeastern province, which was a stronghold of the now-defunct Thai Rak Thai party.
The struggling villagers are simply viewed by the military government as ''people of the Thaksin regime'' who favour his populist policies, he added.
Mr Prapat said the plan to keep the sluice gates closed was allegedly suggested by Gen Surin Pikulthong, who directs a special panel on land problems under the Internal Security Operations Command, chaired by army chief Sonthi Boonyaratkalin.
Many soldiers have also been ordered to monitor villagers' activities in Ubon Ratchathani, he said.
''The villagers need to have their ID cards checked and have to ask the soldiers for a permit even if they are just going to work in a sugarcane farm,'' Mr Prapat said.
Security however, is being tightened countrywide as anti-government demonstrators continue with their angry protests and reports continue to come out of upcountry villagers being paid to join the rally in the capital. Pak Moon dam protesters said the cabinet's decision would affect the livelihoods of hundreds of fishermen who had spent money to buy fishing equipment but would now not have enough fish to catch.
Bangkok Post
Pak Moon Dam sluice gates to open fully June 30
PAK MOON DAM
Egat to open sluice gates fully June 30
APINYA WIPATAYOTIN
The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) has promised to fully open Pak Moon dam's sluice gates next Saturday, after having postponed the opening at the request of the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc). Wattana Thongsiri, Egat's assistant governor in charge of the hydro power plant, said the agency had been told to delay the opening of the dam's eight sluice gates from June 17 to 30.
''Isoc recently asked us to delay the gates' opening, saying it was meant to help farmers in need of water for farming,'' Mr Wattana said at a forum yesterday. ''The sluice gates will be fully opened on June 30 if there is no new order against that.''
A 2004 cabinet resolution instructs Egat to open the sluice gates for four months per year starting in May, which is the beginning of the rainy season, to allow fish from the Mekong river to spawn in the Moon river.
The opening has been delayed by almost two months so far this year, leading to a protest by Pak Moon villagers in Bangkok last month.
The Energy Ministry, which oversees Egat, agreed on May 29 that the dam's gates be opened as of June 17 to allow a free flow of the river for four months.
However, on June 12 the cabinet quietly issued a new resolution, instructing Egat to keep the dam's gates shut as recommended by the Isoc.
The resolution also orders the dissolution of all the existing committees tackling controversies surrounding the Pak Moon dam and empowers the Isoc to exclusively deal with the dam issues.
Pak Moon villagers and academics yesterday called on the cabinet to revoke the June 12 resolution.
''The cabinet should not base its decision on the security agency's opinion alone. The villagers' problems cannot by solved from the military and security agencies' point of view,'' says a statement released by a network of academics studying the dam controversy.
Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont ''should know the matter has nothing to do with security,'' said Prakob Wirojanagud, president of Ubon Ratchathani University. ''Everything will run smoothly if Gen Surayud simply follows the May 29 cabinet resolution regarding the full opening of the dam's sluice gates.'' Supawit Piempongsarn, a former inspector of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, said the interim government had ''no clear understanding of the matter and was being misled by state officials''.
Bangkok Post
Pak Moon villagers on verge of violence
Pak Moon villagers on verge of violence
Threaten to storm dam, force open gates
YUWADEE TUNYASIRI
The Assembly of the Poor has threatened to forcibly open the Pak Moon dam's sluice gates after the government failed to uphold earlier resolutions to keep the gates open for four months a year. The assembly, which represents villagers affected by the dam in Ubon Ratchathani province, yesterday released a statement slamming the government, accusing it of overlooking the plight of Pak Moon villagers.
Instead of abiding by a 2004 cabinet resolution that requires the dam gates to be kept open for four months annually, the cabinet on June 12 passed a new resolution instructing the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand to keep the sluice gates shut.
The resolution also ordered the dissolution of all existing committees tackling controversies surrounding the dam, and empowered the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) as the sole authority to deal with issues related to the dam. The Assembly of the Poor also criticised Council for National Security (CNS) chief Sonthi Boonyaratkalin for breaking his promise to help push their call for the opening of the sluice gates during Tuesday's cabinet meeting.
The delay in the opening of the dam's gates this year had already prompted villagers to stage protests in Bangkok in May.
In its statement, the assembly yesterday vowed to lead the affected villagers to force open all the dam's sluice gates even though such action would land them in jail or subject them to intimidation in various forms.
During the Thaksin Shinawatra government, Ubon Ratchathani University conducted a study on the potentially negative impact the dam could have on the local people. Its findings suggested that all the dam's sluice gates should be kept open permanently to replenish fish stocks vital to local livelihoods.
The cabinet later resolved in 2004 to have the dam's sluice gates opened for four months yearly, beginning at the start of the rainy season in May, to allow fish from the Mekong river to spawn in the Moon river.
A source said Gen Sonthi raised the issue of opening the dam gates with Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont before attending the cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
However, the issue was not raised in the actual meeting.
The source also said Gen Sonthi had tried to push for the opening of the gates, as he would like to gain voter support in the Northeast following widespread reports that he is considering contesting the next general election.
Gen Surayud personally promised fishermen that the dam's sluice gates would be opened when he visited the region in April. However, his government later decided not to follow through with its promise saying it wanted to set up a committee to study the problem first.
Bangkok Post
Pak Mun villagers have been turned away from Government House
Old war, new battle for Pak Mun villagers
Once again Pak Mun villagers have been turned away from Government House with the fate of their river lives and livelihoods undecided.
By Subhatra Bhumiprabhas
The Nation
Published on July 16,2007
If you were passing Government House on Tuesday evening you could have spotted as many as 70 villagers waiting there.
They were from Pak Mun and all members of Assembly of the Poor. They travelled to Bangkok to hear a military junta-appointed Cabinet decision in their fate.
But, a few hours earlier they had been forcibly removed from inside the grounds by police and told the Cabinet was not scheduled tom discuss their plight.
"I have been hearing about Pak Mun people for a very long time. I have sympathy for them because no one wants to leave home for these conditions. But, I've forgotten why they are protesting. Are they still around? Why is it not over yet?" one person asked.
Villagers themselves have lost count of the times since 1989 they have travelled to the capital to demonstrate first against the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) removing them from their land to make way for a new dam and then over the flow of the river. The latest trip was made after a June 12 Cabinet decision decided to close the dam's sluice gates forever. Two weeks earlier the Cabinet agreed Pak Mun Dam could open its gates four months a year.
The group came from Ubon Ratchathani province to demand the opening of the gates as promised.
Why?
Sompong Wiengchan, 56, tells how the villagers have made the long journey numerous times to battle for their existence and livings.
"We don't want to come but we have to come because our problems have never been solved," said Sompong, a 20-year veteran of this contest. The Cabinet of late prime minister Chatichai Choonhavan approved the dam back in 1989. The dam was built between 1991 and 1994.
It destroyed the livelihoods and way of life of about 6,000 families that relied on the Mun River. These villages were no longer able to earn livings from fishing. They demanded compensation.
In 1994 Egat paid each family Bt90,000. Of this amount Bt30,000 went directly to people and Bt60,000 went to the community's cooperative. But, problems did not end there.
The community's way of life has been changed because of the drastic reduction in fish numbers in the river. The dam blocks the upstream migration of fish from the Mekong. Thousands of fishermen have left home to take jobs as labourers. Many work on construction sites in far-away provinces. Some of the elderly came to Bangkok where they collect and sell junk.
"My three children left home to work in the city," Sompong said.
Those who remained scratch out a living making brooms to sell at markets.
Compensation
For almost two decades the villagers have been demanding justice. The governments of Chatichai, AnandPanyarachun, Banharn Silapa-archa, Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, Chuan Leekpai and Thaksin Shinawatra have come and gone without a resolution.
"It seems the problem will be settled but it never is," Sompong said. She has been involved in negotiations since she was a young woman.
In 1997 the Chavalit Cabinet agreed to compensate the villagers with land - 15 rai for each displaced family - or Bt500,000.
Nothing was ever received following the cancellation of this deal by the Chuan administration in 1999. It said the Pak Mun problem was created by earlier administrations and no more compensation would be paid.
"We returned home empty handed," Sompong recalled.
The dam-gate saga
Between 2001 and 2002 the government asked Egat to keep the dam gates open the year round following Ubon
Ratchathani University research showing this would allow the villagers to return to their old livelihoods.
"I earned about Bt20,000 from fishing that year," Sompong recalled.
The study found when the river flowed freely year round families could earn more than Bt10,000 from fishing. When the gates were shut that fell to just Bt3,000 a year.
The study suggested the dam gates should be opened all year, or at least for five months in the wet season between July and
November. This allowed fish to migrate upstream and breed.
But, in 2004 the Thaksin government decided on a four- month opening. While this did not entirely please the villagers it was a compromise and their protests ended.
"At least we still could catch fish and exchange them for rice," Sompong said.
Three years later they are back
The current government ordered the gates opened on June 7. They remained closed.
Sompong and 70 others packed their bags and made the familiar trip to Government House. They were determined to find out why.
They were puzzled when Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont told them the four- month opening had been reversed and the decision was based on recommendations by the Internal Security Operations Command.
It claimed more than 21,000 villagers had signed an agreement that the gates be kept shut.
"Villagers knew nothing about this 'referendum'. We asked the government to show us the names of those who had agreed to this move. It refused," Sompong said.
Members of the Surayud executive declined to meet with the villagers. Pak Mun people still know nothing of their fate. They believe this government is perpetrating their despair. The dam ruined their lives but governments have since ignored them, Sompong said.
"We have to continue fighting."
Violence at Pak Mun
March 1993: Hooded men attack villagers protesting at the dam site injuring 33.
December 1993: Clashes between dam supporters and protesters at a Baan Hua Haew construction site. One protester is seriously injured after being shot.
July 2000: Special police disperse Pak Mun villagers protesting at Government House. More than 200 are arrested and charged withtrespass.
December 2002: Hooded men raid, demolish and burn shelters at Moo Baan Mae Mun Yangyuen and another location constructed by dam protesters.
January 2003: Bangkok Governor Samak Sundaravej orders 1,000 city officials to tear down a protest site at Government House.
Belongings were confiscated and disposed of.
July 10, 2007: 70 villagers forced to leave the Government
House by 300 police. Four protesters are injured.
General dares villagers to force open dam gates
General dares villagers to force open dam gates
General Surin Phikulthong, chairman of a government subcommittee working on land ownership problems, yesterday challenged protesting villagers to carry out their threat to force open the Pak Mun Dam sluice gates.
"Open it if you dare," he said in a telephone interview with The Nation. "But don't forget that the number of people who want the sluice gates to be closed are more than you."
However, Surin, who was assigned by the military-appointed government working to oversee the Pak Mun Dam through the Internal Security Operation Command (Isoc), did not reply when asked what would happen if the villagers really used force to open the gates as they had vowed.
Surin insisted that the Cabinet resolution late last month to let the dam store water to its full capacity, rather than open the gates as decided by the Thaksin administration three years ago, was just. He said it was based on the demand by more than 20,000 villagers from 85 villages. He claimed that only 400 villagers under the Assembly of the Poor had demanded the sluice gates be opened. His argument was countered by political scientists who have monitored the issue for more than a decade.
Prapas Pintobtaeng of Chulalongkorn University said the government was trying to distort facts with the politics of numbers. Prapas, also part of two national committees set up by both the Chuan Leekpai and Thaksin Shinawatra administrations to solve problems related to the dam, criticised the logic of numbers Surin used to justify the future of the dam and the villagers as "irrational".
"Using mathematical figures without a rational foundation is nothing but crude force," he said.
He was supported by his Chulalongkorn colleague, Surichai Wangaeo, who said that justice could not be measured by numbers.
"Mathematics knows no justice," he said, adding that social justice must be created and measured by history and reason. "If we used numbers to calculate justice, this means we would allow a group of people with bigger numbers to kill another group that has smaller numbers," he said.
Pennapa Hongthong
The Nation
Governor agrees to open Pak Moon dam
Governor agrees to open Pak Moon dam
Local villagers remain sceptical it will happen
NILA SINGKHIRI and APINYA WIPATAYOTIN
The governor of Ubon Ratchathani has agreed to open the Pak Moon dam's sluice gates next week after a series of reversals by the state and angry protests by villagers that have lasted for over two months.
But Pak Moon villagers remain sceptical of whether the gates really will be opened as the decision needs to be approved by the Interior Ministry before the water can begin to flow.
Governor Sutee Boonmark has proposed partially opening eight sluice gates on Wednesday or Thursday to adjust the water levels. The dam's gates will be gradually lifted until they are fully opened within 15 days, he said.
However, the governor said, the proposal has to be approved by the Interior Ministry first.
The move came after the cabinet decided on Tuesday to allow the Ubon Ratchathani governor to have the final say over when to open the dam's gates.
On Wednesday night the governor met all parties concerned, including Pak Moon fishermen, farmers and a representative from the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat), the dam operator, to decide on a suitable time to open the sluice gates.
Pak Moon fisherman Thongcharoen Sihatham, who represented villagers at the meeting, said he had little confidence the gates would really open.
''No one can guarantee that the dam's gates will be opened. We have seen many changes. Even the Surayud [Chulanont] cabinet has reversed its decision several times,'' Mr Thongcharoen said.
On May 29, the government approved the Energy Ministry's proposal for the dam's gates be opened in mid-June. However, two weeks later, it reversed the decision and ordered the dam's gates to remain closed, citing possible protests from local farmers.
On Tuesday, the cabinet authorised the Ubon Ratchathani governor to make the final decision on when and for how long the dam's gates should be opened.
However, the governor told the villagers that he had to ask for approval from the interior minister before going ahead with the opening of the gates.
''We can no longer trust this government. All this flip-flopping over the Pak Moon dam suggests the prime minister and his cabinet are untrustworthy,'' the villagers said in a statement issued yesterday. ''The fish migration season has been under way for almost two months now, but the dam has blocked the river, preventing Mekong fish migrating to the Moon river. This government has kept us waiting for too long and we might have to open the dam's gates by our own means.''
Bangkok Post
Dam's gates partially opened
UBON RATCHATHANI / PAK MOON
Dam's gates partially opened
Ubon Ratchathani _ All eight sluice gates of Pak Moon dam were partially opened yesterday following last week's cabinet resolution and a series of protests by villagers affected by the closure of the gates.
Ubon Ratchathani governor Suthee Boonmark, who presided over the opening of the sluice gates, said dam water would be released daily to maintain the Moon river's level at mean sea level.
The cabinet resolved last Tuesday to let the provincial governor have the final say over when to open the dam's gates.
Under the cabinet's resolution, a new water management committee is to be set up to supervise the annual opening of the dam's sluice gates, which had been delayed by more than two months. The committee will be chaired by the provincial governor.
Tension over the delay heightened early last month, with the affected villagers accusing the government of going back on its promise to open the dam's gates.
The government argued that opening the gates too soon could trigger protests by local rice farmers.
A source said no villagers showed up at yesterday's ceremony to open the dam's gates. The event was attended by dam staff, local officials, soldiers and police.
Provincial authorities are reportedly keeping a close watch on two groups of villagers to see how they will react to the dam opening.
One group wants the dam's gates to stay open so that fish can swim upstream from the Mekong river to spawn in the Moon river.
The other group wants the gates to remain shut, fearing their farmland and fish raised in baskets could be affected by rising water levels.
Bangkok Post
Pak Mun Dam gates to be opened
Pak Mun Dam gates to be opened
The Pak Mun Dam gates will be opened as the dam can no longer contain the large amount of water from heavy rain, the Ubon Ratchathani provincial authority said Saturday.
Governor Suthee Boonmak said the authority would open eight gates of the dam to drain a large amount of water and to prevent flash flooding over residential areas.
Heavy rain has covered 10 districts, three sub-districts, 70 tambons and 727 villages. More than 10,000 residents have been affected by floods and more than 60,000 agricultural areas are under water. Flash floods also damaged 73 roads and four bridges.
The most affected areas are in Phibun Mangsahan district because these areas had to contain water from two districts and the dam officers had already opened dam gates on Friday to drain 263 million cubic metres of water.
The provincial governor expressed concern about Det Udom district and Na Yia sub-district because these areas are close to the Lam Dom Yai River and are prone to flash floods.
Monsoon rains have also affected Loei province. Saneh Nonthachoti, chief of Phu Kradung district, said the rain had hit Phu Kradung's residential and agricultural areas. There were 660 residents and 512 households affected though fatalities and disappearances had not been reported.
However the authority reported that 1,761 rice fields had overflowed and 565 fish farms, 25 roads, six bridges and 24 check dams were affected. The total costs were Bt1.9 million.
Heavy rain also affected other parts of country. Toeng Lebsangwaan, a resident of Wiang Thong village in Chiang Mai's Muang district, said she was preparing to clear her house and move herself and her family to a higher place. She complained that there had been no assistance from local officials.
Chiang Mai mayor Duentemduang na Chiang Mai had in fact launched a plan to protect the city from flash floods. The plan was to plant Vetiver grass for 3,100 metres along the river and to fill 200,000 sacks with mud from the river to create a wall against the water.
Meanwhile, the Meteorological Department reported that the southwest monsoon is still active over the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, and heavy rain would continue in the eastern part of Thailand. Residents in this area should be prepared for downfalls.
The department said waves two- to three-metres high were also expected in the Andaman Sea and Gulf of Thailand and all ships should proceed with caution.
Bangkok and the nearby provinces have also experienced storms. The amount of water is expected to increase in coming days so agriculturists should prepare for flash floods by digging canals around plantation areas to drain water.
The department also warned about the spread of plant diseases in the rainy season.
The Nation
Dam's sluice gates opened to make room for flood water
Dam's sluice gates opened to make room for flood water
Ubon Ratchathani _ All eight sluice gates of the Pak Moon dam were opened yesterday, making room in the reservoir for flood water moving down the Moon river. ''Opening the gates now will ensure Ubon Ratchathani does not suffer from devastating floods like those between 2001 and 2003,'' said provincial governor Suthee Markboon.
Flood water from Si Sa Ket province is flowing downstream to the Moon river.
Water from dams in Khon Kaen and Kalasin provinces has already been released into the Chee river, which merges with the Moon river.
This has raised the level of the Moon river, which runs through the city of Ubon Ratchathani.
Mr Suthee was assigned by the cabinet last month to chair a water management committee to decide when and how long the dam should be opened each year.
The cabinet has been under heavy pressure to raise all the gates for a specific period of the year, as was agreed by the past government. People downstream rely on the water released from the dam.
The cabinet has now given the decision-making power to the province.
A 2004 cabinet resolution by the Thaksin Shinawatra government allowed a four-month opening period, starting in May. The present government, however, ignored the 2004 resolution and decided to close the dam to avoid possible protests by farmers who need water for farming.
The dam opening is crucial to fish migration from the Mekong to the Moon river.
Bangkok Post
