We have ventured to foreign lands. We have seen creatures unlike any other (men wearing speedos and eating spaghetti). We have bruises (from stepping on rocks) and burns (sun burns) that show the depth of our experiences. Some may call us modern day pirates (minus all the crime and actually owning a boat), but we (mainly me) call ourselves modern day Robin Hoods (minus the stealing and giving anything to people).
ERS started the week early. At 8 am on Monday morning, we all piled onto buses and began our trip to two villages in two days, Mae Moh and Ban Haeng. Both villages are dealing with coal mining at different degrees.
In about two hours we arrived at Mae Moh community center and met P'Maliwan Nakwirot. She is a part of one of the 20 villages that were pushed off their land by the company EGAT and the Thai government, so a coal mine and power plant could be developed. After the resettlement, P'Maliwan began to organize the 20 communities and sue the company in efforts to get better compensation for the negative health effects that come with living close to the mine. She also works to educate other communities about what happens when a coal mine is built on top of your home. P'Maliwan is very passionate and exceptionally strong.
We saw the coal mine, and let me tell you, it is bigger than you could imagine. I had never seen a mine in real life and this took my breath away. The size of the mine reminded me of what downtown Albuquerque looks like from up at the foothills of the mountains, near my grandma's old house.
We could smell the strong aroma of coal dust and engine exhaust immediately after exiting the bus. Luckily, the smell wasn't as strong in the resettled village, but there was still a damp smell of coal, even with the five minute drive from the mine.
The coal dust is having a major negative health impact on the villagers. There has been 160 cases of respiratory issues, but only those who are able to get a doctor to sign a health certificate can get health compensation. The problem is, the villagers have to travel a couple of hours and pay to see the one doctor that feels comfortable enough going against EGAT. That one doctor has even had to move because of the threats by the company. Thus, very few people have been able to receive that certificate.
We traveled with P'Maliwan to the other side of the mine. There is a golf course my dad would be impressed with, swings made of wood, beautiful greenery, and a pond with fish that nibble at your fingers. These things are built on the soil that was suppose to go back in the mine, but the company did not follow through with that demand. Instead, they created a tourist hotspot. It is simply too easy to forget people's lives have been uplifted and health has been damaged by this company's project. Imagine all the money that could have been spent on the villagers, to protect them and help with the major difficulties that come with being resettled, spent on ways for EGAT to make even more money.
P'Maliwan holds her head up high. Though the people she is fighting against have in a way already won; and they have higher education, more money, and more political clout, that doesn't mean there is no reason to continue to fight.
"We've graduated from every degree because of our experiences."
--P'Maliwan, after being asked if more education is necessary to continue the fight against EGAT.
I hadn't realized the fight for fairness continues even after your home has been taken. I had figured that if you are resettled it is then time to figure out your new life, but P'Maliwan showed me that even if the worse has happened to you, you can still fight for some degree of justice. What is more, you can educate those around you; so if a similar situation could arise for them, they have some knowledge of what works and what could happen.
P'Maliwan is a version of Robin Hood. She takes the lessons and hidden strategies the company has used against her village, and gives them to other villages that could be exposed to the same circumstances.
After P'Maliwan had answered all of our questions, we packed ourselves back onto the buses and headed another hour or so to Ban Haeng.
The community of Ban Haeng are fighting the company Yellow from taking their land for a coal mine. Those in the community who do not want the mine have joined together and sued the company nine times. Six of their cases have been won, and the other three are still in the process.
They community utilizes the spider web method, which means they have broken the land the company wants into pieces and found different reasons why the mine cannot be built on that land. This method has proven to work. The company began wanting 2000 rai, about 790 acres, and now they are down to only 200.
We rode on the back of tractors through the 2000 rai that would have been turned into a mine. There were beautiful farm fields with tapioca, corn, red beans, and eucalyptus and teak trees. These lands had, and still have, the possibility of being destroyed, and along with the land, the farmers' livelihoods. They would be pushed to a smaller part of land, farther away.
Though difficulties continue to come, the villagers believe they can stop the mine from happening. They have not stopped fighting and trying to make that spider web too small for even a fly to get stuck on.
We said goodbye and traveled back to Chiang Mai. We were all tired, but it was a good tired, a well deserved tired. A full of new knowledge and new frustrations, tired.
The rest of the week went by quickly. When Friday rolled around, Hom, Angela and I packed our bags and headed to the airport for a weekend vacation south, to Krabi.
I wrote that so casual, right? Not like it is my first adult vacation! I'm telling you, I'm a traveling "fiend," as my dad would say.
We stayed at an Airbnb about 30 minutes from downtown Krabi, in Ao Nang.
On Saturday, we got up early and were picked up by a bus to take us to the beach for a four island tour of the Phi Phi Islands. By speed boat, we spent the day riding the waves. We swam in the water, walked on white sand, and snorkeled. I saw a shark while I was snorkeling. It was terrifying.
I had never seen coral in its natural habitat, and I wonder if more people did, if policies would be made to stop ocean acidification. Probably not, as that would require lifestyle changes for many people.
They were busy destinations, filed with boats releasing gas into the air and ocean. My environmental bones were a little disappointed in me for taking a plane and then riding a boat to see environments that were once not filled with people and shops.
As horrible as it all seems in an environmental instance, we ate ice cream everyday and I saw that some people depend on tourists for their livelihoods.
Also, the water is beautiful.
We left Krabi sunburnt and happy to have been able to lay on a Thai beach.
I can't believe it has already been a month in Thailand. I have memorized three Thai phrases, Hello, Thank you, and Sorry. By month two I will try to learn three more: Modern day pirates, put pants on, and I'm not stealing from you.
Be well,
Annika
P.S. Happy birthday, Mom!!