The right of citizens and communities to protect the environment against harmful development projects is now back in the draft constitution, thanks to fierce pressure by civil society nationwide. So people can relax now, right? Not a chance.
Face it. The military regime is in it for the long haul. Their diktats are the ultimate rules of the land. The community rights clause in the draft will be of no help because it has also been heavily diluted, turning active citizens and communities into state vassals.
Since the beginning of this year, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has issued a series of orders under the special powers of Section 44 in the interim charter to eliminate legal obstruction and fast-track mega projects. First it was an order to bypass land-zoning laws to speed up the government's project to create special economic zones in 10 border provinces, which also faces fierce opposition from locals. That was in January.
Grassroots and civic groups cried foul. But who cares? On March 30, the junta issued its latest order to expand the scope and number of energy projects that can bypass land-zoning laws. The powerful power-generating authority Egat will be the main beneficiary. The order facilitates nearly 30 megaprojects including Egat's hydroelectric dams in forests and coal-fired power plants in green areas.
Among them are the highly controversial Mae Wong dam in Nakhon Sawan and Mae Khan dam in Chiang Mai which will destroy protected forests and wildlife habitats. The coal-fired power plants in Krabi and Songkhla's Thepa district which face fierce local opposition also benefit from the regime's land use nod.
The order is in support of the National Energy Policy Council's Power Development Plan (PDP 2015) which aims to double Thailand's energy capacity in the next two decades to reach 70,410 megawatts by 2036.
The plan has also faced criticism. For starters, it sets the available surplus of unused energy at a minimum of 15% and with no ceiling, which far exceeds the country's real needs. The reserve margin in some years is set as high as 39%, says environmentalist Pianporn Deetes.
"This leads to a critical question: why does Thailand need to have so many new power plants -- including coal-fired, hydroelectric dams and even nuclear plants -- when we are not going to use almost half of the energy available?" she asked.
Her question falls on deaf ears.
If anyone wants to raise hell, however, they should take note that just one day before the diktat in favour of big dams and coal-fired power plants came about, the NCPO on March 29 had issued the 13/2559 order to give soldiers full power to arrest anyone suspected of having "mafia" links without a warrant and to detain them at will.
According to the order, the "mafia" are not only people suspected of being involved with drugs, gambling and illegal weapons, but also those engaging in activities that "undermine the economy and social orderliness".
This order can be easily interpreted to cover community leaders who oppose state development schemes, said human rights lawyer Sor Ratanamanee Polkla. The regime did not waste time in proving her right. Immediately after the March 29 order, two grassroots activists were arrested on mafia charges.
The big irony here: the same day the regime gave soldiers free rein to arrest and detain people, the Constitution Drafting Committee delivered the final draft of what is supposed to be the highest law of the land to the military government.
For one thing, there is no way that draft could protect people who take a stand to safeguard the environment and their sources of livelihood.
Allow me to give you some history. The community rights clause in the so-called 1997 people's charter did not come from thin air.
It emerged from decades of violent conflicts between local communities and the officialdom. State agencies wrote draconian laws to give themselves ownership over forests, state land and waterways, ripping locals of their rights as the original dwellers prior to those laws.
Then state authorities wanted to kick local residents out to make way for tree farms, all sorts of mines, deep seaports and hydroelectric dams, to name just a few. The mandarins often used armed soldiers to evict the villagers, leading to violent conflicts.
To resolve the conflicts, community rights to co-manage local natural resources were institutionalised in the 1997 and 2007 charters. Locals had the right to reject schemes that could destroy their environment and sources of livelihood. The rules for public hearings and environment and health impact assessments were set.
Still the officialdom kept pushing while refusing to amend their laws to respect community rights, defying the highest law of the land with impunity. Meanwhile, public hearings were manipulated to support investors, as were environment and health impact assessments.
Civilian governments were no saints either. They also supported those megaprojects.
But when such harmful projects reared their ugly heads during their rule, communities would use their constitutional rights to oppose them, forcing civilian governments to retreat because they did not dare trigger community wrath that could damage their local support as well as their international image.
That is now history.
At first, the Charter Drafting Committee wanted to delete the community rights clause altogether. In the face of fierce criticism, the CDC promised change, but it left people feeling cheated.
Citizens and communities, it says, can manage, nurture and make use of natural resources and biodiversity in a sustainable manner, but it must be done in accordance with the methods prescribed by law.
What if the laws are unfair? What if authorities want to press ahead with top-down projects regardless of environmental harm and local grievances?
The former right to oppose harmful projects has been reduced to the right to "make recommendations" to the government about the projects that concern them and to receive the answer promptly.
Mind you, the draft has been written in such a way that makes any amendment nearly impossible. But what it says or does not say does not really matter while the country is run by military orders which can bypass any law or judicial process.
Will these military orders will be revoked after the general election next year? My suggestion is we should not fool ourselves.
Any meaningful change in this country would require administrative decentralisation allowing locals to take charge of their lives and natural resources. But the country is heading towards a firmer grip of central control and military suppression.
The writing is on the wall. Now that controversial megaprojects are back in the pipeline with the junta ready to use force against project opponents, it is time we brace ourselves for a new round of the natural resources war between the people and the state.
It won't be pretty.
Sanitsuda Ekachai is former editorial pages editor, Bangkok Post.