On Dec 19, proponents of Sahaviriya Steel Group beat up local conservation group members who have been campaigning against the steel giant's planned construction of a smelting plant in Bang Saphan district of Prachuab Khiri Khan, upper southern Thailand.

The scuffle took place at the office of Mae Ramphueng Tambon Administrative Organization where 10 conservation group members sat in on the TAO meeting to follow up in case any request by the company to clear the site for construction came up.  They would make objections because the plant's environmental impact assessment report has yet to be approved by the relevant authorities and the TAO already made a decision not to permit the land clearance earlier this month.

Saowalee Veetakul, one of the members of the Mae Ramphueng conservation group, said that around 3.30 pm after the meeting was over, group members, including 6 men and 4 women, were leaving the office, when they met about 100 supporters of the steel company in red T-shirts yelling at them.  Many supporters approached and attacked them with wooden sticks, although the conservation group members were following policemen.  Many people were injured.  The police could not immediately stop the brawl, but eventually separated the conservation group members and brought them inside the TAO office where they were attacked with slingshot-fired metal balls.  After more than an hour, with a backup of more police, the conservation group members finally made their way out of the place.

Saowalee said 5 of them, including 4 men and one woman, were hospitalized; one with broken ribs.  They were sent to hospital at Thab Sakae, another district next to Bang Saphan, to avoid further clashes with the company's supporters.

She said while she was taken upstairs inside the TAO office, she saw the attackers in red t-shirts take off their masks; they were complete strangers in their teens.  The police took the attackers behind a police truck and then released them.  After receiving medical treatment, the conservation group planned to file a complaint with the police, but they expected that the police would just write down the daily record, she said.

Jintana Kaewkhao, leader of Ban Krut conservation group, who had led a successful campaign against a coal-fired power plant project near Bang Saphan, expressed frustration that the authorities could not take care of the people and handle the conflict.  The TAO did not recognize public participation, and local people also believe that the TAO was complicit in the incident, she said.

Bang Saphan police chief Pol Col Surasak Suksawaeng said that he received reports that the conservation group went to submit their petition to the TAO, and lingered until they clashed with the crowd of supporters.  The police had prepared riot troops, but they could not intervene as both sides were hurling things at each other.  It was reported that there were 4-5 injuries among the conservation group members, and one injured supporter.

The police chief said that the steel company's supporters had filed a complaint with the police, but the opponents had yet to do so.       

Related news:

• Martial law imposed to stifle grassroots environmental movements in Prachuab Khiri Khan
• Conflict over Sahaviriya's planned smelting plant likely to escalate
• Strong local opposition to Sahaviriya's expansion
• Steel industry giant faces local opposition against its smelting plant in Prachuab

Translated by Ponglert Pongwanan