Pak Mun Dam

Pak Mun Is the second village that I visited on the third unit of the program. This village has a similar problem to that of Rasi Sali, however it’s much furthur down the timeline, and sadly not in a good way. The Pak mun dam project was built under the guish of a mass development plan that the Thai government was under going created by the World Bank. The dam was supposedly supposed to be built to create a significant amount of electricity for the region surrounding the dam, but is not producing efficient amounts of electricity. The dam, like the one at Rasi Sali, has severely destroyed the environment around it as well as affecting the livelihoods of the villagers in the surrounding areas.

My initial view of Pak Mun was very different then my view of Rasi Sali. While I could see a Young movement and active community involvement in the issue, there was none of that at Pak Mun. The whole community seemed more beaten down and tired then unity and active, due mainly to the huge timeline stretch and the way the issue was being treated by the Thai government. The most significant difference I saw in the two communities was the way of life, and the work. While in Rasi Sali you would still see rice fields and feel a sense of community, in Pak mun I only saw broom making, the way the villagers compensated for their lost income from ruined rice field and fishing, and seclusion.

I think what affected me most about my time in Pak mun was the image of the river and the fishing boats along the banks. Rather then farmers, the villagers of Pak Mun are more considered to be fisherman. Since the building of the dam, the migration of fish up stream to where they fish has severely decreased, and in turn affected the villagers way of live.

This being said, In the morning of the first day that I stayed in Pak Mun, I went fishing with my homestay father. As I walked to the river, I was astounded by the sight of fishing boats laying all along the river side, many destroyed and unusable. It turns out that the day before, the gates to the dam was open in order to let the water through for the rice fields for a small time period, but that night they closed the gates for 4 months because the government decreed that it was time. In turn the river shrunk, and all the boats that where on the river washed a ashore on to the bed. I was again astounded by the advances of “development”.

Projec Time begins

So it's come time for final project to start. I'm actually really excited about what I'm going to be able to do, but I'm not going to lie, I don't exactly know how I'm going to do it. I was debating between two different projects,. One was going to be the human right youth network, which is a network of youth groups through out Thailand and Myanmar that was started this semester through the efforts of a group of us students. I've been involved in this project for a bit, but don't really feel a deep connection to it. Ultimately I decided on Na Nong Bong, the village where my heart lies.

I'm actually really excited to be going back to Na Nong Bong and to be able to finally do something that will help the community. The project should be interesting because the group that We have for the project is interesting. After some deliberation, We decided to do a media project that we can transfer on to the villagers to raise awareness of the issue that is happening to the their village and the surrounding area. We decided that we're going to make a short video outlining the human rights violations that are occurring and match them with the faces of people that are affected. For instance one of the main rights being violate in the village is the right to water. WE plan on interviewing a person's who's right to water has been severely affected and hopefully illicit a emotional response out of those that the video is being presented too. The most important part of the project is the sustainability aspect of it. The protect has to be sustainable and thus has to be able to be used by the villagers. We shall see how this turns out...

The Golden Cycle

Leaving for my second trip to Na Nong Bong, I was excited to return to a village that has struck me in a certain way that none of the others have. On a near by mountain, a company known as Tung Khum Limited has been operating a mine for a number of years now. The mining process has [allegedly ed.] affected the environment and water sources of the surrounding areas. This includes the ground water that the people of the surrounding villages use to drink, wash dishes, and bath in. Na Nong Bong being the closet to the [claim that the ed.] mining site, [has caused ed.] severe health affects and reduces crop yields in their fields. This has lead them to take measure against the mine in hopes that their way of life may be restored to the extent where they do not have to worry unnecessarily about the basic human rights of water, health , and a proper environment.

The first time that I went to Na Nong Bong, the village was in the midst of excitement. They were about to protest a vote that would extend the current mine that is severely affecting their livelihoods to another part of the mountain, furthering the risk that was involved with the mining process. We were witness to the preparation, act and then success afterward. The more I learned about the situation, the more I was impressed by their passion to push for their livelihoods.

Coming back to Na Nong Bong, there were no protests, but the sense of the community and passion to maintain their livelihoods was still very apparent. I was incredibly struck by the villager’s ability to keep up the fight. Personally, I had my doubts about what the people of the village could actually accomplish. The mining company has made a large effort to slip through cracks in the political bureaucracies and make a solid effort to disprove the rather obvious effects of the mine, that it seemed like the viscous cycle that normally occurs in the realm of development was continuing. The demands of the many are out weighing the needs of the view.

The cycle seemed as if it was going to occur in this community as well. One thing that I thought to myself was if I am getting discouraged over the issue, then how could the villagers, the people that live with it on a day to day basis really work past it. It seems as if everything was working against them. The first issue that I made note of is the health aspect. Proper health is obviously an essential part of having a proper life. Without proper health, one cannot work, and if one cannot work, one cannot properly provide for their families. In the case of Na Nong Bong, chemical poisoning, and irritation has caused problems for the people in the village. However, the government and the mining company some how find a way around each and every medical problem that happens. They have even gotten a hold of the ministry of provincial health, an entity that should in all honesty know better and understand the problems that are being caused. Yet again the few are suffering for the demands of the many. To what extent can this really be acceptable.

When will our own lust for more demand be outweighed by the lives of the few? It seems like a fairly blatant resolve, however in reality it’s not so black and white. At some point the people’s lives have to outweigh the benefits…. right?

Full Moon And reverse Culture Shock

SO during the only break that we get on this program, me and a few friends decided to take advantage of the time we had and go down south to the islands of Thailand, and more specifically to koh samui and Koh Pha Ngang. Luckily enough, our break coincided perfectly with one of the largest events in south east asia, the Full Moon Party. The full moon party is a large rave that happens on a remote beach on the island o Koh Pha Ngang. Its come tobe a large gathering of forgieners, mainly europeans and australians, for a night of what most would call debauchery. After having spent the majority of the last two months in Thailand living in villages and picking rice, we thought that this might be a intresting break from it all and a return to some of the things that we know best. While it did have components of that, it also had a large component of "What the hell is going on?"

We flew in to kho Samui the night of Halloween. Koh Samui is the larger island and the hub i guess you would say of the islands in the south. AFter we arrived we made our way to the island of Koh Pha Ngang were the party was going to be. The only way to reach Koh Pha Ngang is by ferry, However before we left I personally made a reservation for a room on the island, and the time was getting too late to check in. So since I got the reservation, i rushed to the isalnd as fast as I could while the others waited for the next ferry at the hour. I had to take a speed boat with two chilean couples. As we rode the 45 min journey, the sun set on the water, islands surronding us, and paridase engulfing us. it was amazing. Once I got to the island, I immediatly realized that the place was not the Thailand I knew. There was pizza and t-shirt shops every where, and excitingly enough mexican food. I walked around to area ammazed at all the lights and western culture that was stuffed in to a small island, and to be compleatly honest, I was a little freaked out. haha

As my firends arrived, We realized that the hotel I booked was on the other side of the island and that It would be impossible to travel that far everyday. Instead we found a place that had three rooms on the beach amd stayed there. That night, the beach was filled with fire and peope from everywhere. While walking from one side of the beach to the other I heard probably 5 different languages and accents. It was amazing. Then in the distance I saw something I thought I would never see in my live. It was a 20 foot fire jump rope, being twirled by two of the scranisest thai men I had ever seen. I ran to the rope as fast as I could and immediatly jumped in.... did 4 jumps and tripped on the rope.

And that was only the first night.

The second night was the Full Moon Party. AS I spent the day exploring the island and even snorkeling with a burmesse refugee, who told me the story of his live and how he escaped the Myanmar government by walking across the boarder with just a plastic bag, I couldn't help but think about the immense differences in culture and ways of life the locals on the island must live compared to those where I come from. While they don't have to deal with flooded rice fields, they do have to deal with asshole tourist, a huge loss of culture, crime, and many other things. It was a intresting contrest to the program, but had great parallels.

The night of the full moon was incredible. While within 1 our I lost my firends, i had a blast, and at one point looked up at the sky, saw that huge ful moon and thought" Where the hell am I?"