THE NATION: PIPELINE SHOWDOWN/ Mot

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Editorial & Opinion 

      PIPELINE SHOWDOWN/
      Motives aside, Sulak
      knew right from wrong

      Is noted social critic Sulak Sivaraksa
      selfishly eager for the limelight -- or did he
      carry out his recent solo sit-in in the
      interests of the country? Nantiya
      Tangwisutijit explores the reasons behind
      the protest that led to his arrest. 

      TO his detractors, there seemed no better
      opportunity for Sulak Sivaraksa, prominent
      social critic and a recipient of the Right
      Livelihood Award (the ''alternative Nobel
      Prize''), to raise his international profile than
      with his arrest the Friday before last. 

      Those who are suspicious of Sulak can't
      come up with any other reason for his solo
      sit-in protest obstructing the construction of
      the controversial Yadana gas pipeline in
      Kanchanaburi forest, which led to the
      arrest. They simply assume he is aiming to
      be reconsidered for the Nobel Peace Prize,
      after his nomination in 1994. According to
      this line of thinking, when Sulak raised the
      issue of human rights abuses in Burma, it
      was merely a means to a selfish end. 

      In terms of timing, the Buddha seems to be
      on Sulak's side. His arrest took place a few
      days before Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai
      left for Washington DC, and human rights
      activists staged a protest in front of the
      American Embassy in Bangkok in support
      of Sulak. 

      But even if Sulak does seem eager for the
      limelight, that is beside the point. No one
      should insult Thais and the international
      community by assuming that Sulak could
      fool them. If his agenda were truly selfish, it
      would have no impact. 

      That has not been the case. His actions
      have had a huge impact, legally and
      morally, because the points he has made
      are valid. Plenty of people do not admire
      Sulak's actions, but they do admire the man
      for his courage to stand up and fight for
      what he believes in. 

      In the end, it is not only the forest that Sulak
      is trying to protect, but the truth. His
      message -- and it is a strong one -- is that
      society should not be ruled by lies, and liars
      should not be allowed to escape
      unpunished. 

      Sulak's actions have sparked a new round
      of debate about the pipeline project,
      debate that will no doubt culminate during
      his trial in May. That is according to his
      stated intentions: he plans to use the trial as
      an opportunity to denounce the Petroleum
      Authority of Thailand (PTT) because the
      agency has mishandled the project and
      misled the public. 

      For example, the PTT long claimed that it
      would have to pay stiff fines -- as much as
      Bt40 million a day -- to the Burmese gas
      production consortium if it did not complete
      the pipeline by July. 

      The claim was used as an excuse by the
      government to turn down proposals from
      conservation groups to suspend the project
      temporarily while an alternative route was
      sought that might have less impact on the
      country's few remaining forests. 

      But when the Electricity Generating
      Authority of Thailand (Egat) announced last
      month that the power plant that will receive
      the gas might be delayed, PTT revealed
      that the ''fines'' would actually be
      considered payment for future purchases of
      gas. The only money the PTT would lose, in
      other words, is the interest it would have
      received by keeping the money in the bank.

      PTT also failed to explain why its private
      subsidiary, PTTEP, is a part of the gas
      production consortium. How can Thais
      make sure that the price PTT agreed on
      with the consortium is a good deal when it
      is both buyer and major shareholder in one
      of the producers? 

      PTT also violated the country's
      environmental law and regulations by
      allowing workers from the contractor Tasco
      Manessmann Co to transport equipment
      into the forest even before the project's
      environmental impact assessment (EIA)
      was approved by the National
      Environmental Board. 

      Meanwhile, thousands of villagers who will
      have to risk living along the pipeline route in
      Kanchanaburi and Ratchaburi have never
      been consulted about the project. 

      Instead of criticising Sulak, Thais should
      stand by him to criticise the national
      committee led by former prime minister
      Anand Panyarachun for lacking the courage
      to suggest a delay in the construction until
      the surrounding problems are solved. 

      The committee's own conclusion states that
      ''the project's decision-making [process] is
      not transparent, and the EIA was conducted
      without public participation. Instead, there
      was only public relations.'' 

      All too often, society has allowed those who
      caused social and environmental damage
      to get away with what they were doing
      simply because the project is almost
      finished and it would be a pity to lose the
      money that has been invested in it. 

      Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai is no
      exception. He allowed PTT to go ahead
      with construction after visiting the project
      site and getting a briefing from PTT
      officials. 

      His schedule did not include a visit to the
      jungle camp of project opponents who were
      waiting and had prepared lunch for him and
      his team. 

      Chuan wanted to show that he is a decisive
      leader who thinks about the country's
      energy security. But he lacks the necessary
      quality of a democratic leader -- sensitivity
      to the voices of the minority. He mistakenly
      believed the committee's resolution would
      tame all the project's opponents. 

      It is not surprising to see that Chuan was
      upset when reporters asked for his
      comment about Sulak's arrest. The premier
      lashed out that he had warned PTT to move
      cautiously against Sulak. 

      Chuan no doubt realises that Interior
      Minister Sanan Kachornprasart and the
      PTT have fallen into Sulak's trap to draw
      international attention to the project. He is
      aware that Sulak's arrest will make his
      government look bad in the eyes of the
      international community, especially at a
      time when Chuan is visiting the United
      States. 

      Chuan's anger prompted PTT to hold a
      press conference in defence of the
      government. The state oil company said it
      was responsible for soliciting the arrest of
      Sulak as he refused to follow the
      conservationists' pledge to abide by the
      resolution of the Anand committee. 

      If people think Sulak moved in his own self
      interests, they should also consider that
      Anand has far more at stake in the project
      than Sulak. Anand holds an honorary
      position in Unocal Thailand, a subsidiary of
      Unocal Oil, which is a part of the Yadana
      gas development consortium. 

      The Nation