NCPO underestimates activists' strength

NCPO underestimates activists' strength

Protests like these in Rayong over industrial zone pollution now seem certain in the wake of the prime minister's new orders gutting community rights. (Photo by Tawatchai Kemgumnerd)
Protests like these in Rayong over industrial zone pollution now seem certain in the wake of the prime minister's new orders gutting community rights. (Photo by Tawatchai Kemgumnerd)

Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse, things get worse.

Lots of people were totally flummoxed when Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha recently issued two orders to practically annul town planning in favour of industrial development.

To do away with measures that aim to ensure orderly and prudent development seems senseless. Past experiences have shown what can happen when industrialisation is allowed to run wild. That's why we have industrial estates.

This is not saying industrial estates are wonderful creations. As we have witnessed many times in the past, the principles behind industrial estates have been twisted to lay waste to the surrounding environment and communities, such as those in Map Ta Phut.

But at least the struggle between development proponents and environmentalists took place within the confines of city and town planning.

The two orders--3/2559 and 4/2559--just trash that.

Gen Prayut's latest order 9/2559 makes even less sense, if that's possible.

It basically tells state developers, "You can go ahead with procuring contractors for your projects, but don't sign them up until the environmental and health impact studies are done."

The rationale behind this is that the procurement process normally takes between one and two years. The new order would accelerate the projects in question by that much time.

If I were a contractor, in good faith, I would look askance at this kind of arrangement. Too much trouble lies ahead and the unforeseen investment would be just too high. Under normal circumstances, it is hard to predict how long the EIA and EHIA process would take and what kind of additional conditions might be attached.

That would leave contractors with "good connections" and the willingness to deal with possible trouble to join the scheme. Under this scenario, the future does not look promising, and state developers might find that it could take just as much time or even longer to complete their projects because of increasing resentment and thus opposition.

But the bureaucrats and their co-conspirators in the private sector who are pushing this scheme are willing to bet that the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) would be around long enough to see to their success.

That brings us to the latest dramatic development in the ongoing constitution drafting process. I am referring, of course, to the cabinet's proposal to have a fully-appointed Senate with reserved seats for the top brass and their cronies.

This will ensure, despite the military regime's protestations to the contrary, that the NCPO will live on, even if under a different cloak, after the general election that presumably is planned for later next year.

No objections have been raised by the private sector. No surprise there. But it has raised environmentalists and civic activists' hackles, and a whole bunch of them have indicated that their patience is just about running out.

The junta may not see this as a major threat to their rule. After all, they have so far managed to put the activists in their place, having issued order after order to the detriment of the environment, without any repercussions.

The danger of the regime's complacency is that they are underestimating the strength of the environmental movement to raise opposition to their rule. With so much power in their hands, they figure they can bat around opponents with impunity, which so far they have done so quite comfortably.

But power can sometimes be illusory. It may not be too far-fetched to suggest that they have probably lost touch with reality.

The junta members may believe that the majority of people will understand that their trampling of human rights and the environment is for the best of the country, and that they have nothing to gain by staying in power.

The reality on the ground, however, may be a whole lot different. Leaving aside the resentment of red-shirt supporters of the previous government, many members of the yellow shirts have gradually come around to see the dark side of military rule.

A large number of rural folk, meanwhile, have suffered and will suffer from the consequences of unregulated and uncontrolled development.

As an illustration, recent tests of residents around the Chatree gold mine in Phichit conducted by Rangsit University have found a large number of them with high levels of manganese, arsenic and cyanide in their blood streams.

A few days ago, one of them, a 70-year-old man, Chuey Bunsong, died of complications of the liver.

He became the latest victim of what many believe to be contamination by the gold mining.

It has been reported that Order 9/2559 issued under the all-powerful Section 44 will benefit altogether 70 projects. They include rail projects, highway construction, two airports, two deep-sea ports, eight dams, and four power plants.

Several of these projects have encountered strenuous local opposition. The new order not only is unlikely to pacify the opponents but, on the contrary, will strengthen their resolve.

Will it lead to more confrontations? Very likely. Will it turn violent? Possibly. How will it end? Nobody knows.


Wasant Techawongtham is former news editor, Bangkok Post.

Wasant Techawongtham

Freelance Reporter

Freelance Reporter and Managing Editor of Milky Way Press.

Do you like the content of this article?
COMMENT (5)