Tuesday, 2 Dec 2003

RASI SALAI, Thailand

I have dog envy. Several puppies are enjoying the attention of some 300 people gathered for Rivers for Life: The Second International Meeting of Dam-Affected People and Their Allies. I’ve made the mistake, several times now, of making friendly-like with the pups, ominously named Osama, Saddam, Bush, and Blair. I shouldn’t have been surprised that Bush is a biter and doesn’t know when to quit. I have a couple of bruises from the pup already.

At dinner last night, one of the advisory committee members told me his hope for the meeting is to put “fire in our bellies, steel in our backbones, and hope in our hearts.” Though food is probably not the true barometer of the success of a meeting like this, Rasi Salai villagers have been cooking up spicy local specialties like fermented fish (plaaraa pla) that have my belly already on fire, and today is only the first day of the meeting.

During breakfast, I spoke to someone who had also participated in the first meeting in Curitiba, Brazil, in 1997. We had trouble finding people to invite for that meeting — maybe 17 countries were represented. The second time around, coordinator Aviva Imhoff of International Rivers Network had to turn people away. More than 60 nations are represented here today.

The Curitiba meeting was successful on several fronts. Participants learned they are not alone in their struggles. You can be told that what is happening in your country is happening all over the world, but until you actually talk with other affected people, you can’t really understand this. They also found that by creating alliances they can improve the effectiveness of their campaigns.

Rasi Salai is a success story and a fitting site for a second meeting. Some would say the Rasi Salai Dam was a disaster since it was first proposed. The dam was supposed to irrigate more than 13,000 acres when it was completed in 1994. Currently, however, the Rasi Salai Dam is utterly useless. The reservoir sits atop a huge salt dome and the water is too salty for irrigation. The intended benefits of the dam are overshadowed by negative impacts on local villagers and the environment. More than 15,000 people lost farmland when the reservoir was filled. The dam blocked fish migration routes. The largest freshwater swamp forest along the Mun River was destroyed. Villagers lost an important source of food, traditional medicines, fish habitat, flood management, and water treatment.

For several years, affected people have rallied for the permanent decommissioning of Rasi Salai Dam. In a victory for villagers in July 2000, the Thai government agreed to open all seven sluice gates to let the river run free. Villagers are still demanding that the gates be permanently open.

At this meeting, we celebrate the victory of our Rasi Salai friends as a victory for all.