PM sends troops to pipeline row

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THAILAND
Friday, January 9, 1998

PM sends troops to pipeline row

By CRAIG SKEHAN, Herald Correspondent in Bangkok, and agencies
The Thai Government has sent troops to an area near the Burmese border to
prevent clashes between protesting conservationists and foreign companies
building a gas pipeline through a national forest.
The Prime Minister, Mr Chuan Leekpai, told the Bangkok Post he had ordered
about 200 soldiers to the area and said he wanted a settlement which would
satisfy the Thai Petroleum Authority and the conservationists.
But an executive of the Wildlife Fund of Thailand, Surapon Duangkae, said
the troops were sent to push through construction and ensure the project was
completed on time.
A joint venture between Germany's Mannesmann AG and Tipco Asphalt received a
3.5billion baht ($A100 million) contract to build the 300-kilometre
pipeline, which will be connected to another line at the Burmese border.
This will deliver gas from a field being developed by a group of
multinational corporations and Burma's state energy company.
A military source told the Post the military believed it would not be in
"the country's interest" if the protest caused the controversial pipeline to
follow a more expensive route.
Mr Chuan, the Petroleum Authority and the former prime minister, Mr Chavalit
Yongchaiyudh, have been named in a court action alleging negligence in not
giving the public advance warning that the pipeline would cut through
environmentally sensitive forest areas.
Conservationists say the area in dispute is part of an important water
catchment.
One activist, Phibhop Dhongchai, said sending in troops would not help
efforts to negotiate a settlement. He said about 40 protesters had been in
the area for the past fortnight and would use sit-ins to block any
tree-felling.
Sydney Morning Herald
9 January 1998