Thai Villagers Say Gas Drilling Sickens Them, Ruins Crops

http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/thai-villagers-say-gas-drilling-sickens-them-ruins-crops/

In this May 24th, 2015 image, a villager works in a field next to a gas drilling rig
operated by American company APICO and its subsidiary Tatex Thailand in Na
Mun, Kalasin province, Thailand. More than 200 residents in communities near
well sites have complained to Thailand's National Human Rights Commission
about skin and respiratory problems and some have been hospitalized.
(photo by Chinarong Sretthachau via AP)

By Ted Andersen and Nattasuda Anusondisai

BANGKOK — More than 100 students and villagers crowded into a northeast Thailand college forum to hear about American gas companies conducting drilling operations in their region. A lieutenant colonel and dozens of soldiers and police officers followed them in.

The armed police began photographing members of the crowd, a menacing move in a country now run by a military junta that bars protests and routinely cracks down on dissenters. Some in the audience had already viewed the military as part of the problem, since months earlier they had forced demonstrators to make way for drilling equipment.

"With soldiers in the meeting room we were scared because we could not criticize the state officers who protect the company," said Chainarong Sretthachau, a professor who organized the May event at Mahasarakham University. "If I did not agree, they would not allow us to organize the conference."

Villagers in the northeast provinces of Udon Thani, Khon Kaen and Kalasin are trying to stop the drilling operations by American company APICO and its subsidiary Tatex Thailand.

Opponents of the operations describe them as fracking, or hydraulic fracturing. The technique requires high-pressure injection of water, chemicals and sand to crack shale rock and allow gas to seep out, but has been criticized for causing water pollution and even triggering small earthquakes. Fracking has boosted fuel production in the U.S. and elsewhere while meeting increasing opposition from affected communities.

APICO has said it is not fracking in the Southeast Asian country, though documents relating to its work say fracking was at least attempted there and describe wastewater ponds that are consistent with fracking operations. The Thai government says fracking is going on in the country's shale-rich northeast but would not say precisely where.

In any case, the drilling will apparently continue. Earlier this year, Thailand's Office of the Ombudsman dismissed a complaint that the country's National Human Rights Commission had filed on the villagers' behalf. The ombudsman's office, which investigates allegations of government wrongdoing and can refer cases to Thai courts, did not return phone calls or emails and provided no explanation for the dismissal.

More than 200 residents in communities near well sites have complained to the human rights commission about skin and respiratory problems and six have been hospitalized, according to commission member Nirun Pitakwatchara. Videos of farmland posted to Facebook and other sites allege that rubber trees and other agriculture have been damaged by associated airborne chemicals such as sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide gases. Chainarong said that locals in one village near a gas operation report that their water has become brown and unusable.

Phuthon Anochadech, a villager whose rubber trees are near APICO's operation in Udon Thani, said that when drilling began two years ago, "It smelled so bad, we couldn't breathe."

He said in a telephone interview that he lost nearly 1 million baht ($28,000) that year because his trees produced little, and his worker quit because the fracking work was making him sick.

"Before all this, he was a healthy man, but during that time, he had to take allergy pills every day, his eyes were always watering from the haze until he couldn't do it anymore and he quit," Phuthon said. "He said he would die if he stayed."

Phuthon himself suffered from rashes and breathing problems, and he said his crops continue to suffer. He said APICO offered him compensation that does not begin to cover his losses.

Nirun said the human rights commission and the government had struck an agreement in early February to hold a forum for local stakeholders before drilling began, but the agreement was ignored. He said APICO officials "aren't announcing to the people about projects and exploration."

APICO is a privately held company incorporated in Delaware but based in Bangkok. It referred questions to its CEO, Dwight Johnson, who did not return repeated phone calls and emails from The Associated Press seeking comment.

The commission has been meeting with local communities for the past year and hosted a June meeting attended by 400 people. In total, petitions from eight communities in eight different provinces were filed against oil and gas exploration with the commission.

"We accumulated every single case and it boiled down to just one problem, which is granting concessions for natural resources should go through the legal process of environmental impact studies," said Kraisak Choonhavan, an adviser to the commission.

While APICO and Tatex have filed formal environmental impact assessments, Thailand's Environment Act requires that activities in the EIA be carried out only when locals are informed at least 15 days in advance. Chainarong said that according to residents, APICO obtained signatures granting consent to drill by giving away T-shirts, bags and nail cutters to villagers and making them sign for the items.

Phuthon, the rubber farmer, said that at the beginning of the drilling operation, APICO held an "educational session" telling residents the work would bring "jobs, ease of transport and civilization to the village." He said they offered souvenirs — "cheap things which cost less than 100 baht ($2.77)" — and asked people to sign their names as proof of receiving them. He said he took nothing.

The drilling dispute is taking place around the Dong Mun gas field, which covers 31.9 square kilometers (12.3 square miles) and has expected gas reserves of 96 billion cubic feet, enough to power about 1 million homes for one year.

In February, demonstrators from the town of Ban Na Dun in Khon Kaen blocked APICO's equipment from being transported to a drilling site, but soldiers, police and masked guards made them clear the road.

"I understand them, the villagers, when they said educated people took advantage of them," said Lt. Col. Napasit Pongwarapisarn, the provincial military chief of staff who attended the university conference. "I sympathized with them but what can the military do? Everything was signed. Military and police have to do it. We follow orders."

In late April, the group Stop Fracking Thailand staged a protest outside the U.S. Embassy demanding that American oil companies leave Thailand. In response, APICO representatives denied the use of fracking in northeastern Thailand.

However, Coastal Energy Company, a Cayman Islands-based company that owns a 39 percent stake in APICO, announced hydraulic fracturing tests at the northeastern APICO-operated gas fields in 2009 and 2010. Those tests were unsuccessful, and the company did not specify whether subsequent successful drilling involved fracking. Coastal Energy is now a subsidiary of Compania Espanola de Petroleos SA, which is owned by the Abu Dhabi government.

The EIAs for APICO and Tatex Thailand do not specify if the companies are using hydraulic fracturing but do detail onsite chemical wastewater ponds containing toxic materials such as arsenic, which are characteristic of fracking operations.

Phumee Srisuwon, director of Mineral Fuels Management Bureau for Thailand's Ministry of Energy, said fracking techniques have been used on a limited basis by state-owned energy company PTTEP, which has partnerships with APICO. He said those wells are in the northeast but would not say whether they are the same ones villagers are protesting.

He said fracking is "still in the early stage in Thailand."

APICO released a statement in early March saying that its obligations, including hosting meetings with locals in the affected areas, were met, and that the company's concession through the Thai government is legal.

Natural gas powers 75 percent of Thailand's electric power plants, and foreign companies account for more than half of the natural gas produced within the country. All the gas is sold back to the state, said Witoon Kaoaien, chief production supervisor for PTTEP.

Foreign companies are conducting both inland and offshore fracking operations in Thailand. Coastal Energy Company began using offshore hydraulic fracturing techniques in the southern province of Songkhla in 2013, according to its annual report.

Chevron uses seawater injection techniques at wells in the Gulf of Thailand's Pattani Basin. A 2011 research paper from the International Petroleum Technology Conference, authored by a Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production team, mentions Chevron Thailand's use of "prolonged hydro-fracturing" in this area, noting that the method fractures rock by injecting water, but differs from conventional hydraulic fracturing in that the cooling of the rock causes the fracturing, rather than high water pressure.

"Chevron does not apply hydraulic fracturing technology in Thailand," company spokeswoman Saransri Prawatpattanakul said in an emailed response to questions from the AP.

Many Thais have questioned the government's continued pursuit of fossil fuels, but it is risky to challenge military leaders who have maintained full control since a May 2014 coup.

Before the May conference, Chainarong said he was summoned to Maha Sarakham's city hall by Lt. Col. Napasit to sign an agreement forbidding criticism of Thailand's military government and allowing the officers to attend.

Napasit said in a telephone interview that the military and police had been invited to the conference. He described the document-signing as a normal procedure under the military government.

The lieutenant colonel was the last speaker at the forum. When he took the microphone, attendees rose from their seats and walked out.

http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-qa-how-southeast-asian-economic-zone-could-change-region-2015-8

Via Business Insider

• TED ANDERSEN, ASSOCIATED PRESS

• Aug. 10, 2015

BANGKOK (AP) — The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which on Saturday marked 48 years since its establishment, aims to establish an economic community known as the AEC by the end of this year. Proponents say the ultimate goal is to allow free trade, investment and movement of workers between the 10 nations that make up the grouping. But progress toward a borderless economy in a region that brings together democracies and dictatorships along with rich and poor nations is likely to be slow.

___

Is the AEC the new EU?

From a distance, Southeast Asia's fledgling economic community resembles the early stages of the European Union, but at its core it's a totally different animal. There are no plans for a common currency, central bank and regional parliament or to abolish borders within the region. However, policymakers could learn lessons from the EU experience where the movement of people from Eastern Europe to countries such as the U.K. has caused tensions. "To do it successfully, countries need to know how many people are going to come," said Professor of Business Chris Wright, an expert in EU labor migration at the University of Sydney Australia. "That's one of the lessons of the EU."

___

What are the possible economic outcomes?

AEC aims to boost Southeast Asia's collective GDP of $2.5 trillion by 7 percent and generate 14 million jobs by 2025, analysts say, but such gains if realized are likely to be uneven. Small to medium-sized enterprises could be pushed out or taken over under liberalized cross-border investment rules. "It will create winners and losers," said Basu Das, lead researcher at the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies. "There are some groups of people who will benefit and some who may have to develop new skills." Women could be particularly affected because fewer restrictions on cross-border investment could introduce more automation to garment factories which employ mostly female workers.

___

Will poor migrants flood richer countries?

Countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore already have substantial migrant populations. Some migrants are legal workers, brought in to fill jobs locals don't want. There are also significant numbers of undocumented migrants across the region, a group susceptible to exploitation and human trafficking. At the initial stage of the AEC, only eight skilled professions will become mobile: doctors, nurses, dentists, engineers, surveyors, tourism professionals, accountants and architects. But shifting jobs between countries won't be straightforward. For example, in Malaysia, foreign professionals still need a minimum of 10 years of experience in their field and must be sponsored by a local company.

___

Will national laws be changed by AEC?

AEC is top-down in the sense that the agenda is driven by bureaucrats at the ASEAN Secretariat but it's only as good as the political will of individual countries. AEC has no binding commitments or punitive measures for non-compliance, which means it could be a long time before any country changes its national laws to conform. "You have people in Jakarta working at the ASEAN Secretariat whom I'm sure wholeheartedly believe in this, but they haven't done a good job in convincing the public and convincing national governments to go along with it. That's the reality of it," said Ambika Ahuja, Southeast Asia analyst for the Eurasia Group.

__

Will everyone in Southeast Asia need to learn English?

ASEAN documents are written in English and it is true that the language is being promoted as the lingua franca of AEC. But many skilled workers who travel abroad will still need to take certification tests in the language of the host country depending on local laws. For example, foreign nurses in Thailand would have to show competence in Thai. Those proficient in English will have an advantage in large international companies that use English as the common language. Many other could opt for other regional languages. Mandarin has become an attractive language to study for many Thai students because employment and business opportunities in tourism and other areas.

Activists applaud suspension of coal plant near Thai beaches

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/World/2015/Jul-24/308141-activists-applaud-suspension-of-coal-plant-near-thai-beaches.ashx#.VbXpVHFXi8k.twitter

Via The Daily Star in Lebanon

Ted Andersen

Associated Press

BANGKOK: Activists are applauding the Thai prime minister's order that tentatively halts a planned coal-fired power plant and seaport near popular tourist beaches in southern Thailand's Andaman Sea coast.

The decision Thursday by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha to suspend the project put an end to demonstrations and a hunger strike that began on July 10. A representative of the prime minister met Friday with officials from the Energy Ministry and members of the protesting Save Andaman from Coal Network to make plans for a joint committee to explore renewable energy options.

Bidding for the 800-megawatt power plant in Krabi province will continue on Aug. 5, but the government has promised that no binding agreement will be signed and the project will be frozen pending exploration of alternatives.

"This is acceptable, and that is why everyone is going home now," Janrumapai Chaisompongpan, an organizer of the Save Andaman from Coal Network, said of the decision. "Of course we have to work very closely with this committee, so there is a lot to be done."

The joint committee is likely to be set up in the coming weeks and the government agreed that the outcome of its deliberations would be final, she said.

The Energy Generating Authority of Thailand, a state enterprise, has plans to build nine coal energy plants in the south. Its power development plan for 2015-2036 is designed to lower gas consumption for electricity production from 70 percent to 40 percent while nearly doubling coal use from 20 percent to between 35 and 40 percent, Energy Ministry Permanent Secretary Kurujit Nakornthap told the Bangkok Post newspaper. He said that rolling blackouts would soon affect tourism in the south if more power were not supplied.

Protesters say a coal-power plant could damage the environment, public health and the lucrative tourism industry. Tourism in the provinces along the Andaman coast generated more than 376 billion baht ($11 billion) in 2014, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand. Krabi is about 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the hugely popular resorts of Phuket.

They also criticized the power plant's bidding process for moving ahead despite a rejection in March of the project's environmental impact assessment.

Coal plant proposed for pristine Thai coast sparks outcry

Published in the Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/coal-plant-proposed-for-pristine-thai-coast-sparks-outcry/2015/07/21/04b1f228-2f87-11e5-a879-213078d03dd3_story.html

By Ted Andersen | AP July 21

In this Monday July 20, 2015 photo, a protester holds a placard outside 
the Prime Minister’s office in Bangkok during a demonstration opposing 
a proposed coal power plant in southern Thailand. The popular tourist beaches 
near southern Thailand’s Andaman Coast may soon play host to an unlikely new 
fixture: an 800-megawatt coal power plant. The plans have sparked an outcry in 
the typically tranquil Krabi province, famed for its white sand and picturesque 
limestone cliffs. (Ted Andersen/Associated Press)

BANGKOK — Plans to build an 800-megawatt coal power plant near some of Thailand’s most popular beaches have sparked protests and a hunger strike by activists who say officials aren’t considering its impact on the pristine environment that makes the area an international tourist destination.

More than 100 members of the Save Andaman from Coal Network this week staged a march and sit-in outside the prime minister’s office in the nation’s capital against plans to build the plant near southern Thailand’s Andaman coast about 650 kilometers (400 miles) south of Bangkok.

The tranquil Krabi province and its islands are famed for picturesque limestone cliffs and white sand beaches, one of which was the centerpiece of the Leonardo DiCaprio film “The Beach.”

“If this power plant happens, southern Thailand will lose a lot,” said Krabi resident Akradej Chakjinda, who has fasted since July 10 in protest.

Protesters say the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, or EGAT, is pushing ahead with a bidding process for the plant and a seaport that would receive overseas shipments of coal before an environmental impact assessment has been completed. Plans to launch the bidding process were delayed until next month, which EGAT says is unrelated to the ongoing protests.

The coal plant is part of a critical energy infrastructure that will provide Thailand with energy security as natural gas reserves in the Gulf of Thailand dry up within 10 years, EGAT says.

The state power authority has said it envisions building nine coal power plants in the south over the next two decades.

It had planned to begin the bidding process on this one in advance of the environmental review to save time, a government official said.

“I want to emphasize that this is totally legal and we will not sign any contract with the constructor who wins the bid process until we pass” the environmental assessment, Anuchart Palakawong Na Autthaya, head of environmental management for the project, told The Nation newspaper Monday.

Dadodin Patavatto, a Buddhist monk, leads a silent march to the Prime Minister's office in Bangkok to demonstrate against a proposed coal power plant in southern Thailand. The popular tourist beaches near southern Thailand's Andaman Coast may soon play host to an unlikely new fixture: an 800-megawatt coal power plant. The plans have sparked an outcry in the typically tranquil Krabi province, famed for its white sand and picturesque limestone cliffs. 

(AP Photo/Ted Andersen)

Krabi remains Thailand’s second-largest area of sea grass beds, which provide a feeding ground for the near extinct dugongs, a manatee-like marine mammal. It is also one of Thailand’s major tourist draws. Tourism to the provinces along the Andaman coast generated more than 376 billion baht ($11 billion) in 2015, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

Krabi and some of the islands off its coast are known as Thailand’s most beautiful beaches, including Koh Phi Phi, which rose to international prominence after being featured in DiCaprio’s film.

The Save Andaman from Coal Network, a loose collaboration of environmental, agricultural, tourist and other groups from southern provinces, began demonstrations July 10 but say their demands — which include a 3-year waiting period to see if the province can produce 100 percent renewable energy — have been ignored.

“I’ve seen the beauty of the Andaman Sea,” said Daodin Patavatto, a Buddhist monk joining the protests. “The Andaman is not for one small group of people. It’s for everyone.”

____

Follow Ted Andersen: twitter.com/ted_d_andersen

Rights workers pressured despite Myanmar's would-be reforms

Published on Yahoo News:
http://news.yahoo.com/report-myanmar-human-rights-workers-under-threat-134921466.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory&soc_trk=fb&fb_ref=Default

 

By TED ANDERSENJuly 23, 2015 10:56 AM

BANGKOK (AP) — A new report says human rights workers in Myanmar face threats to their personal security despite moves toward political reform since military rule gave way to an elected government four years ago.

The report issued Thursday in Bangkok by the independent groups Burma Partnership and the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, depicts a climate of violence, sexual assault, arrests and cyber-threats against aid workers, in some cases believed to be linked to the government.

Almost half of the women interviewed for the report said they had experienced some form of sexual or physical violence, sexual harassment or intimidation, and student groups said they suffered harassment both in person and through social media. The report drew on testimony from 75 non-governmental organization workers and data from journalists and student activists from November 2014 to March.

President's office director U Zaw Htay said the government had no immediate comment on the report. In the past, the government has said it respects human rights while managing the country's delicate democratic transition.

Human rights workers and dissidents suffered heavy repression during army rule, with many activists given long jail terms under vaguely-defined national security statutes.

"These human rights defenders are operating in an environment as dangerous as ever before," said Khin Ohmar, coordinator of Burma Partnership. "This situation needs to be exposed."

Myanmar's transition in 2011 to an elected government after almost five decades of military rule raised hopes of liberalization among human rights activists and democracy advocates when new President Thein Sein began instituting unexpected political and economic reforms, and released more than 1,300 political prisoners. The actions prompted Western nations to lift most of the political and economic sanctions they had imposed on the previous military regime.

However, the constitution adopted during army rule ensures military dominance and the reforms have slowed or retreated. Prospects for freedom of speech, which looked bright when the government lifted most censorship, dimmed when it began to prosecute journalists in court for writing critical stories.

Thai court jails 10 for online videos insulting the monarchy

Published in the UK Daily Mail:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-3160709/Thai-court-jails-8-posting-videos-insulting-monarchy.html

By Ted Andersen

BANGKOK (AP) — A Thai military court on Tuesday sentenced 10 people to prison terms for distributing online content that it said insulted the country's monarchy.

The 10 sentenced on lese majeste charges were part of what police said was a network headed by Hassadin Uraipraiwan, known online as "DJ Banpodj." Hassadin created video clips and uploaded them to sites such as YouTube, from which members of a Facebook group reposted them. Defense lawyer Yingcheep Atchanont said his clients told him they had not known each other before making contact through the social media site.

Police described the network as a serious threat to the monarchy and the nation's stability, saying it incited "chaos and hatred in society."

Critics of the military government that took power in a coup last year say the lese majeste law is used to intimidate political opponents. Hassadin, who began uploading the clips in 2010, was a supporter of Thailand's Red Shirt movement, which backs former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by a 2006 military coup.

Eight of the 10 were ordered to serve 5-year jail terms and two others — found to have only abetted the others — were given three years each. The original sentences of all were cut in half because they confessed and pleaded guilty.

Yingcheep, an attorney from Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, said of 400 clips made by Hassadin criticizing both politicians and the monarchy, prosecutors focused on just one that referred to the king in derogatory language.

Yingcheep said the case illustrated how people who share something on Facebook receive as harsh a penalty as the person who originally produced and posted the illegal material. He said he believes people who just shared the material should receive a lesser penalty.

Of the 14 people originally arrested in the case between January and February, two others decided to fight the case and another two are being tried separately because their offenses are considered more serious.

Lese majeste cases have risen sharply in Thailand since the military government took power in May 2014.

"Maybe the military government is trying to show that their duty is to protect the monarchy by arresting more and more people," Yingcheep said. 

Soon after taking power the junta declared that protecting the monarchy was a top priority.

There is widespread concern over the future of the monarchy because revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej is 87 years old and ailing. His son, Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, does not command the same respect and affection as the king.

Cambodian ruling party lawmakers approve civil society bill

By Ted Andersen and Sopheng Cheang

Protestors sit on a main street with stickers that read: "Say No!, Association and NGO Laws" leading to the National Assembly in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Monday, July 13, 2015. Lawmakers of the ruling Cambodian People's Party approved a controversial draft law Monday that critics say gives authorities sweeping powers to crack down on civil society groups that challenge the government. The Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations tightly regulates all NGOs in the country and grands the government sweeping powers to clamp down on civil society activities it deems to be a threat to national security. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia's National Assembly approved a controversial draft law Monday that critics say gives authorities sweeping powers to crack down on civil society groups that challenge the government.

Riot police set up a barricade around the lower house of parliament to hold back hundreds of protesters there and opposition party lawmakers boycotted the vote entirely.

The Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations tightly regulates all non-governmental organizations in the country and grants the government sweeping powers to clamp down on civil society activities it deems to be a threat to national security.

A final draft of the bill has not been released to the public, another aspect that has drawn criticism. But according to a copy obtained from lawmakers, it states that local and foreign non-governmental organizations must register with the government, and that all NGOs must be politically neutral. It also gives the government unchecked power to block registrations and dissolve groups in the name of national security.

The law is the first of four in the pipeline that critics say are designed to further restrict social freedoms in Cambodia, which has been ruled since 1985 by Prime Minister Hun Sen, an autocrat with little tolerance for dissent.

The opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party issued a statement ahead of the session saying it "deeply regretted" that the bill did not include its input or any input from the non-governmental groups it aims to restrict. The opposition's 55 lawmakers boycotted Monday's debate.

All 68 lawmakers from the ruling Cambodian People's Party voted unanimously to adopt the bill, an expected outcome in the 123-seat lower house, where a simple majority was enough for the vote to pass. The bill still needs to clear the Senate before becoming law, a step considered a formality in Cambodia.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution last week calling on the Cambodian government to withdraw the vote, warning that $700 million in development aid could hang in the balance, and Amnesty International has condemned the law as repressive.

"This will create an atmosphere of intimidation and self-censorship among NGOs who will realize that the Cambodian government will be able to shut them down at any time," said Phil Robertson, the deputy Asian director of Human Rights Watch.

The U.S. ambassador to Cambodia, William Todd, also criticized the lack of transparency, urging ruling party lawmakers to publicly release a copy of the draft law to allow a full public debate. In 2014, the U.S. gave roughly $75 million in aid to Cambodia.

Other laws in the pipeline are the Trade Union Law, which would restrict labor union strikes; a cybercrime law that could criminalize online communications deemed to undermine the government; and a telecommunications law that would allow the government to monitor online communication and mandate information on its critics from Internet service providers.