The Save Andaman from Coal Network
As we’ve seen throughout history, when governments have failed to protect people from dangerous fossil fuel projects, citizens are forced to take desperate measures. Last month, Thai activists Prasitchai Nunuan and Akradej Chakjunda engaged in a two week long hunger strike, which only ended when Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha agreed to put the proposed 800 megawatt Krabi coal-fired power plant on hold and set up a joint committee with stakeholders to investigate the project.
Prasitchai Nunuan and Akradej Chakjunda are part of the Save Andaman from Coal Network, a coalition group working to protect Thailand’s southern coast, where local communities rely heavily on the Andaman Sea for their livelihoods. This includes a thriving tourism industry that draws on the region's famous, pristine beaches and which brought in an estimated $11 billion last year. Instead of a dirty coal plant, the Save Andaman group wants to see Krabi turned into a 100 percent clean energy province. But despite the danger a posed by coal, the government was prepared to allow the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) to start the bidding process for the coal-fired power plant and sea port before completing an environmental impact assessment. This spurred the network to take action.
Petitions circulated that challenged the coal plant, and community members traveled to Bangkok to protest the government’s position. However, not everyone was happy about the action. Prasitchai Nunuan reported that seven soldiers visited his home in an effort to intimidate his mother and put an end to the hunger strike and protests, and a similar visit to the home of another activist, Sitthipong Sangshet, was also reported.
Deputy Defense Minister and Army Chief General Udomdej Sitabutr has a different take on the visits, saying they were part of the Army’s peacekeeping responsibilities. He also suggested it would be inappropriate for anyone to use the protests to further a political agenda, and unbelievably claimed the proposed coal plant “would cause no environmental impact.”
This last assertion is particularly troubling, as it is well known that nothing can make a coal plant clean. It is also important to remember that the military has run Thailand since taking control and suspending the constitution after months of political unrest culminated in a bloodless coup on May 22, 2014. The country has lived under martial law ever since.
But Krabi isn’t the only place where communities are taking a stand against coal. Local residents in the Songkhla Province are fighting a massive 2,200 megawatt coal-fired power plant proposed for the Thepha District. Over 100 Tambons, or local government units, have signed a declaration opposing the project. Communities say the plant will devastate the organic food industry in an area where farmers and fishers refrain from using chemicals in accordance with Islamic halal regulations. They say the project will do little to provide jobs, only employing about 300 people, most of whom will be skilled engineers rather than local residents.
Last week, a public hearing on the Thepha coal plant took place under what media reports call “tight security.” Songkhla Governor Thamrong Charoenkul banned gatherings at the hearing, and 400 military, police officers, and defense volunteers were sent to the meeting. The hearing proceeded despite a petition calling on the Governor to step down as chair of the hearing and protests against the ban on gatherings. The final straw came when activists were not allowed to bring placards with them into the forum, and they boycotted the hearing.
The fight to protect Krabi and Thepha is far from over, but local people made it clear that they will not be silenced. They even forced the Prime Minister to make concessions to their demands. A larger movement is brewing, and it is clear that the people are willing to stand up to fossil fuel interests, despite the risk.