9/23/06 WATER UNIT
Just finished speaking with some villagers who are organizers of the protests against the Pak Mun Dam. We stayed at the Thai Baan Research Center, which is working to document the ecological and other effects of the dam, as well as the local wisdom of the river people. Our exchange was very interesting this morning--I can only wonder if there is a place for these landless, self-sustaining people in the modern world; if 'old' and 'new' ways of life can be reconciled.
My bias has often been anti-development, but I am trying to see all sides of the issue. And frankly, I expected to travel to the developing world and witness development that truly makes people's lives better. I have seen nothing of the sort. The government and the private Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand have followed the Western development model to a "T." But they simply don't have the wisdom to do it right.
When we spoke with EGAT yesterday, we asked how they would have altered their design, had they known that they would have to open the dam's gates for 4 months/year to accommodate fish migrations. They responded: "Dams are beneficial for irrigation and people's well-being." We asked if they were looking into different sources of power, and they dutifully answered, "dams are effective in solving issues of flooding and droughts."
The Pak Mun Dam was intended to provide 136 MW of electricity, but it yields only about 40. It is built at the mouth of the Mun River, a short distance from the confluence with the mighty Mekong. The mouth of the river is the most fertile. Said Paw Somgiat at the research center, "When you close the mouth of the river, it's like you zip the mouth of the Isaan people; it's like you close the gate to Indochina. Moreover, the Mekong seasonally floods, meaning that the height differential above and below the Pak Mun dam isn't high enough to produce electricity.
The reservoir's irrigation canals go unused; farmers in the region rely on rainwater, and reservoir water is too salty. A fish ladder was installed based on those used for salmon in Washington state- but Mekong fish don't jump. And even the electricity the dam produces is unnecessary: the region already gets power from Laos.
But EGAT and the government persist, in homage to the global current of progress. Meanwhile, 7-8,000 families are displaced by this one dam among many in the Kong-Chi-Mun mega project. They have no more resources and no means of survival, so they are willing to die for the destruction of the dam. They have dedicated the last 10 years to their protests, and they have sometimes been violently repressed--their village burned and their brothers and sisters beaten. The children go to Bangkok for wage labor jobs, and families and communities are left broken. "We can't rely on politicians," they explained. "The only thing we can rely on is Nature."
I would expect that development would have winners and losers. But this dam is a clear and total failure. The World Commission on Dams has identified 6 dams in the world that should be deconstructed, and the (relatively new) Pak Mun is one of them. "We want the government to return our capital," said the villagers, referring to their natural resources. "We have wisdom; we know how to develop ourselves." But the power is not in their hands. I want so intensely to provide a forum for constructive dialogue between the decision makers and the people who they affect.
These trips helped me realize what the term "over-rapid develpoment" means. I think that development can be good--insofar as it represents the needs of people. When, in the rush to develop, we skip that step, when we fail to set up structures for communication, we fail to progress as a society. In fact, we step backwards.
Just finished speaking with some villagers who are organizers of the protests against the Pak Mun Dam. We stayed at the Thai Baan Research Center, which is working to document the ecological and other effects of the dam, as well as the local wisdom of the river people. Our exchange was very interesting this morning--I can only wonder if there is a place for these landless, self-sustaining people in the modern world; if 'old' and 'new' ways of life can be reconciled.
My bias has often been anti-development, but I am trying to see all sides of the issue. And frankly, I expected to travel to the developing world and witness development that truly makes people's lives better. I have seen nothing of the sort. The government and the private Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand have followed the Western development model to a "T." But they simply don't have the wisdom to do it right.
When we spoke with EGAT yesterday, we asked how they would have altered their design, had they known that they would have to open the dam's gates for 4 months/year to accommodate fish migrations. They responded: "Dams are beneficial for irrigation and people's well-being." We asked if they were looking into different sources of power, and they dutifully answered, "dams are effective in solving issues of flooding and droughts."
The Pak Mun Dam was intended to provide 136 MW of electricity, but it yields only about 40. It is built at the mouth of the Mun River, a short distance from the confluence with the mighty Mekong. The mouth of the river is the most fertile. Said Paw Somgiat at the research center, "When you close the mouth of the river, it's like you zip the mouth of the Isaan people; it's like you close the gate to Indochina. Moreover, the Mekong seasonally floods, meaning that the height differential above and below the Pak Mun dam isn't high enough to produce electricity.
The reservoir's irrigation canals go unused; farmers in the region rely on rainwater, and reservoir water is too salty. A fish ladder was installed based on those used for salmon in Washington state- but Mekong fish don't jump. And even the electricity the dam produces is unnecessary: the region already gets power from Laos.
But EGAT and the government persist, in homage to the global current of progress. Meanwhile, 7-8,000 families are displaced by this one dam among many in the Kong-Chi-Mun mega project. They have no more resources and no means of survival, so they are willing to die for the destruction of the dam. They have dedicated the last 10 years to their protests, and they have sometimes been violently repressed--their village burned and their brothers and sisters beaten. The children go to Bangkok for wage labor jobs, and families and communities are left broken. "We can't rely on politicians," they explained. "The only thing we can rely on is Nature."
I would expect that development would have winners and losers. But this dam is a clear and total failure. The World Commission on Dams has identified 6 dams in the world that should be deconstructed, and the (relatively new) Pak Mun is one of them. "We want the government to return our capital," said the villagers, referring to their natural resources. "We have wisdom; we know how to develop ourselves." But the power is not in their hands. I want so intensely to provide a forum for constructive dialogue between the decision makers and the people who they affect.
These trips helped me realize what the term "over-rapid develpoment" means. I think that development can be good--insofar as it represents the needs of people. When, in the rush to develop, we skip that step, when we fail to set up structures for communication, we fail to progress as a society. In fact, we step backwards.
posted by Darren Legge at 5:16 AM
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