Govt to build big dam on seismic fault

Govt to build big dam on seismic fault

Building a big dam on an active earthquake fault. Isn't that plain crazy?

Destroying more than 60,000 rai of lush forest cover which includes the country's last golden teak reserves, in order to prevent floods when deforestation actually causes flooding. Isn't that plain silly?

No matter what we think, the Yingluck administration has its mind set on building the environmentally destructive Kaeng Sua Ten dam in Phrae province.

Actually, all governments in the past two decades have wanted to do the exact same thing. Obviously, for the many people involved, the teak concessions and the dam commissions were too tempting to resist.

But fierce resistance from the Sa-iab villagers in Phrae's Song district and environmental groups forced them to back down every time.

The 2011 mega flood and the subsequent scare of inundation has made the government believe it can easily win this time around.

Last year, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra tried to stem opposition by promising that integrated river basin management was her priority, not dam building.

Few locals believed her. And they are now being proved right.

Last week, Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong made it loud and clear that Kaeng Sua Ten was now for real.

"I'm ready to confront every NGO. I want to ask them where on earth they hai hua [hid their heads] during the flood, and why they didn't come out to help the flood victims?"

This confrontational remark comes from a cabinet minister who cried like a child for TV audiences while hugging an industrialist, after failing to protect an industrial park from inundation.

Excuse me, sir. People did not want those kind of tears. They wanted the truth about the flood situation. But the government kept spewing untruths _ that everything was under control. Until it was too late.

To fix the damage caused by its own mismanagement, the government did some creative book-keeping to juggle its debt position in order to make way for its 3.5-trillion-baht loan scheme, without revealing any actual plans that were in the pipeline.

Talk about accountability. And transparency. And the lack thereof.

Where on earth were the activists during the flood? Is it possible, sir, that they were struggling to save their flooded homes and communities, thanks to the government's appalling flood mismanagement?

Mr Kittiratt is completely wrong if he believes environmentalists and civil society groups are his enemies. His real enemy is the truth.

Building a big dam on an active seismic fault seriously increases the risks of untold damage. That is the truth.

Other truths: Kaeng Sua Ten will not prevent flooding downstream because it is too small and too far upriver from the Yom valley. That is the FAO's assessment.

Economically, the 12,000-million-baht Kaeng Sua Ten dam is not worth building. This information comes from the Thailand Development Research Institute.

The dam will destroy the country's last golden teak forests, the local eco-system and wildlife. It will also submerge many villages and small towns, causing much local suffering. This warning comes from the Thailand Research Fund.

Since some people do not understand the intangible values of nature and culture, let's talk money.

The estimated monetary returns from Kaeng Sua Ten over the next 50 years have been calculated at around 1,800 million baht. This estimate comes from the World Bank.

The returns from preserving the forests as sources of biodiversity, food supply, carbon sinks, eco-tourism and the local way of life, however, will be nearly 6,700 million baht. This assessment comes from the Institute of Good Governance for Social Development and the Environment.

The truth is that there are other ways to mitigate flooding in the Yom valley. The villagers' proposals are in tune with those from Naresuan University _ conserve the forests, build small dykes and reservoirs along the Yom's tributaries, dredge local canals and swamps, get rid of barriers to water runoff, and readjust housing to take into account seasonal flooding.

How will the government refute all this? With untruths _ the same way it did with last year's flood?

Building the Kaeng Sua Ten dam is a mad idea. Even crazier would be to think the villagers will take it lying down, that's for sure.


Sanitsuda Ekachai is Assistant Editor, Bangkok Post.

Sanitsuda Ekachai

Former editorial pages editor

Sanitsuda Ekachai is a former editorial pages editor, Bangkok Post. She writes on human rights, gender, and Thai Buddhism.

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