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KNU welcomes mediation offer By: ACHARA ASHAYAGACHAT AND ANUCHA CHAROENPO Published: 25/03/2009 at 12:00 AM Newspaper section: News The Karen National Union has welcomed Thailand's offer to mediate a reconciliation with the Burmese government. But KNU vice-president David Tharckabaw yesterday stressed that success would depend on how sincere the Burmese junta was in restoring democracy. "It has been our policy to find a viable process that leads to justice and peace and durable stability for the Karen people," he said in a telephone interview from the Thai-Burmese border. "Therefore, we are open to Thailand's mediation role." On Sunday, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya told his Burmese counterpart Nyan Win that he was willing to hold talks with the Karen dissident group to persuade it to disarm and join the national reconciliation process in Burma. Nyan Win relayed the message to Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein. The Burmese premier agreed to the Thai offer during talks with Mr Kasit in the Burmese capital of Naypyidaw on Monday. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday said he was not aware of the plan unveiled by Mr Kasit and was waiting for a briefing from the minister. Mr Abhisit said the government supported attempts by the Burmese government on national reconciliation and the restoration of democracy. He said the position of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations was clear: It wanted to see all parties take part in Burmese elections set for next year. The KNU and Shan State Army are still waging an armed struggle for independence. They have rejected the junta's seven-step road map towards reconciliation which includes general elections. The 16 other ethnic nationalities, including the Mon and Karenni, have reached a temporary truce with Naypyidaw. Mr Kasit said he would approach Karen leaders himself. Mr Tharckabaw said there had been no official contact from Thai officials, but the mediator role was logical and possible. "The Burmese junta might think they can ask Thailand to convince or pressure us to surrender," he said. "But whatever steps Thailand [takes] will be watched by the international community." The success of the talks, he said, would not depend on Thai pressure but on how much the ruling State Peace and Development Council was willing to compromise in exchange. He said he could not predict if the talks could be concluded before the elections. "A few rounds of negotiations in Rangoon and border areas starting in 2005 have not led anywhere since the junta conditions are rigid and unrealistic," he said. "If they want to restart [the talks], this time the international situation has changed and the regime has to change accordingly." Mr Tharckabaw said there had been no democratic development in Burma. "Even proposals by ethnic groups who were designated to [sit in] the National Convention are rejected," he said. "Now various ethnic people do not trust the regime. The Mon or the Karenni have not written [a truce] agreement, either." I wonder what are reasons that Thailand offering to help the KNU negotiate with the State Peace and Development Council. Here's one reason: EGAT's 10 Billion US dollar Dam project on the Salween river. Salween Dams: A Dangerous Plan for Burma (pdf) Publishs by: EarthRights International (ERI) is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization (NGO) that combines the power of law and the power of people in defense of human rights and the environment, our earth rights. Earth rights are those rights that demonstrate the connection between human well-being and a sound environment, and include the right to a healthy environment, the right to speak out and act to protect the environment, and the right to participate in development decisions. The repressive military dictatorship in Burma, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the Thai government, and the Energy Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) are pushing ahead quickly and secretively with plans for a series of giant dams on the Nu/Salween/Thanlwin River. In addition, over one dozen dams are planned upstream in China. All of these dams, whether in Burma or upstream, pose serious environmental and social threats to downstream communities in Burma. The environmental consequences of the proposed dam projects will be vast and irreversible. The Salween River, known as the Nu River in China and the Thanlwin River in Burma, remains the longest river in all of mainland Southeast Asia that flows freely, uninterrupted by massive dams. The river basin area has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its rich biodiversity, rare wildlife and internationally recognized wetlands. Close to one hundred species of fish migrate between the Nu/Salween River and its tributaries, and forests lining the river are some of the most fertile in the world for growing teak trees. This extraordinary region is being threatened. If the Wei Gyi Dam is built, it will not only stop the river. The Karen and Karenni will lose their homeland, farmland... and culture. The dam will only support the regime, not the indigenous peoples of Burma. Link to PDF: http://www.earthrights.org/files/Burma%20Project/salween_dams_brochurea4.pdf The bottom line is, Thailand would not need the electric power from the Salween river Dams if there was a realistic Energy Development Plan that embraces energy efficiency & renewable energy. Earth Rights International Southeast Asia Office P.O. Box 123, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50202 Tel: 66-1-531-1256 E-mail: [email protected] www.EarthRights.org

http://www.firstsolar.com/product_overview.php Thailand Energy Development Plan Thailand-Strategies and practice not quite in alignment THE ENERGY SECTOR BKK Post, 12 June 08 CHRIS WEBBER Energy strategies in Thailand have traditionally reflected the country's economic goals set out in National Plans. For example, there were three main initiatives that made up Thailand's renewable energy (RE) strategy as published by the Energy Policy and Planning Office (EPPO) in the 2003 blueprint for Thailand to build a clean energy industry: FTo alleviate the strong reliance on fossil fuel-based power generation and the corresponding heavy national financial burden; FTo reduce greenhouse gas emissions; FTo set a clear mandate for biomass energy development so that domestic energy resources could be more fully utilised for the economic benefit of the local communities. In early 2003, EPPO introduced an objective to raise the amount of RE electricity generation from 0.5% to 8% by 2011. Thailand's national energy policy and development plan, published in 2006, reinforced the 2003 renewable energy strategy by promoting measures to reduce energy import from foreign countries and to support and promote the use of alternative energy. After more than four years, by mid-2007, the total RE generation had increased minimally to 1.7%. Why? The answer may be found in the data available from EPPO. EPPO statistics show that there has been a significant investment in coal-fired power generation, and slight decreases in the dependency on fuel oil and diesel, with modest reductions in hydro and lignite. Natural gas continues to represent the major share of fuel used for electricity generation with only a small drop from 72.4 % in 2003 to 66.8 % in 2007. Coal, unfortunately, has been greatly increased by a factor of 300%. Thailand's reliance on imported electricity also rose by 47% during this time frame. RE power generation, which is included in a category called "Other", increased from 1.0% to 1.7%, which really does not demonstrate a focused emphasis on achieving the desired result of 8% by 2011. This indicates that, in the past, RE generation has taken a back seat to the more traditional forms of fossil fuel generation. The dramatic 300% increase in coal utilisation, from 2.1% in 2003 to 8.4% in 2007, demonstrates a shifting of reliance from one fossil fuel to another and is not consistent with the stated RE strategy. Also, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand's (Egat) Power Development Plan 2007-2021 (PDP 2007) states that it is following edicts from the National Energy Policy Council to reduce the cost of power generation by developing more diversified fuel mixes. In the normal course, this would open the door for an accelerated programme to promote RE power generation. However, since 2005, the data reveals that Egat has been increasing the country's reliance on coal for electricity generation, despite the Ministry of Energy's strategy to reduce dependency on fossil fuel power generation, to cut energy imports from other countries and to lower greenhouse gas emissions. Recent articles in this newspaper, headlined "Egat seals Laos deals" and "Egat considers coal venture" also substantiate the concerted efforts of Egat to increase coal-fired generation. In the latter article, there is a reference to a prospective investment in mining operations in Indonesia. Furthermore, the PDP 2007 includes plans for the creation of four new coal-fired plants to be in operation in 2015-2017; to achieve this Egat is now engaging with coal producers in Indonesia, Vietnam and Australia for coal supply contracts. This is so, undoubtedly, due to coal currently being the less costly fossil fuel alternative. But let us not be deceived by the relatively lower costs of coal today. Coal prices, in recent years, have been increasing significantly and will only continue to do so. If Egat pursues the proposed transaction with Indonesia to source coal from Kalimantan or Sumatra, there will also be transportation charges which are escalating upwards due to the cost of fuel for the large container vessels. Furthermore, in today's coal markets, where China has an insatiable appetite to sustain industrial growth, most supply contracts are now shrinking from 10 years down to 3-5 years at the most. What happens when the contracts expire, when, like oil and gas, the price for coal becomes prohibitive? These plans for coal-fired generation appear to be a short-term solution to a much longer-term problem. With National Plans and a Ministry of Energy strategy to reduce fossil fuel dependencies, these coal initiatives are counter-indicative. Forecasting and planning for future generation demand are not easy tasks and renewable energy power generation has its own unique set of challenges, especially with respect to fuel supply security issues. However, with Thailand's rich agricultural base and many decades of experience with renewable energy technologies, it would be a shame if the country did not seize the opportunity to take a leadership role, in Southeast Asia, by maximising the use of available waste materials for electricity generation. There are positive signs that implementation of the RE strategy may be gaining traction. In the latter part of 2007, there was a dramatic increase in RE power generation contracts. This was primarily stimulated by the use of a subsidy for such generation (the "Adder") and by increasing the maximum sale of electricity from very small power producers (VSPPs) to 10 MW. Renewable energy power generation is now around 4.7% of total capacity in Thailand. As well, the new Minister of Energy, Lt-Gen Poonpirom Liptapanlop, has been placing more emphasis on renewable energy. In a recent newspaper article she stated that: "People need to realise that the fossil fuels they are using are scarce resources, and they are expensive." To that end the ministry has put together a renewable energy development plan aimed at strategically managing renewable energy power generation based on each province's specific capabilities to produce and use it. Offsetting these worthwhile initiatives are the fossil fuel substitution programmes referred to above where coal usage has been increasing at a far faster rate than for RE. Since the new energy minister is vigorously promoting an accelerated approach to renewable energy generation, she may also be planning to change the current emphasis on coal which was established by previous political regimes. If she does so, then strategy and practice will be more in alignment. Chris Webber is Research Associate, Institute for Development Policy and Management, The University of Manchester. ****Thailand needs to move quickly to RE power generation. If you place your PV solar order today (100MW) you probably going have to wait 3 to 4 years before you could take delivery.