SVN Asia (Thailand) confrerence "Business Ethics in Reality

8 - 11th Nov.

(note ASrIA Conference in Hong Kong is 30 Oct to 2nd Nov)

Dear SVN Friends,

There is a change of dates for the 2001 SVN Asia (Thailand) confrerence "Business Ethics in Reality": it will not be from 1 - 4 November but one week later 8 - 11 November. The conference will include visits to Ubon Ratchathani, and Pak Moon dam; the Lhi Pi waterfalls in Laos and the farmers co-operative in Kud Chum, Yasothorn. The fees are estimated to be U$ 300 including food, accomodation and travel + visas to Laos, excluding the air ticket to Ubon (Baht 3250) and international travel. The official announcement will follow soon.

Ajarn Sulak Sivaraksa looks forward to meeting you on Sunday 8th July 14.00 - 16.00 hours in de Keizerzaal, De Rode Hoed, Amsterdam. Please find attached an article of our friend Vasana (Bangkok Post) concerning the Pak Moon dam. We had a good swim in the river!

Greetings,

Hans & Wallapa

----- Original Message -----
From: suan nguen mee ma
To: Carla Hofland ; Edith Punt ; eltjo.kok@nl.abnamro.com ; Gerard Baars ; Joyce Meuzelaar ; Perspectief ; Neil Walker
Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2001 4:03 PM
Subject: Sunday 8 July 2001

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your registration for the meeting with Ajarn Sulak Sivaraksa in de Keizerzaal, Rode Hoed, Amsterdam Sunday 8th July 14.00 - 16.00 hours.

SVN Asia (Thailand) will hold its yearly conference and excursion November 1 - 4, 2001. The title will be "Business Ethics in Reality" and the excursion will lead to Ubon Ratchanthani, the area of the Pak Moon dam, and Kud Chum, Yasothorn (organic farmers' co-operative).

Previous to the 3d international gathering 'Alternative Education ~ its role in transforming society' 26 November - 1 December 2001 (in children's village Moo Ban Dek) Suan Company organises optional Edu-Tours to Ubon Ratchathani, the protest village of the 'Assembly of the Poor' near Pak Moon and the monastries of the late Ajarn Chah from 19 - 24 November; the other choice is Chiang Mai and Sukhothai. Maximum 12 participants per group.

The international gathering in Moo Ban Dek, near Kanchanaburi, will conclude in a two-days Symposium 'Holistic Education and the Sciences. Are holistic approaches unscientific?' at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.

Please spread the news.

Warm greetings,

Wallapa & Hans

Suan Nguen Mee Ma Co., Ltd.
GARDEN OF FRUITION
117 Fuang Nakorn Road (Opposite Wat Rajabopit)
Bangkok 10200
SIAM (Thailand)

E-mail: suanco@ksc.th.com

Tel. (66-2) 622 09 55, 222 56 98
Fax.(66-2) 225 95 40

PAK MOON DAM
17June 2001

Villagers hail return of fish as gates re-opened
Two new studies of impact under way

Vasana Chinvarakorn

The Pak Moon community yesterday celebrated the opening of Pak Moon dam's eight sluice gates.

Villagers perform a ceremony to celebrate the opening of sluice gates at Pak Moon dam after a long delay. Pak Moon villagers won permission from the government to open all eight sluice gates for four months to gauge environmental impact from the free flow of the river. _ JETJARAS NA RANONG
A ceremony witnessed the mass return of several species of fish as well as a revival of the local fish market.

The mood, however, was slightly dampened by a report that a consultant agency was to conduct a parallel study to another team already appointed by the cabinet.

On April 17, the Thaksin Shinawatra cabinet ordered the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) to open all gates of the Pak Moon dam for a period of four months, originally scheduled for May 15 to August 15.

Moreover, Ubon Ratchathani University was assigned to conduct a study on how to revive the ecology and way of life along the Moon River.

After a month's delay, Egat finally opened all eight gates on June 14.

Previously, the cabinet's resolution was not carried out, as Egat claimed there was another group of villagers protesting against the opening.

Lamduan Serathong, 49, was elated at the return of the fish.

She claimed there were now between 40-50 species of fish that have started to come back for the first time since the dam went into operation in June 1994.

Thongcharoen Sihatham, a leader of the Assembly of the Poor which spearheads the decade-old protest, was optimistic the study commissioned by the cabinet would bring the truth out into the open and support the villagers' repeated demand to have the Pak Moon dam decommissioned.

However, the National Economic and Social Development Board has also commissioned a team to conduct a similar study, but at a much higher budget of 94 million baht, compared to the 10-million-baht budget granted to the Ubon Ratchathani University team.

The Pak Moon villagers raised the possibility that Egat may be behind the NESDB's move.

The consultant agency was allegedly the same one commissioned to study the Kaeng Sua Ten dam. Both Egat and NESDB officials were not available for comment yesterday.

Prasittiporn Kan-Onsri [NOI]
Friends of the People [FOP.]
99 , 3rd Floor Nakorn Sawan Road
Pomprab Bangkok 10100. THAILAND.
Tel, Fax ; (662) 2811916 , 2812595
email ; fopthai@asiaaccess.net.th fopthai@hotmail.com
Assembly of the Poor. http://www.thai.to/aop and http://www.yod.net/members/noi
Protection Mun River Network. http://www.thai.to/munriver and http://www.yod.net/members/bun
Protection Yom River Network. http://www.thai.to/yomriver and http://www.yod.net/members/kst