The reign of the current government is not the perfect time for protesting. Anyone who raises voices against the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) might be summoned by the army for "attitude adjustment". Still, there are a few activists who dare to defy the military government -- among them is Somnuck Jongmeewasin.
Somnuck Jongmeewasin.
Somnuck is a lecturer on environmental management at Silpakorn University's International College. His face has frequently appeared in the media during the last two months, with local villagers protesting in Bangkok to pressure the government to repeal order 4/2559 by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha which was imposed by citing Section 44 of the interim charter early this year.
In essence, the order will allow some development, such as transportation and energy projects, to be built in locations without complying to legal town plans and land use ordinances. The order is one of the reasons that many civic groups, conservationists and local communities are up against the NCPO. Despite a tighter censorship grip, local communities, including Somnuck, showed up at the Administrative Court when a group of environmental lawyers came to sue the government over order 4/2559.
Somnuck, who is now 45 but looks much younger than his real age, insists he is not an activist, and certainly not a hot-headed one.
"I am not the type of radical activist who tries to bring down projects. I prefer to be called a coach who grooms conservationists. I do not like the word conservation because it sounds static and unchanging," said Somnuck, who is known for his polite yet outspoken personality and work approach. He nonchalantly said that he received a few calls from the army after he joined protests in Bangkok. The army, he added, does not appear threatening. His statement has a ring of truth about it. The conservationist looks more like an artist, with his ponytail and oversized streetwear. But the image can be deceiving. His background is in engineering. He had been working for over a decade as an auditing engineer for hard disk drives and electronic parts for manufacturers in Laem Chabang Industrial Estate. He quit his job in order to pursue a doctoral degree on architectural heritage at Silpakorn University.
"I look at myself as a creator of a movement and system that will help communities to participate with authorities in development projects," he said. Somnuck first took up activism in 2009, when he helped villagers in Na Klua district in Chon Buri province help protect the last mangrove forest in the Pattaya area. Somnuck looks on himself as a training coach who grooms villagers by giving them knowledge to run campaigns on protecting the environment or even negotiating with the authorities, not only protesting against the authorities. In 2011, he helped local fishermen negotiate with the Port Authority of Thailand (PAT) to stop Laem Chabang Phase III Deep Sea Port, and helped the local community launch an impact assessment to put to the authority. PAT and the local authority listened and let the local community give input into the design of the deep sea pier.
As an engineer, he was taught to believe that everything has a solution. But he believes the engineer's faith in solutions is not enough.
"Engineers are trained to believe that every problem can be solved," he said. "If there is a flood, then they will build concrete dams. If there is wind, they will build wind turbines to harness the tempest. But humans cannot conquer everything. Mother Nature can never be conquered."
His background in engineering, however, helps him see problems differently than other conservationists and NGOs who come from a naturalist background.
"Not all organic farming is good or without pollution and not all petrochemical factories are bad. There are always alternative solutions and there is always technology. But the problem in Thailand is that factories cut costs for profit and they rarely invest in pollution control technology."
In fact, in Thailand there are already legal mechanisms in place to protect local communities and the environment.
"Town planning and land use laws are initial safeguard mechanisms that will help developers choose and build projects in ecologically and socially appropriate locations. Meanwhile, environmental impact assessment regulations and public participation will make projects well equipped with environmental safeguard plans and infrastructures.
"Giving the public rights to participation in all development projects right from the start will guarantee projects will be well accepted by local communities and when getting built they will not run into local opposition."
The appropriate mechanism for that, he said, is the legal town plan, which is being undermined by order 4/2529.
"The local plan is not just legal code. It is a vision of the future that the authorities and local communities agreed upon. But order 4/2559 simply tears the collective apart. It will leave us without direction and it will only increase resistance within local communities," said Somnuck.
What is more fearful is the outcome from development policy that disregards diversity and the local character of social and ecological profiles.
"It is not that industry is bad but it will inevitably become so when it stays in a wrong place, against the town planning and land use code. It is understandable that local residents in Krabi province protested against the coal-fired power plant project when it will be built in an area which is a magnet for tourism."
Somnuck hopes the NCPO will become open to criticism and let local people voice their views on policy and draft charters. Without openness, the military government's works will not be able to win public trust and support.
"Development policy is not like a one-size-fits-all T-shirt. Each project needs to listen to people who will have to live with it and then be tailor-made according to size and specifications of individual places. But Prayut is trying to force every community to wear a one-size-fits-all T-shirt that he designed and cut, and he assumes that everyone will wear it."
Somnuck Jongmeewasin, right, wearing glasses, led the People's Network for Sustainable Development.
