Sacrifice is such a noble word. It denotes high-mindedness, the act of giving up something treasured for another thing of a greater value.
The word sounds positive and enticing. But like all things in life, it has more than one dimension. It depends on whether you are the one who sacrifices or the person who benefits from the sacrifice being made by someone else.
We hear it all the time from proponents of development projects. "You should make a sacrifice for the good of the country, or for the good of the [other] people."
The "you" usually means poor, rural people who scrape by on the little land they have or from the environment that provides resources for them.
And the ones demanding sacrifices are often those sitting in air-conditioned rooms in big, important-looking buildings in Bangkok or other big cities.
"We are doing this for the benefit of all the people," they proclaim, ignoring the fact that "all the people" often means a handful of those who are already well-off.
Similar utterances have been heard thousands of times over the course of more than 60 years of Thailand's modernisation era.
During that period, thousands of people have been forced off their land; thousands more have lost their livelihoods; natural resources have been plundered; thousands fell sick or died because of a contaminated environment.
Thailand as a country seems to have prospered. A few have become super rich. But many more have become landless, their families broken, and millions remain mired in poverty.
In a few remaining pockets where people still live in relative peace and happiness, they have become more aware of the sinister impact of development.
They have learned development is not always "good". They don't want to fall into the same pit of misery that millions of others have fallen into.
As the military regime is struggling to improve its unimpressive economic performance, more sacrifices have been demanded from the people at great expense to the environment.
The Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) development project will see three eastern provinces "developed" into an industrial zone. There is not much doubt what will become of the three provinces when Map Ta Phut in Rayong provides a vivid development model. Nothing will ever be the same.
The southern seaboard is another contentious area of development. The economic elite, supported by the regime, are pushing hard to implement their plan in the face of strenuous local opposition.
Unfortunately, large numbers of people have fallen under the spell of state propaganda. They have been made to believe that the current development model is essential for economic progress, even though the most valuable fruit of this progress is shared by only a small minority.
They, too, demand that those affected by development projects make a "sacrifice" for the national good. They think those who refuse to budge are selfish by only considering themselves and their own livelihoods.
"Do you want to live in the Stone Age? Do you want to go back and use kerosene lamps if you don't allow the power plants to be built?" they ask.
But similar things can be said of these mostly city people who will benefit in one way or another from development.
"You are so selfish. Do you understand what others might have to go through so you can live more comfortably?"
Their lack of empathy, while not surprising, is contemptible.
Is it hard to understand why people would fret about their lives being changed forever, and not for the better?
Why should they be made to abandon the land of their birth, their livelihoods and the environment that has sustained them for generations for a project that will provide fleeting economic benefits?
Is it so hard to understand that people don't want pollution? They don't want to get sick or die from it, and they don't want it for their children.
There are plenty of examples of communities and lives that have been ruined by development promoted by irresponsible businesses and government agencies. Look at Mae Moh, Map Ta Phut, the Lower Klity Creek communities and areas around gold mines in Loei, Phichit, Phitsanulok and Phetchabun.
Power plant proponents say that their projects will bring both prosperity and jobs to local communities. As if the people in the South are in dire need of this so-called prosperity that will only end up ruining their lives.
The southern seas have provided them with nutrition and means for good livelihoods for generations.
Maybe they don't have enough money to buy themselves 100-million-baht mansions, Lamborghinis or Gucci bags and all the luxury stuff we see in gleaming showrooms in cities like Bangkok.
But they have enough to eat -- forever, if they protect the fertile environment they call home. That's more than millions of others without access to natural resources can say.
Sacrifice comes easier if proposed developments are compatible with locals' ways of life, friendly to the environment and genuinely sustainable.
Wasant Techawongtham is a former news editor, Bangkok Post.