Barkar Nash (Page 220)

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Communities along the Mekong River in four districts of Chiang Rai have expressed concern that their houses will eventually be inundated due to the construction of the Pak Beng Hydropower Project in Laos.

They are urging the government to halt a 29-year power purchase agreement inked by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) and the dam developer until their concerns are addressed.

This message was raised at a forum titled “Mekong Fair for Faith in Justice” held on Dec 9 in Chiang Rai. The event was attended by villagers, academics, local politicians and representatives from the Chinese Embassy in Thailand.

“We oppose the construction of the dam because, based on our research, our communities will be inundated. Our farmlands, our houses and our fishing livelihoods will be gone,” said Thongsuk Inthawong, former Ban Huai Luek village head in Wiang Kaen district.

He said Ban Huai Luek is about 315 metres above sea level. The Department of Water Resources reported the water level will reach 340m above sea level when the dam discharges water, so the village will end up submerged, he said.

Based on research from Chiang Mai University, the ecosystem will change as islets will disappear and fewer fish will populate the river, he said.

“Our fishing tools won’t be of any use in the future because there won’t be enough fish for us to catch,” he said.

Pak Beng Dam is a joint investment between Datang Overseas Investment of China and Gulf Energy Development of Thailand. It is located in Pak Beng district of Oudomxay province in Laos and is about 90km from the Chiang Rai border.

The dam, which started construction last year, will be the fourth-largest in the Mekong River in Laos. Most of the electricity it generates will be sold to Egat at 2.70 baht per unit, with power sales to commence in 2033.

Over the past seven years, local communities, academic and civil groups have opposed the construction and filed petitions to the authorities, but they have not received any responses.

“Our voices have never been heard by authorities. We are the group of people who will be affected by the dam in exchange for some benefits to some people,” said Manop Maneerat, the Ban Pak Ing Tai village head.

He wondered how Egat had signed the power purchasing agreement before conducting an environmental impact assessment (EIA).

“Who will take responsibility when our village is submerged?” he asked.

Transparency needed

Representatives of the Thai Mekong People’s Network from Eight Provinces, Save the Mekong group and the National Human Rights Commissioner (NHRC) surveyed the area along the river at Ban Sop Kok in Chiang Saen district on Sept 14-15 to hear feedback from locals.

They are concerned about the flood risk and the changes which the project will bring to their livelihoods and local ecology.

The team also joined a meeting attended by 60 participants including Egat, the Office of the National Water Resources, Energy Policy and Planning Office, the Department of Treaties and Legal Affairs, local authorities such as the Chiang Saen and Chiang Khong district chiefs, village heads and the Chiang Khong Conservation Group.

A representative from Egat said the agency made a power purchase agreement for the Pak Beng dam on Sept 13 to buy power for 29 years. The NHRC responded by submitting an urgent letter to the premier on Nov 2, asking for the power purchases to be delayed.

National Human Rights Commissioner Preeda Kongpaen said the villagers have the right to protect their communities, which have existed for a hundred years, under the constitution.

Montree Chantawong, an independent researcher who represents the Mekong Butterfly group, said the co-investment of the private sector between Thailand and China in the Pak Beng dam project helped speed up work after the project hit delays.

“The project’s transparency has been put in question as Egat made a power purchase agreement without carrying out an EIA on Thai territory,” he said.

Although they claimed the EIA had been completed, it was only carried out in Laos, he said. Communities in Thailand and Laos will both be affected by the project, Mr Montree said.

Mr Montree said the project also affected the security of Thailand as more land along the river will be lost to flooding.

“I urge that construction work be halted until the EIA is carried out in Thailand, and I ask the premier to suspend any power purchases until a conclusion is made,” he said.

Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn, a list-MP of the opposition Move Forward Party (MFP), said the dam will not only affect local people but also the price of power.

“Why is Egat rushing to sign this agreement before the work is completed, and why doesn’t it wait for the new national energy plan that will be introduced next year?

“If we pay for too much reserve electricity, it will lead to higher power costs and bills that people have to pay every month,” he said.

Asked about the possibility of cancelling the purchase contract, Mr Wiroj said well-rounded information must be submitted to the premier.

The party will also follow up on the new national energy plan and whether it matches the need for more power from the Pak Beng dam project. The matter could even result in a censure debate, he said.

He urged the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) and the Office of the Auditor General to join an investigation.

Surichai Wankaew, an emeritus professor from Chulalongkorn University, said Egat signing the contract without having first conducted a public hearing is the key problem.

The agency signed the contract to buy more power at a time when the country already has 69% of power in reserve, throwing the transparency of the project into doubt, he said.

Voice from China

Li Jijiang, a counsellor from the Political Division of the Chinese Embassy to Thailand, said the Mekong River originated from China where it is known as the Lancang River. It runs across Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

“We share the same river in this Mekong sub-region, so we have a tight relationship,” she said.

The Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) arrangement was founded in 2016 to boost development of the countries along the river.

Ms Li said the trade value between the Mekong sub-region countries and China hit US$510.17 billion last year, which was two times higher than the trade value seven years ago. China imported many farm products including durians, longans and coconuts.

Ms Li said China has accepted feedback from people living along the river who shared their concerns that having dams in Lancang caused drought along the lower areas of the river.

The Chinese government sent a team of water experts to work with the Mekong River Commission and found China was not the cause. She said one reason is climate change. A water measurement station was set up along the river to exchange information between China and Mekong sub-region countries.

“We built 11 dams in Lancang and along the Mekong to answer the drought problem. We discharge water during the dry season and store water during the rainy season. We focus on our good relationships with the countries along the Mekong because we drink from the same river,” said Ms Li.

Pianporn Deetes, regional campaign director of International Rivers, said Thailand cooperated with China to sign a power purchase deal, not only for the Pak Beng dams but also for the Pak Lai and Luang Prabang dams.

“Hydropower on the surface seems cheap and clean but in reality, we pay with the destruction of the environment, communities that are submerged, and the impact on the livelihoods of people.

“All Thais also carry the cost by paying the high price of power bills each month,” she said.

”We’d like to see that the governments of the Mekong countries are aware of these problems and that they take measures to jointly solve them based on the truth, knowledge and participation of the people.

“We hope to see a responsible electricity development plan be rolled out that treats communities, all people and the major investors fairly,” she said.

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Three members of a Si Sa Ket family, and one friend, have been charged with the brutal stabbing of the family patriarch, after he supposedly spoke to them too harshly.

Muang police nabbed the four for the murder of Sathaporn Jinkhamphanao, 48, a tour company operator, in his sleep.

The suspects stabbed him to death then dumped his body by the Haet Reservoir, where it was found later by locals. He had been stabbed in the neck and below the chest bone at least five times.

Police called in his family but when they started giving contradictory evidence split them up for questioning. Ultimately they confessed.

Sathaporn’s wife, Phuricha Promsopa, 51, stepdaughter Phettim Wangkul, 25, stepson Thanachok Phanikorn, 21, and a friend of the young man’s, identified as Peerapat (no surname given), 21, admitted stabbing the victim repeatedly until he was dead.

They say he had returned home from drinking on the night of Dec 8 and abused them, so they decided to get revenge.

News reports say his wife and stepdaughter admitted to the stabbing first; followed by the stepson, who implicated his mate. The stepson and stepdaughter are Ms Phuricha’s children from her first marriage.

Peerapat’s hand was injured as he helped the others hold down the victim’s body while they plunged in the knife. Mr Thanachok took him to hospital to get treated.

Reports say Peerapat initially denied taking part in the murder, claiming he was trying to help the victim, but later changed his testimony.

Police took stepson Mr Thanachok to retrieve the knife from the San Reservoir where he had tossed it.

Reports differ as to the role each played in subduing and killing the victim. The Daily News newspaper claimed the stepdaughter sat on his legs, and stepson sat on his body, while his wife and her son’s friend grabbed his hands. They stabbed him together, it said.

The Manager Online, however, says his wife held down his shoulders, while the stepson pinned down his legs. When Ms Phuricha’s hands started to hurt, her son called in his mate, who took over. The stepson, according to this account, straddled his body and stabbed him in the chest.

When the victim was dead they wrapped the body in a mattress, hauled it into their Nissan Almera, and took it to the reservoir where locals found it.

Police do not believe the murder was prompted merely by harsh words. The victim’s daughter by birth, Chonthicha Pannok, 22, from Nakhon Ratchasima, is just as sceptical.

She disputes the accused’s account that her father liked to pick fights. “He loved his wife dearly and acceded to her every wish,” she said, adding inheritance was a more likely motivating factor.

Sathaporn’s paternal grandmother had died recently, leaving him millions of baht, she said.

Ms Phuricha had tried to contact her before her father’s death, Ms Chonthicha was to find out later. She called an elder asking for her number, but he declined to give it.

Ms Chonthicha said she called back, but no one answered. Police charged the four with premeditated murder.

No keys to the ‘crime scene’

A man in Kamphaeng Phet who lured his mate to a fishing spot to kill him claims it was revenge after his friend molested his wife. The victim’s family, however, disputes it.

Provincial and Lan Krabue district police nabbed Atthaphong “Boonmee” Pumpuang, 29, for the Nov 30 fatal shooting of Chatchai Promchan, 31, close to Koh Loi park.

Mr Atthaphong admitted the killing after a local found the body and police realised he was the last person to see the victim alive.

He claims Chatchai lured his wife into his vehicle and molested her there. His wife told him about it later but for unexplained reasons they did not go to the police.

Mr Atthaphong said he kept his frustration bottled up for two months before deciding to lure his friend to a fishing spot in Lan Krabue district where he shot him in the face and head.

News reports say he left the body there and picked up his wife, who helped him dispose of the evidence, including the gun which they tossed into the water off Koh Loi.

A local found the body on Dec 5. The victim had been reported missing the day before, police said. They went to talk to his family and found the suspect had picked him up on Nov 30 to go fishing.

Dong Promchan, 70, the victim’s mother, said Mr Atthaphong picked up her son about 7pm and she didn’t see him again. She laid a complaint on Dec 4, and heard the next day that the body had been found at the waterway about 20km away from her home.

“I don’t believe the suspect’s story as my son was good looking and had an attractive partner (so wouldn’t be interested in women elsewhere),” she told reporters.

“Plenty of women liked the look of him,” she added.

Namoi Thongkam, 50, his elder sister, agrees, saying her brother’s car, the alleged scene of the crime, had been parked in the same spot for years as it was broken down.

She doubts the suspect could have gained access to the vehicle, which is overgrown with weeds and covered in dust.

“We can’t open the doors as no one has the key. I reckon drugs are the real reason behind my brother’s death,” she said.

Police haven’t said if they are pursuing the drugs angle in their probe. They charged Mr Atthaphong with premeditated murder.

Don’t they vet these people?

A conscript soldier in Samut Prakan who attacked a fellow conscript after an argument had four run-ins with the law over drugs and theft before entering the military, despite his young age.

Muang police nabbed Pvt Winai Chantararoj, 22, originally from Krabi, after he stabbed Pvt Boriwat Srirat, 21, originally from Yala, in his sleep. Both serve at the naval museum in Pak Nam.

Pvt Winai, who was conscripted two years ago and close to completing his service, took exception to a comment by Pvt Boriwat in response to taunts over his sexual preferences.

Pvt Winai, who admits he and Pvt Boriwat did not get along, learned that Pvt Boriwat had a boyfriend and claimed he had a secret preference for monks.

Pvt Boriwat, who was unhappy to hear this, responded: “So do you want trouble?”

The two argued before going their separate ways. Pvt Winai was still brooding over their argument when he started his shift later that day.

When he finished work at about 10pm he started drinking alone behind the soldiers’ sleeping quarters. Intent on getting revenge by stabbing Pvt Boriwat in his sleep, he grabbed a knife and sharpened it against a rock.

When the knife was ready he walked to the second storey of the barracks, only to find Pvt Boriwat was still awake and in the company of friends.

Pvt Winai went back outside and carried on drinking until shortly after midnight, when he went back upstairs to find Pvt Boriwat asleep.

One news report put it: “He saw his adversary was asleep, climbed over his body, and stabbed him once in the neck. Then he fled, tossing the knife.

“Pvt Winai tried to flee the museum, only to find an officer and a large number of privates (alerted to what he had done) were chasing him. So he took shelter in a guard’s booth close to the entrance.”

Police turned up and tried to persuade Pvt Winai to come out, without success, so they burst in and nabbed him.

A check of his background found he had been in trouble three times for ya ba offences, and one theft offence. He was charged with attempted premeditated murder, which he can now add to his rap sheet. Pvt Boriwat is recovering from his injuries.

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