Thailand-Environmental Justice & Human Rights

Bruce551 · July 6, 2009

Over the last four years, Korn-uma Pongnoi, Charoen Wat-aksorn's widow, has discovered the darker side of Thailand's judicial system

Published: 20/01/2009 at 12:00 AM

Newspaper section: Outlook

This must have been the umpteenth time she has come to Bangkok. Though the destinations have varied, the cause remains the same: To seek justice on behalf of her belated husband, Charoen Wat-aksorn, who was gunned down on June 21, 2004.

Following the verdict by the criminal court on December 30, 2008, a week later, on January 6, Korn-uma Pongnoi, aka Krarok, led about 160 villagers from Prachuap Khiri Khan to the Office of the Attorney-General on Ratchadaphisek road. They got a few winks of sleep while on the chartered buses, having left their homes the night before. By six o'clock in the morning the group had arrived at the state agency, but were made to wait a couple of hours more in the parking lot before officials showed up.

To them, this was all right. They had already waited for more than four years for the judicial machination to run its course; and the end is still nowhere in sight.

To most people, the court's decision to issue a death sentence on Thanu Hinkaew, one of five defendants, was considered a big victory. (The two gunmen had died while in detention.) Although Thanu's brother, Manote, a provincial councillor and their father, Jua, a former sub-district chief, were acquitted on the grounds of insufficient evidence, the court's verdict on Thanu seems to reassure the public that there is still justice in Thai society. So why would Krarok have to revisit the capital?

Her voice a bit tense and tired, Krarok explained how they had come to seek some clarification from the Attorney-General about the next step. Will they be able to go after Manote and Jua during the appeal? (The court did order for the detention of Jua until the appeal, but he was released on bail that same evening.) Will Thanu be granted bail also? Will the prosecutors be able to fill in the loopholes surrounding the investigation process as pointed out by the victimised party from the very beginning?

Will the real culprits - Krarok believes that the three defendants are only the "middlemen" working for layers of national and local figures whose business interests have been affected by Charoen's environmental campaigns - ever be put to justice?

On the day of the court's ruling, Krarok chose not to show up in court. She says she received many phone calls asking her if she was "satisfied" with the result.

"My personal feelings are not so much an issue as the need to keep a watch on the judicial process. The murder of Charoen reflects the structural violence in Thai society. We realise that it is probably impossible by now to get to the masterminds. We can't even punish every middleman involved. And if the one convicted still managed to get out on bail, how could the locals live by, in fear, with their safety always at stake?"

Krarok's crusade has been one-of-a-kind; she is among the very few who doggedly follow the judicial process.

In most other cases (between 1999 and 2005, 21 environmentalists were killed), the families and friends have been discouraged by the subsequent tedious and superficial investigation.

The killers were rarely caught, and when they were, the motives given were usually framed to be stemming from personal conflicts.

Often, the bereaved were prompted by circumstances to give up their quest and to take solace in the half-baked turn of events, as their tragedies soon faded from the public's memory.

The murder of Charoen was initially threatened to go down the same drain. But the people of Prachuap Khiri Khan are not the kind to stay complacent.

Several public rallies have been mobilised over the last four years, part of the goal is to send a message to the relevant authorities that this time, they are being watched by the people - closely.

Still, there are moments of frustrations and desolation. Krarok shared the agonies of having to face arrogance, indifference and/or ineptitude of concerned officers.

Some of the local senior police officers were said to be involved with the proponents of the aborted coal-fired power plant (one of whom, claims Krarok, even served as a mediator, once offering 20 million baht if Charoen would stop his campaigns against the project).

The Department of Special Investigation (DSI), which later took over the case following a huge march of 5,000 people at their office, did not seem to fare much better. A few crucial evidences have been glaringly overlooked; some possible connections cut off.

Krarok lamented that there has been no effort from the beginning to widen the scope of the investigation to look at the broader picture, to trace the transfer of money, the telephone conversations between key suspects, to name a few.

"We'd been aware of a huge ransom on Charoen's life before his death. But the approach of the investigators appeared to be deliberately designed to look at only some parts and ignore many other key elements. For example, they did not try to pursue the accomplice who gave signals to the gunmen to commit the murder, and another who tried to destroy the weapon. Nor did they take into account the testimonies by some witnesses that there could be more than two gunmen or the evidence that would pin down the fourth defendant [Manote]. I understand how the court has been restrained by the collected evidences."

And when it came to the trial process, Krarok has to deal with another set of hurdles: The dragging-of-feet tactics. Krarok recalled how often they had to leave their homes in Prachuap Khiri Khan at eight in the evening, took a nap at some gas station on their way to Bangkok, waited for the court to begin its hearing, only to learn that some key witnesses (usually government officers) had declined to show up on that day.

Interestingly, the defendants adopted a similar ploy. After more than four years, in the end, only one, Thanu, and two of their witnesses (in contrast to the 30 witnesses for the prosecution) testified to the court. Krarok interpreted this as a demonstration of the suspects' confidence that they would eventually be let go scot-free.

In between were the frequent changes in the composition of the prosecutors and judges. Worse, there were problems of attitudes. According to Krarok, one of the prosecutors tasked with the murder case had previously filed charges against Charoen and his friends during their protests against the power plant project. (Krarok herself has also been strapped with several charges in both civil and criminal courts due to her environmental campaigns.)

The same prosecutor, Krarok added, later gave an interview where he revealed his questionable views toward the deceased - that Charoen "deserved to die" for he did nothing but protest and then had a business.

Few would realise that both Charoen and Krarok had lost their job as a result of joining the protests against the two power plant projects. Krarok recalled how their boss expressed his dissatisfaction and warned the couple: "You are only little sticks; there is no use to try to oppose the big sticks [people]." The couple's house was also partly damaged by arson. For two years, at the height of the confrontations, due to safety reasons, the couple had to stay at Wat Si Yaek Bo Nok, where Charoen's brother is an abbot.

Later, news broke out that some whales and dolphins had been spotted in the area, a long-known phenomenon that contradicted the environmental impact assessment report commissioned by the power plant company (it claimed that there was no marine life of economic or biological value in that part of the sea). With the flocks of journalists and visitors, the idea of building accommodations sprouted. According to Chainarong Wongsasithorn, a core member of the Rak Bo Nok conservation group, some villagers saw the couple had dedicated themselves to the public cause at their own expense; they thus raised funds and lent them the money with no interest to build the first bungalows, which became the family-run resort called Khrua Chomwan (Whale-spotting Kitchen).

It was here the protesters mustered their united force to the public - 20,000 showed up when former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra paid a visit; shortly afterwards he issued a historic announcement to postpone the two power plant projects.

Such communal ties are probably what has sustained Krarok over the years. Underneath her strong-willed look, the 30-something woman admitted the overwhelming sense of despondency - less from the death of her beloved than from the disillusionment in the judicial system.

"It may appear a lot of attention has been given to Charoen's case. At first, it looked like the DSI might be able to double-check and balance the investigations by the [local] police, and the prosecutors with the DSI's works. But now I have come to the realisation that everything remains the same, that the judicial system might serve to 'launder' the wrong-doers.

"Every time I went to [bangkok to] follow up on Charoen's case, I couldn't help but feel as if I had been exploited again and again. Sometimes, right after walking out of the court's hearing, I had to go throw up immediately. Every now and then, I had to stop on the way back to Prachuap, to stay in a [provincial] hospital before I could carry on.

"This is not only about a wife searching for justice for her dead husband. I believe that there are many such cases in our country which have had worse experiences with the judicial system. I wish that what I am doing may inspire other victims. I know I cannot bring Charoen back to life, but I want the truth. And I want them [culprits] to repent what they did."

Sat, 2009-06-27 00:52

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Friday, July 03, 2009

We're not sheep, we're citizens

Posted by Sanitsuda Ekachai , Reader : 913 , 02:45:38

It is not about anger. It is about anguish and disillusionment. It is about a country where small people have to pay with their blood, sweat and tears for the boon which the ruling elite of all sides want to grab.

It is also about a wife's determination not to let hopelessness swallow her up in a sea of grief when her husband was gunned down five years ago, but to continue living his dream.

Korn-uma Pongnoi's painful speech in memory of her late husband Charoen Wat-aksorn's death needs to be heard. For those who read Thai, go to http://www.prachatai.com/journal/2009/06/24863

For those who do not, here are edited excerpts. The translation cannot fully convey Korn-uma's fiery spirit, particularly when she tore down the hierarchical barrier by addressing the powerful as mueng. But the message still rings true:

"We're here in front of Charoen Wat-aksorn's monument, the symbol of the ongoing struggle of us commoners across the land for the love of our home communities. We're here to declare the determination of people who share our Bo Nok and Ban Krut brothers' and sisters' fate.

"What is our fate? It is a situation when we the majority end up marginalised, branded as the minority, and forced to sacrifice for the so-called larger good of the nation. But whose nation?

"In numbers, we are the majority. But we're exploited by the powerful few at the top of the power pyramid, all connected in the web of the wealthy and the politically powerful.

"What Charoen and the villagers' movement in Prachuap and other places has done is to stand up and directly confront the development projects which would destroy our communities. We're fighting against the mantra that there are losses and gains in development. The real question is who loses and who gains?

"Is it fair that the rich continue to be filthy rich while the poor continue to bleed to death? Your side gains, ours loses.

"The government told us to see the big picture. It is junk talk. Fact is, we ordinary villagers are firm in our conscience to protect our dignity and livelihoods. We cannot afford the helicopter to see the big picture from the sky.

We only have one weapon: human rights and community rights. For us, community rights translates as 'our home', and human rights is simply equal to 'you're a human being, I'm a human being' (mueng kor khon, ku kor khon).

"The state says all are equal under the law, which is not true.

In Rayong, the investors' land reclaim has destroyed the fishermen's livelihoods and subjected them to toxic pollution. In Pran Buri, the fishermen cannot even set up shacks to keep fishing nets. No way for them to land rights. Only arrests. Where is community rights?

"Do you understand our pain when we say this is our home?

"Five years after Charoen's death, our tears have dried up from the waiting in vain to see justice done. But our eyes are opened; we just cannot hope for justice in this land.

The police said: 'It's good that he died. Such a trouble-maker.' Some judges kept repeating 'the country needs development'.

"These negative attitudes are part of the oppressive system which erodes our rights as equal human beings. They see us as a herd of sheep. They think if they can get rid of the shepherd, the herd will disperse.

"But we are still standing here. And our ideology, our love for our home communities is spreading. Nearly 10 years have passed since our fight against the power plant, we're still speaking about the same old thing. And the villagers are still facing the same old problems.

"To make it easier for the state to understand us, let's make it clear what we mean. Community rights means baan ku [our home]. And we're here to show that we're not a herd of sheep. We are citizens. We're ready to stand up. We're the majority. And we won't let others determine our life."

Â :roll:

Admin_2 · July 6, 2009

It's the way that things are here and in many other parts of the world. Money equals power.

If someone stands in the way of a large business deal, it doesn't cost much to cut that person down. If you are in the right position, you don't have to worry about the consequences of those actions.

Chatty · July 6, 2009

I have heard about this situation long long time ago. When I went to Baan Krude I saw big posters to protest Gov. project. Dad and mom and I did agree with them. That place was so beautiful, so pure...I don't wanna see it will be destroyed by something that called "Development"

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