Thailand

In November 2012, two women were found dead at the edge of a palm oil plantation. The death were understood as a clear warning to the Klong Sai Pattana village in Surat Thani, southern Thailand. The victims had spent the last four years fighting the Jiew Kang Jue Pattana Co. Ltd palm oil company in a land dispute that has engulfed this small community of around 70 families. For decades, Jiew Kang Jue Pattana Co. Ltd has illegally occupied and harvested palm oil trees on 168 hectares of land.

Launched by the Thai organization TERRA, this publication records the story of Mekong riparian communities from 25 sub-districts in 7 provinces of north-eastern Thailand (Isaan). It aims to bring to life the knowledge uniquely shaped by south-east Asia’s longest international river, the Mekong River. It illustrates the delicate complexity of the Mekong hydrology and sub-ecosystems and how these provide the basis of life and livelihoods to the people along the river. It also explores the local cultures and socioeconomic values attached to it with a hint of history and ways of life.

  Thailand's modern forest politics has had many phases. In the 19th century, the British began logging the country for teak. In the 20th century, other commercial loggers eventually took over. State agencies anxious to deny the forest to insurgent movements meanwhile promoted commercial agriculture and hydroelectric dams as well as timber extraction. In 1989, with the country's once-vast forests severely depleted, logging was officially banned.

เอเชียตะวันออกเฉียงใต้ : เชื่อมประสานประชาชนที่ต่อต้านโครงการลงทุนขนาดใหญ่และความริเริ่มด้านการอนุรักษ์ ฉบับที่ 229 - กุมภาพันธ์ / มีนาคม 2560

Different words, different sides

“The dams built on the Mekong mainstream and other rivers in the region have resulted in severe changes in the Mekong’s ecosystems, endangering life, livelihoods and the economy of the entire region. Indigenous peoples, women and children are most affected by these changes. The dams have also worsened the impacts of climate change that we are already facing.”

 Rivers Coalition in Cambodia (RCC) together with national and international organizations, insist to immediately stop all activities related to the construction of the Don Sahong Dam after the concession agreement was officially approved earlier this September in a unilateral decision by the Government of Laos.

Dear friends, Local communities in the Mekong region in Southeast Asia, who depend on the Mekong river and numerous other rivers and lakes for their livelihoods, need our urgent support. The dams already built on the main Mekong river and other rivers in the region have resulted in severe changes in these rivers, endangering life, livelihoods and the economy in the entire region.