Pak Mun villagers vow to open dam gates themselves, no matter what.

Pak Mun villagers have deplored the government's dismissal of their suffering and vowed to open the dam themselves.

On July 11, about 30 Pak Mun villagers led by Somkiat Ponpai held a press conference in front of Government House.

According to their press release, the previous administration of Thaksin Shinawatra had distorted the findings of an Ubon Ratchathani University study that recommended year-round opening of the dam gates. Instead the government had agreed to open the gates for 4 months each year.  But the current administration argues that the gates must stay closed so that 20,000 people can benefit from irrigation, despite academic findings to the contrary.  The Pak Mun villagers' pleas for justice have gone unheeded, culminating in their forced eviction from Government House by the police on 10 July.

 

The villagers claim that the current government has made their problems worse, ignored their suffering, denied their democratic rights, and used authoritarian power under the pretext of majority rule.  They conclude that the military seizure of power last September was not for the people.  So they have vowed to open the dam gates themselves, no matter what risks they face.

 

Somkiat said that they had been working to save 4-500 baht each to come to Bangkok to ask for what had been promised to them by the Prime Minister and the Chief of the Council for National Security. But the highest authorities in the country had betrayed them, so they did not know who else to turn to.

 

"The government cannot solve the problem, and tells us to petition the provincial governor.  Is the governor more powerful than the government, and able solve a problem that the government cannot?  We are going back to tell our people that this government cannot solve the problem, and we have to work it out on our own," said Somkiat, stressing that this government was impotent.

 

When asked how they would solve their problems, Lamduan Seratong from Khong Chiam district, Ubon Ratchathani, replied that it was a big issue, and they had to go back and discuss before making further moves.

 

Late afternoon, all of the villagers went to Hua Lamphong station to catch a train back home.

 

Translated by Ponglert Pongwanan

 

Source: 
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