What were soldiers armed with war weapons doing at a public hearing on a proposed sea port for transporting coal to a proposed coal-fired power plant in Krabi last week?
Their presence, together with a battalion of local police and "volunteers", hardly posed a welcoming gesture for people in what was supposed to be a public participatory exercise.
Residents opposing the project came armed with a poster denouncing the decision to build a coal-fired power plant in their province. Each of them also wore a face mask with a large red cross over it, apparently showing discontent that their voices made no difference in the authorities' decision.
The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) has proposed to build a 870MW power plant in the southern province to replace an existing 340MW fuel-oil plant.
Officials cited the current power consumption in southern Thailand at 2,600MW, exceeding the current generation capacity of 2,400MW, as the reason for the new plant.
To facilitate the transportation of imported coal from Indonesia, Australia and Africa for fuel, Egat also proposes to build a sea port in Nuea Khlong district of the province.
The problem, as opponents are quick to point out, is that the sea port and the sea lane for unloading and transporting coal are located in one of the most pristine marine areas of the country.
Krabi has long been known as a marine tourism paradise with extensive coral reefs, sea grass, mangroves and an abundance of aquatic species. The transportation route will pass near the world-famous Phi Phi Leh and Koh Lanta islands.
Nearby are Si Bo Ya Island and the Krabi estuary which has been declared a Ramsar site, a wetland of international importance, with its extensive network of mangrove forests.
Many residents earn their living as fishermen, depending on the fertility of the sea to sustain their families. For obvious reasons, they fear they will lose their livelihoods once the sea port and the power plant are built. Others fear their health and the environment will be put at risk just like what has happened in areas around Mae Moh power plant in Lampang.
But Egat and the Energy Ministry say the power plant will be installed with pollution-free clean coal technology and the sea port will be built with a closed system to ensure zero pollution to the sea from coal transportation.
The term "clean coal" raises an interesting point of discussion. Is there such a thing as "clean coal"? To me, it sounds more like a euphemism, a misnomer, doublespeak, something to mask its real meaning, which is what the conventional energy industry has been doing to perpetuate itself in recent years. Clean coal, clean oil, clean dams, clean nuclear.
A more pertinent question is why not renewable energy, why are fossil fuels always the first resort? I know the answer. I have heard it many times. The reason for not going down the renewable route, according to the authorities' energy experts, is that renewable energy cannot be relied on to supply energy in a consistent manner and on demand.
The sun does not shine all day and the wind blows erratically. That's the answer the energy experts have been giving us for years. And it has held the country back in terms of energy development while other countries with more far-sighted policy makers and planners have gone way far ahead.
Germany is the most prominent example. There, renewable energy use already exceeds 30% and is the biggest energy source in the power sector. But it's not just Germany. The trend is worldwide. Last year, new renewable energy plants with a combined capacity of 120,000MW have been built, amounting to 58% of all new power plants built, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)
In REthinking Energy: Towards a new power system, the first of its series of reports on energy, IRENA makes three astounding conclusions.
· Renewable energy has moved from the margins to the majority in both investment and new capacity additions.
· It now represents a major portion of the global power supply — and is growing at unprecedented scale.
· Financing renewables is becoming cheaper and easier.
So why do the energy authorities continue to give us lip service about renewables while pushing forward fossil fuels? I think I know the answer. It's not because renewables are not viable. It's because once small producers start building renewable power plants and people start putting solar panels on their rooftops, the monopoly of power production suddenly slips from their hands.
And there goes their power over consumers.
That's why they want to re-establish their power over us as soon and as firm as possible. And they figure the time is right to push their agenda under the more understanding military regime. However, even the military rulers cannot afford to ignore the true grassroots aspirations and concerns. You simply cannot keep the lid on the people's voices forever.
As modern soldiers they have to realise that the world has changed; even Thailand has changed. People now have their own ideas of what they want for their communities. The best way to deal with that is to address their concerns in a transparent and inclusive manner. Failing that, it's only a matter of time until discontent will turn into open defiance and worse.
Wasant Techawongtham is former news editor, Bangkok Post.