BKK Post, March 7, 1998 GAS PIPELIN

[burma@xxxxxxxxxx]

March 7, 1998
GAS PIPELINE PROJECT

Sulak and 40 others arrested
They were accused of blocking construction
Preecha Srisathan Chakrit Ridmontri Yuwadee Tunyasiri

Kanchanaburi police yesterday swooped on protesters blocking the 
construction of the Thai-Burmese gas pipeline, taking into custody 
social critic Sulak Sivaraksa and more than 40 other people.

Governor Direk Uthaiphol led a police team from Thong Pha Phum district 
to arrest Mr Sulak for obstructing pipeline laying work. Some 20 
students who were keeping him company at his forest camp at the pipeline 
kilometre marker 27 were also arrested.

Mr Sulak has been staging a solo protest in Huay Khayeng forest since 
Monday, two weeks after another group of conservationists had ended its 
protest.

Meanwhile, 120 kilometres south of the forest in Dan Makham Tia 
district, police also booked about 20 villagers who were blocking the 
pipeline in protest of an alleged failure of the Petroleum Authority of 
Thailand (PTT) to compensate for damage to their property.

At the police station in Thong Pha Phum, Mr Direk interrogated Mr Sulak 
behind closed door for an hour.

Police said the PTT had lodged a complaint against Mr Sulak two days ago 
for blocking the construction, adding Mr Sulak pleaded guilty. They are 
detaining Mr Sulak for further interrogation, while his companions were 
released.

District officer Wichit Siprasert later said Mr Sulak declined to post 
bail. He would be detained in an air-conditioned room together with five 
of his companions who asked to remain with him.

After the arrest, work on the pipeline immediately began. A high-ranking 
source disclosed the police acted on the order of Interior Minister 
Sanan Khachornprasart.

In Bangkok, the PTT called an urgent news conference to defend its 
action.

"We have tried to compromise with the opponents in the past but all our 
attempts have failed. So we are forced to depend on the legal arms to 
clear them out of the pipeline route," said Piti Yimprasert, president 
of the PTT Gas.

The action would help the PTT avoid paying a stiff fine to the gas 
exploration consortium in Burma because it could claim the protests 
represented a force majeure or an unforeseen event as specified in their 
contract. The PTT has always claimed it would be subject to a daily fine 
of 40 million baht if the project completion is delayed.

By filing complaints with police, "it means we have done everything to 
get the work done," Mr Piti said.

Mr Piti also blamed the Electricity Authority of Thailand (Egat), the 
sole buyer of the Yadana gas, for not being able to finish its power 
plant in Ratchaburi by the delivery date, thus forcing it to delay 
taking delivery of the gas. This will be one more reason to save the PTT 
from the fine.

Meanwhile, in a letter submitted to the prime minister, representatives 
of conservation groups opposing the pipeline demanded that problems 
resulting from the pipeline construction be speedily solved.

They asked that the premier set up a committee to investigate "the 
misinformation fed the public by the PTT governor and other executives".

The groups referred to information revealed before a public information 
panel chaired by ex-premier Anand Panyarachun which indicated the PTT 
might not have to pay the 40-million-baht fine if the project was 
delayed, as it had often claimed.

They also complained the PTT had failed to negotiate with villagers 
affected by the pipeline construction about their compensation. They 
wanted a new study on the project's environmental impact on wildlife, 
particularly the two herds of wild elephants roaming the construction 
area in Huay Khayeng.

They pointed out Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai has yet to respond to 
recommendations contained in the report of the Anand panel.

Pibhop Dhongchai, a leading opponent, expressed dismay over Mr Sulak's 
arrest, arguing that Mr Sulak merely wished to remind the society about 
the imbalance of development and environmental conservation as well as 
human right abuses in Burma.

He said conservation groups had no plan to renew their protest in the 
forest but wished that the prime minister pay more attention to impact 
of development on the environment and communities.

------------------------------------------------------------------------