About the justice system

Village poisoned by lead mine wins legal case but after decades gets nothing. A microcosm of bigger problems.

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EDITORIAL: No end to the Klity horror (29/07/2011) 

Klity is only a small creek. The lead mine that poisoned it with toxic waste water is a relatively small mine. The village of the indigenous Karen forest dwellers who have been suffering from lead poisoning is also a small village of only about 80 families. Here is a straight-forward and relatively limited case of industrial pollution, and the Kanchanaburi Court has already ordered the company to pay compensation to sick villagers and to clean up the creek.

Yet nothing has happened.

Thirteen years after the Klity lead poisoning problem became public, and after eight years of legal battles, the 19km-long creek in the forest adjacent to Thung Yai-Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary is still contaminated with 10,000 tonnes of toxic residue. Despite the court order, both the lead mining company and the pollution control authorities have refused to clean up the creek, which is the village's main source of drinking water and fishing. Consequently, the villagers and their children continue to fall sick. Rubbing salt in the wound, health authorities have refused to treat the Klity folk for lead poisoning, saying it is useless while the environment remains toxic.

Meanwhile, not a single victim has received any financial compensation because the defendants continue to buy time by taking the matter to the Supreme Court. 

The implication is clear. Any industrialisation plans proposed by the incoming government or the private sector - including nuclear power plants - must be under serious public scrutiny. If the government cannot even handle limited industrial pollution such as this, what can it possibly do with bigger pollution disasters that involve more powerful industries.

The Klity predicament is actually a microcosm of the country's structural inadequacy to effect justice for the weak and the marginalised. To start with, the authorities' reluctance to punish the polluters reveals the dubious relationship between state regulators and businessmen. The lead mine has released toxic waste water into the creek for decades. Nothing was done. When the crime was exposed, the mine was fined only 2,000 baht. The problem is not with weak laws, but the authorities' use of the weakest law to help the polluters.

To salvage their community, the Klity folk must go through an extremely lengthy and costly court procedure that has drained their scarce resources. But at least they have received legal assistance from human rights groups. Most victims of pollution hazards elsewhere are not as fortunate. Unable to afford the long and expensive legal fight - which in itself is systemic injustice - they have no choice but to endure the abuse.

The Klity case also echoes the country's larger health problems caused by contamination of the environment with toxic chemicals. Yet, the health authorities refuse to tackle the sources of so many illnesses. In the case of Klity, doctors refuse to diagnose the symptoms as lead poisoning because they do not want to waste their time in court. They also fear defamation lawsuits from angry investors. Without testimony from medical experts, the victims have no chance fighting polluters who destroy their lives.

The Klity predicament also reflects ethnic discrimination. This denial of help goes unquestioned because they are viewed as "the other". Worse, they also face relocation threats due to prejudice against them as forest encroachers. Without moral outrage from the public to pressure authorities into action, the toxic residues will gradually move into the larger waterways, finally reaching Bangkok. By then it will be too late.

(Source: Bangkok Post, EDITORIAL, No end to the Klity horror, 29/07/2011, link) 

Social Justice Vocabulary

creek - a narrow stream; a very small river ลำธาร โกรกธารเล็กๆ

mine - a deep hole or tunnel dug under the ground to get some mineral such as gold, silver, lead or coal (See Wikipedia)
mining - the activity of digging a hole in the ground and getting minerals from the earth

lead - a soft grey and very heavy metal, used for weights (See Wikipedia)
lead mine - a mine to get the metal lead

lead poisoning - "a medical condition caused by increased levels of the heavy metal lead in the body. Lead interferes with a variety of body processes and is toxic to many organs and tissues including the heart, bones, intestines, kidneys, and reproductive and nervous systems. It interferes with the development of the nervous system and is therefore particularly toxic to children, causing potentially permanent learning and behavior disorders. Symptoms include abdominal pain, confusion, headache, anemia, irritability, and in severe cases seizures, coma, and death" (See Wikipedia)

pollution - dirty or poisonous (toxic) substances in the water, air or land that can cause health problems for people (See Wikipedia)
industrial pollution - pollution from a factory or mine (or some other place used to produce goods or raw materials)
hazard - a dangerous thing
pollution hazards - dangerous pollution (may have negative effect on people's health)
contaminated - made dirty, polluted or poisonous by the addition of a chemical, waste or infection

toxic - poisonous and harmful to people, animals or the environment เป็นพิษ (See Wikipedia)
toxic waste water - poisonous water (produced as part of a production process by mining or a factory, etc)
released toxic waste water - poisonous water from a factory, etc going out (into a river, creek, groundwater aquifer, etc)

residue - a small amount that remains after most has disappeared; the part that remains after the rest has gone away
toxic residue - small amounts of poison remaining or left over (from mining already finished)

indigenous - naturally existing in a place or country rather than arriving from another place เกี่ยวกับชนพื้นเมือง

ethnic group - a group of people who share a common language and culture, usually a smaller group within a much larger country or society (example: the Akha ethnic group is a small minority ethnic in Thailand that lives in the hills of Chiang Rai), "a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture (often including a shared religion) and an ideology that stresses common ancestry" (See Wikipedia)

the other - a person who is a part of a group that is considered outside of your group or society, the idea of the Other: "A person's definition of the 'Other' is part of what defines or even constitutes the self (in both a psychological and philosophical sense) and other phenomena and cultural units. It has been used in social science to understand the processes by which societies and groups exclude 'Others' whom they want to subordinate or who do not fit into their society. The concept of 'otherness' is also integral to the comprehending of a person, as people construct roles for themselves in relation to an 'other' as part of a process of reaction that is not necessarily related to stigmatization or condemnation. Othering is imperative to national identities, where practices of admittance and segregation can form and sustain boundaries and national character. Othering helps distinguish between home and away, the uncertain or certain. It often involves the demonization and dehumanization of groups, which further justifies attempts to civilize and exploit these 'inferior' others" (See Wikipedia)

Karen - a tribal ethnic group living in Thailand mainly in the forests around Mae Sot on the border with Burma, most of them live in Burma (See Wikipedia)

tribe (noun) - a traditional society existing outside of states (stateless people) of small villages, families and communities linked by social, economic, religious, or blood ties, with a common culture and dialect, typically having a recognized leader (See Wikipedia and Google Definitions)
tribal (adjective) - of or related to a "tribe" 

dwellers - people who live in a place
indigenous Karen forest dwellers - members of the tribal Karen ethnic group who live in the forest

discrimination - treating less fairly; the practice of treating someone or a particular group in society less fairly than others
ethnic discrimination - treating people from a smaller ethnic group less fairly people from people in the main ethnic group of the country

suffering - physical or mental pain or problems ความทุกข์ทรมาน

compensation - money that someone receives because something bad has happened to them เงินชดเชย
straight-forward - easy to understand and clear (because it is not complicated)

became public - when all the people in a country learn about something
adjacent - next to, next to or touching ติดกัน

court order - when a court of law orders someone to do something (must be backed up with law enforcement and police)
authorities - government officials;  the police or people in official organisations who have the legal power to make people obey laws or rules เจ้าหน้าที่ (ตำรวจ หรือผู้มีอำนาจ)
pollution control authorities - government agencies that act to control pollution (air, water, noise, garbage)

source - the place or person something comes from or starts at, or the cause of something ต้นกำเนิด, แหล่งกำเนิด
main source of drinking water - the place where they get most of the water that they drink

wound - an injury in which your skin or flesh is damaged บาดแผล บาดเจ็บ
rubbing salt in the wound - making it hurt even more (or: making an insult even larger)

environment - the natural world of land, sea, plants, and animals
remains - the body of a person or animal that has died ซากศพ

single - one only  
victim - someone who has been affected by a bad situation, such as an illness or an accident เหยื่อผู้เคราะห์ร้าย
not a single victim - no victim, not one victim, none of the victims

buy time - delay, do things to make some negative event happen later

matter - a situation, subject, affairs, piece of business which is being dealt with or considered เรื่อง, ภารกิจ, งาน
taking the matter to the Supreme Court - take the affairs (legal case) to the Supreme Court (which will decide on it)

implication - what a statement suggests or makes you believe, an additional meaning of a statement; the effect that an action or decision will have on something else in the future การเกี่ยวพัน,ความหมาย,ความเกี่ยวข้อง
The implication is clear - there is an additional meaning to what they said (that is very clear and easy to understand)

clear - easy to understand
proposed - suggested (but not yet chosen or decided upon), presented as a possible project

sector - a part of the economy ภาคเศรษฐกิจของประเทศ (public sector = government, private sector = all businesses, household sector = families and consumers, banking sector,...) (See Wikipedia)
power - energy in the form of electricity produced in large quantities and used to operate lights, machines, and heating
plants - factories

scrutiny - to look at and check very carefully to look for problems; careful and thorough examination การตรวจสอบอย่างละเอียด  การใคร่ครวญอย่างละเอียด
under public scrutiny - many people in society are looking at this carefully (checking it, looking for problems)

predicament
X is a microcosm of Y - X is a smaller version or example of larger problem or system Y

structural inadequacy - something about the way that something is built that is just not good enough

effect justice
the weak and the marginalised
justice - fairness in the way people are treated and dealt with (See Wikipedia) ความยุติธรรม

reluctance - not willing to do something ลังเล  ความไม่เต็มใจ,ความไม่สมัครใจ

dubious - questionable;  thought not to be completely true or not able to be trusted อย่างสงสัย

state - government รัฐ
regulators - the government agencies that make rules and laws and regulations for different industries (food, drugs, banking, transportation, commerce) and then check to see if they are being followed

decades - periods of ten years เป็นสิบๆปี
exposed - made known; uncovered เปิดเยต่อ

salvage - save at least part of something from something that is seriously damaged
community - the people living in one particular area ชุมชน
salvage their community - save part of their community (from disappearing, from ceasing to exist at all)

procedure - a way of doing something ขั้นตอนการดำเนินการ
court procedure - an official way of doing something using legal courts

drained - 1. use up, exhaust or finish something; 2. if you drain something, you remove the liquid from it, usually by pouring it away or allowing it to flow away รีดน้ำออก
scarce - limited, not enough for everyone (not easy to find or get) ขาดแคลน, ไม่เพียงพอ, หายาก
resources - things needed for proper functioning, to get a job done, to achieve goals (material, money, workers, equipment) ทรัพยากร ทรัพยากรที่มีอยู่ things needed for a person or organisation to function properly
drained scarce resources - use up or finish the limited resources you have (to solve a problem or do some project)

assistance - help (given to someone)
legal assistance - giving poor people help with their legal problems (poor people do not have enough money for expensive lawyers)
human rights - (See Wikipedia)
human rights groups - NGOs that help to protect the human rights of people

fortunate - lucky; good things happened to you
not as fortunate - bad things happened to them

rights - something you are legally or mtorally allowed to do or have สิทธิ์ (See Wikipedia)
human rights - basic rights that all people should have (entitled to these rights)

victims - people who are killed injured or harmed in some way from an accident, natural disaster, crime, etc.

afford - to have enough money to be able to pay for something มีเงินพอจับจ่าย ซื้อหา มีเงิน/ทุนพอ

systemic - affecting the whole system ซึ่งเป็นระบบ
injustice - failure to treat someone fairly and to respect their rights ความไม่ยุติธรรม
systemic injustice - injustice that affects the whole system (everyone in society)

choice - of very good quality หัวกะทิ, ชั้นหนึ่ง, ดีที่สุด
endure - to suffer something difficult or unpleasant in a patient way over a long period of time  อดทน อดทนเพื่อให้ผ่านเวลาหรือเหตุการณ์ที่เลวร้าย
abuse - cruel, violent or unfair treatment โหดเหี้ยม ทารุณ
endure the abuse - to quietly accept bad treatment over a long period of time (even though you are suffering) 
no choice but to endure the abuse -

X echoes Y - X shows signs of Y, you can see Y in X 

contamination - made dirty and dangerous to use or eat after exposure to dirt, germs, chermicals, or radiation
tackle a problem - to make an organised and determined attempt to deal with a problem จัดการกับปัญหา แก้ปัญหา

refuse - say you won't do something
refuse to tackle the problem - say you will not try to solve a problem (that is your responsibility)
refuse to diagnose the symptoms - will not say what disease the person has (based on what is happening in their body = symptoms)

diagnose - to find out what physical or mental problem someone has by examining them วินิจฉัย,ตรวจโรค
defamation - the offence of writing or saying something bad about someone that is not true and makes people have a bad opinion of them การใส่ร้าย

lawsuits - a case in a court of law to end a dispute between two people
testimony - a formal statement about something that you say, know or experienced, usually given to a court of law คำให้การ

medical experts - medical expert witness; providing an opinion on a medical issue used to make a decision in a legal case
witness - a person who provides information to a court of law to help it decide a legal case; usually is a person how actually saw certain events in the legal case happen (See Wikipedia)

expert witness - a witness with specialised knowledge and expertise in a subject (scientific, technical or other) who provides evidence to a court of law within the scope of his expertise (See Wikipedia)
have no chance to - have no opportunity to

predicament - difficult to solve problem 
X reflects Y - X shows Y, X is an example or instance of Y

deny help - not helping people when they ask for help 

relocation - the process of moving someone or something to a new place การย้ายที่ใหม่
prejudice - a dislike or hatred for a whole group of people for no good reason (for example: black people, people from Laos, hilltribe people) ความมีอคติ

moral - about what is right and wrong, about how people should behave
outrage - to cause to become extremely angry ทำให้โกรธแค้น
moral outrage - when people get angry after something morally wrong is done to them

pressure into action - trying to force someone to do something; when people are being pushed or forced to so something

waterways - rivers and other things like rivers (canals, streams, creeks, canals, etc); water roads or ways that you can travel along as you would travel along a road