Bangkok Post
January 16, 2003

The sluice gates of the Pak Moon dam in Ubon Ratchathani will stay open for only four months a year. The resolution is final and dam protesters must accept it, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said yesterday.

He said in Nonthaburi yesterday that the issue had been concluded and the government had nothing else to say. The state would do what it can to help the affected minority.

“You can’t bring the whole society to a standstill just because a handful of people are protesting. This must be understood. The nation must keep progressing. There must
be development. Lives must change,” Mr. Thaksin said.

Fair relief programmes for the affected people will be introduced. They will include compensation for land expropriation, more breeding grounds for fish and prawns for
the locals, and the building of more irrigation canals.

Although protesters vowed to continue demanding the permanent opening of the sluice gates, the prime minister made it clear that the government would not accept what was
not possible.

The decision on the four-month opening of the gates in the rainy season and their closure for the rest of the year was to serve the interests of the majority of villagers living
in the vicinity of the dam.

Border patrol police, the Second Army Region, administrative authorities and the National Statistical Office had found the common demand in their separate opinion surveys in the
area, said Mr. Thaksin. Energy Minister Pongthep Thepkanchana told a press conference at Government House that the National Statistical Office had sought the views of people affected by the project in Phibun Mangsahan, Khong Chiam and Sirinthorn districts of Ubon Ratchathani.

They carried out their poll between Dec. 24 and 26 and it covered 3,750 families.

He said 23.9% of the respondents agreed with the opening of the sluice gates between July and October. The percentage was the highest proportion of people showing a common view
and the survey of the statistical office was reliable, he said.

Of the respondents, 19.1% said they would accept any government decision, 13.7% wanted specific closing and opening hours, 12.4% made no comments, 7.5% wanted to see the gates open for eight months from April to November, 6.8% wanted their permanent closure,
6.6% their permanent opening, 5.5% a five-month opening between July and November, and 4.5% only during the fish breeding season.

Meanwhile, over 100 dam opponents who rallied in Bangkok yesterday refused to recognise the cabinet resolution.

Paolo Khamsawat, a staunch opponent, said the survey had been done only for three days and could not be as reliable as the one conducted by the Ubon Ratchathani University that
lasted for over an year and contradicted the statistical office’s findings.

The resolution was dictatorial, he said.

“The four-month opening is essential anyway or Ubon Ratchathani will be flooded,” he said. “Could the prime minister or Mr Pongthep survive if they had food for four months and then had to fast for eight months?”

Social advocate Dr Prawes Wasi said yesterday that the government should deal with the issue of natural resources very carefully. A wrong step would only lead to violence in
the future. The government should listen to the people as well, he said.