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Living River Siam
Living River Siam (Thai: โครงการแม่น้ำเพื่อชีวิต; formerly South East Asia Rivers Network, or SEARIN) is a Thai non-governmental organization (NGO) which analyzes the impact of Thailand's various dam projects and coordinates the research of indigenous peoples to give Thai villagers the power to document the influence of local rivers and dams. Founded in 1999, it gained prominence during the Pak Mun Dam study period in 2001, when it developed a method for instructing villagers on how to document the effects of the dammed river on their lives. When the Thai government proposed other dam sites, Living River Siam took its research methods to the villages surrounding those sites as well. Today, the organization works with other NGOs in Southeast Asia to counter government-sponsored research that encourages dam construction.
Living River Siam was launched on March 14, 1999, the International Rivers Day of Action, by a group of NGO workers and Thai academics. Its first action, on March 23, was to support an occupation of the Pak Mun Dam site by 5,000 villagers. The Pak Mun Dam, funded partially by the World Bank, was built in 1994 and slowly became the focus of national controversy. It received widespread complaints from Thai villagers and was the focus of the Assembly of the Poor's 99-day, 20,000-person protest in Bangkok in 1997. The dam generates 0.5 percent of Thailand's electric capacity; 40 percent of Thailand's total electric capacity goes unused on an everyday basis.
On June 16, 2001, the Thai government under Thaksin Shinawatra agreed to open the sluice gates of the Pak Mun Dam for four months to allow studies to be conducted on its social impact; this was later extended to 13 months. Coinciding with this agreement, the government announced that official studies would be conducted by Ubon Ratchathani University and a private team contracted by the National Economic and Social Development Board. The university received a budget of 10 million baht (roughly US$280,000), and the government contractors, alleged to be the same group that recommended damming another river, received 94 million baht (roughly US$2,700,000), raising suspicions. Villagers thought that outside academics would not be able to make an objective or accurate study of the river because they were unfamiliar with local fish migration and habitats.
In response, Living River Siam developed Ngan Wijai Thai Baan (งานวิจัยไทบ้าน), or "research by Thai villagers". This research is meant to circumvent the traditional approach to anthropological study by allowing villagers to investigate and document, in their own language and on their own terms, every aspect of their life on the river. The only function of the overseeing organization is to compile the villagers' data and publish it for others to read. Living River Siam refers to this in English as "Thai Baan research".
The Mun River research documented the spawning grounds, migration patterns, habitats, and preferred baits of 137 species of fish. Originally, there were 265 species in the river; 220 of these disappeared when the river was dammed, and only 92 reappeared when the sluice gates were opened, meaning that the diversity of the Mun ecosystem had already been severely reduced by the dam. There were 104 species that migrated between the Mekong and Mun rivers, meaning the dam endangered the Mekong's ecosystem as well. Thai villagers took photos of all the fish and counted the number of fish caught before and after the opening of the gates. Over 200 villagers volunteered for the study, and divided themselves up into groups to survey the sub-ecosystems of rapids, channels, eddies, small waterfalls, drinking wells, don islands, bok hin pools, khum pools, wang pools, huu holes, lhum hin stone pockets, kon shallows, kan underwater rapids, and luang fishing grounds.
The use of small and large fish in the local economy was analyzed. Researchers found that while the less common large fish are sold for profit, the diet of Pak Mun villagers consisted mostly of small fish which can be caught in both the wet and dry seasons. Small fish are eaten, sold, and traded with the hill peoples for rice.
The villages documented changes in their towns as a result of the opening of the sluice gates. Fishermen who had been forced to leave for the city returned to their homes, the increase in fish caused a boom in the rural economy, in fishing and tourism. Villagers were able to hold religious ceremonies in important riverside spaces.
The results of the Thai Baan research were supported by several academics, including Niti Pawakapan of Chulalongkorn University. The Ubon Ratchathani University study also recommended keeping the sluice gates open for at least five years. However, the Thai government rejected all of the studies for unclear reasons and instead conducted a three-day opinion poll of a random sample of Thais, after which it decided that the gates would stay closed for eight out of twelve months of the year. In 2007, Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont decided to close the gates permanently, citing an alleged secret agreement between thousands of villagers and the Internal Security Operations Command.
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Living River Siam
Living River Siam (Thai: โครงการแม่น้ำเพื่อชีวิต; formerly South East Asia Rivers Network, or SEARIN) is a Thai non-governmental organization (NGO) which analyzes the impact of Thailand's various dam projects and coordinates the research of indigenous peoples to give Thai villagers the power to document the influence of local rivers and dams. Founded in 1999, it gained prominence during the Pak Mun Dam study period in 2001, when it developed a method for instructing villagers on how to document the effects of the dammed river on their lives. When the Thai government proposed other dam sites, Living River Siam took its research methods to the villages surrounding those sites as well. Today, the organization works with other NGOs in Southeast Asia to counter government-sponsored research that encourages dam construction.
Living River Siam was launched on March 14, 1999, the International Rivers Day of Action, by a group of NGO workers and Thai academics. Its first action, on March 23, was to support an occupation of the Pak Mun Dam site by 5,000 villagers. The Pak Mun Dam, funded partially by the World Bank, was built in 1994 and slowly became the focus of national controversy. It received widespread complaints from Thai villagers and was the focus of the Assembly of the Poor's 99-day, 20,000-person protest in Bangkok in 1997. The dam generates 0.5 percent of Thailand's electric capacity; 40 percent of Thailand's total electric capacity goes unused on an everyday basis.
On June 16, 2001, the Thai government under Thaksin Shinawatra agreed to open the sluice gates of the Pak Mun Dam for four months to allow studies to be conducted on its social impact; this was later extended to 13 months. Coinciding with this agreement, the government announced that official studies would be conducted by Ubon Ratchathani University and a private team contracted by the National Economic and Social Development Board. The university received a budget of 10 million baht (roughly US$280,000), and the government contractors, alleged to be the same group that recommended damming another river, received 94 million baht (roughly US$2,700,000), raising suspicions. Villagers thought that outside academics would not be able to make an objective or accurate study of the river because they were unfamiliar with local fish migration and habitats.
In response, Living River Siam developed Ngan Wijai Thai Baan (งานวิจัยไทบ้าน), or "research by Thai villagers". This research is meant to circumvent the traditional approach to anthropological study by allowing villagers to investigate and document, in their own language and on their own terms, every aspect of their life on the river. The only function of the overseeing organization is to compile the villagers' data and publish it for others to read. Living River Siam refers to this in English as "Thai Baan research".
The Mun River research documented the spawning grounds, migration patterns, habitats, and preferred baits of 137 species of fish. Originally, there were 265 species in the river; 220 of these disappeared when the river was dammed, and only 92 reappeared when the sluice gates were opened, meaning that the diversity of the Mun ecosystem had already been severely reduced by the dam. There were 104 species that migrated between the Mekong and Mun rivers, meaning the dam endangered the Mekong's ecosystem as well. Thai villagers took photos of all the fish and counted the number of fish caught before and after the opening of the gates. Over 200 villagers volunteered for the study, and divided themselves up into groups to survey the sub-ecosystems of rapids, channels, eddies, small waterfalls, drinking wells, don islands, bok hin pools, khum pools, wang pools, huu holes, lhum hin stone pockets, kon shallows, kan underwater rapids, and luang fishing grounds.
The use of small and large fish in the local economy was analyzed. Researchers found that while the less common large fish are sold for profit, the diet of Pak Mun villagers consisted mostly of small fish which can be caught in both the wet and dry seasons. Small fish are eaten, sold, and traded with the hill peoples for rice.
The villages documented changes in their towns as a result of the opening of the sluice gates. Fishermen who had been forced to leave for the city returned to their homes, the increase in fish caused a boom in the rural economy, in fishing and tourism. Villagers were able to hold religious ceremonies in important riverside spaces.
The results of the Thai Baan research were supported by several academics, including Niti Pawakapan of Chulalongkorn University. The Ubon Ratchathani University study also recommended keeping the sluice gates open for at least five years. However, the Thai government rejected all of the studies for unclear reasons and instead conducted a three-day opinion poll of a random sample of Thais, after which it decided that the gates would stay closed for eight out of twelve months of the year. In 2007, Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont decided to close the gates permanently, citing an alleged secret agreement between thousands of villagers and the Internal Security Operations Command.