THAILAND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2003

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22 We used various methods to win acceptance from the public. We distributed pamphlets and organized meetings but it was difficult because the authorities tried to obstruct us. We approached local officials. We went to see local politicians. We gathered at the provincial office to submit our petition asking for a review of the project. But nothing happened. We asked to speak with the people in charge so we could tell them what would happen if they blocked the river. We organized some protests. We got nowhere. We weren’t allowed access to information. Not one local MP raised a hand to help us. Some people were arrested, and others were beaten – even elderly people. Thugs from other villages came to intimidate and hurt us. The community split into those for and against the dam. This conflict didn’t start within the community. It was brought from outside by people with power and money. When development arrived so did conflict, even within families. Villagers who used to support one other and live happily together had different ideas. Some wanted to protect their land and the natural surroundings while others wanted money. Some sold their land to speculators. – Mun river villager Then they started construction. When they dynamited the rapids we thought the Laotian army was invading. We knew the fish would disappear. We came to understand that the society was being fed bad information through the media. We had to expand our alliance beyond the local communities. We had to explain our problems to other people. We started going out to talk to people about our lives. This made us learn how to explain ourselves clearly. We felt we were being treated unfairly and taken advantage of. We gradually became more confident in our ability to talk to journalists, academics, NGOs, environmentalists, and fair-minded people from here and overseas. – Mun river villager After some protests, they gave us some compensation for the three years when we could not fish because of the construction. But they said there would be even more fish when the dam was complete. They would stock the area above the dam. They were building a fish ladder so fish could still swim up from the Mekong to breed. But when the dam was completed in 1994, many types of fish disappeared. We could not fish downstream from the dam Fish ladder at Pak Mun Dam. because strong currents damaged our equipment. We could not fish upstream because fish could not jump the fish ladder. People found they itched after bathing in the river. Sediment filled the cataracts. The river bank was covered by water hyacinth and giant weed. There used to be plenty of fish, crabs, natural cataracts, and food sources. But these things are gone. We can no longer fish. We have no chance THAILAND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2003 Photo credit: The Nation
to teach our children and grandchildren our heritage. Our culture and tradition has been swallowed just like the crabs and fish. This has created devastation, anger, hatred, and conflict. People will kill each other. How will our future generations live? How do we make the world understand about this destructiveness? Where is our old community and old way of life? Why did it disappear, and who has done this to us? – Mun river villager In 1995, we formed an alliance with those affected by dams all over the country, along with farmers, fishermen, and slumdwellers affected by other government projects. These groups came together under the Assembly of the Poor. 21 Through these networks, we learned that a large number of people were unfairly affected by “development”. These people also lost their livelihoods and their rightful access to natural resources. We came to realize that we could not rely on the bureaucracy. It was slow and never understood us. We had to prepare ourselves to negotiate with the government. We had to present our data well so that the government did not rely solely on the bureaucracy’s data. We organized activities in the villages, at the dam site, at the provincial offices, and around Government House. We practised non-violence and had to endure misunderstanding, criticisms, false accusations, distortion. Government still wouldn’t listen to us. Finally we came up with a new way to make the society understand our problems. We went back to the site of our old community, which had been taken over as part of the dam construction and which had been 21 The Assembly of the Poor was formed in December 1995 as an alliance of local networks all over the country. It compiled the demands of all these groups into one agenda, and brought representatives of all the local groups to Bangkok to present the agenda to government. THE COMMUNITIES’ VIEW A Pak Mun protester at the Democracy Monument in Bangkok. dynamited. We set up a new community and called it muban mae mun man yuen, Sustainable Mun Village. Villagers from other affected places came to join us. Villagers have no way to oppose state power except solidarity, resolution, endurance, and discipline. – Mun river villager At first we had been asking for compensation. After all, that was what other protests demanded. But in a brainstorming session, we came to realize that what we really wanted was to have the river back. So we asked that the dam gates be opened so that fish could swim up from the Mekong river to spawn as they used to. We also demanded the rehabilitation of the cataracts and islets that were destroyed during the construction. More and more groups came out to support us, both in Thailand and around the world. But still the authorities would not budge. We started a second Sustainable Mun Village at the electricity plant, but the dam staff got angry. We came to Bangkok to see the prime minister but many were arrested for climbing over the Government House fence. Finally the government agreed to open the dam gates for four months as an experiment. Photo credit: Bangkok Post 23
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Page 3 and 4: THAILAND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2
Page 5 and 6: His Excellency Thaksin Shinawatra P
Page 7 and 8: Mr. J.K. Robert England Resident Co
Page 9 and 10: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS UNDP Thailand wish
Page 12 and 13: x Empowerment is both a means and a
Page 14 and 15: xii Thailand’s experience with co
Page 16 and 17: xiv 4: COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT AT THE
Page 18 and 19: xvi CONTENTS Institutional Shifts I
Page 20 and 21: xviii CONTENTS PART II: MEASURING H
Page 22 and 23: 2 THAILAND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT
Page 24 and 25: 4 Thailand’s Central Plain is nat
Page 26 and 27: 6 Headman Wibun Khemchaloem has bec
Page 28 and 29: 8 to process and preserve agricultu
Page 30 and 31: 10 The bank charges a fee or intere
Page 32 and 33: 12 The Samrong canal links the Song
Page 34 and 35: 14 The idea to clean up the canal c
Page 36 and 37: 16 produced for our own use. We had
Page 38 and 39: Tree ordination - Karen’s belief
Page 40 and 41: 20 The Mun is the biggest river in
Page 44 and 45: 24 The World Commission on Dams 22
Page 46 and 47: 26 strategy to reduce the exposure
Page 48 and 49: This concern with urban growth and
Page 50 and 51: 30 Communities were now subordinate
Page 52 and 53: 32 The second stream of the NGO mov
Page 54 and 55: 34 “... As we are in the “globa
Page 56 and 57: 36 The Constitution enshrines many
Page 58 and 59: 38 potential to serve as another ch
Page 60 and 61: 40 The share of local government’
Page 62 and 63: The changes over the past decade in
Page 64 and 65: 44 Project proponents still view an
Page 66 and 67: Our fate is in the hands of both th
Page 68 and 69: 48 COMMUNITY SCHEMES FOR EMPOWERMEN
Page 70 and 71: 50 community activities in a northe
Page 72 and 73: 52 5. communities that have a good
Page 74 and 75: “Examine the problem and start wi
Page 76 and 77: 56 Not the Document but the Process
Page 78 and 79: 58 million for loans to municipal g
Page 80 and 81: 60 1. Capacity and Learning Develop
Page 82 and 83: 62 The HIV/AIDS pandemic prompted a
Page 84 and 85: The local communities’ view of th
Page 86 and 87: 66 The rapid deterioration of natur
Page 88 and 89: 68 Our idea of struggle is that far
Page 90 and 91: Providing funding directly to commu
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72 In the past we were made to thin
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The prospects for community empower
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76 dual roles as provider and nurtu
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The insight that community empowerm
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80 THAILAND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPOR
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82 THAILAND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPOR
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84 The result is a new composite in
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86 Another Endeavor to Measure Huma
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88 For some indicators, i.e. unempl
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90 1. Bangkok 2. Nakhon Pathom 3. N
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92 Special attention should be give
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94 deserve special attention. It sh
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96 4. Income Index Income represent
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98 It is also interesting to observ
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100 6. Family and Community Life In
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102 and Tak on the western border a
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104 Table 8. Five Best and Worst Pe
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106 Vote turnout (%) Table 9. The F
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108 Location Table 10 (continued) H
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110 Health Education Employment Inc
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112 HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX (HDI) W
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114 Table 12 (continued) HDI rank H
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116 the policy makers and the peopl
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118 THAILAND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPO
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120 GENDER-RELATED DEVELOPMENT INDE
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122 TABLE 1 - BASIC DATA Columns 1-
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124 Column 17 Technical Studies and
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DATA TABLES
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Table 1 Basic Data (Continued) Popu
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Table 1 Basic Data Location Udon Th
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Table 2 Health (Continued) Populati
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Table 2 Health (Continued) Udon Tha
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Table 3 Education (Continued) Udon
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Table 3 Education Quality of educat
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Table 4 Employment (Continued) Empl
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Table 4 Employment Employment 2001
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Table 5 Income (Continued) Househol
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Table 5 Income (Continued) Poverty
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Table 6 Housing and living conditio
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Table 7 Familiy and Community life
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Table 8 Transport and Communication
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Table 9 Participation Udon Thani 1,
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THAILAND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2003

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