On Dec 21, Mae Ramphueng conservation group petitioned the National Human Rights Commission to look into the incident in which group members were attacked by supporters of the Sahaviriya Steel Group at the office of Mae Ramphueng Tambon Administrative Organization in Bang Saphan district, Prachuab Khiri Khan.

Seksan Veerakul, one of the injured members, said that 10 of them went on Dec 19to submit a petition to the TAO to oppose land filling by the company for the construction of its smelting plant, and attended the TAO meeting. They were attacked while police were standing by. The attackers beat them with bamboo sticks with nails attached. As a result, one conservation group member sustained an arm injury requiring two stitches, another two members needed 6 and 7 stitches to their head, and another was hospitalized for one night and needed close follow-up as his liver was severely impacted. The remaining members sustained minor injuries from slingshot-fired metal balls.

Human Rights Commissioner Sunee Chaiyaros said that the NHRC had set up a panel to respond to the request by residents in Bang Saphan to look into the issue, and the panel had studied the conflict and almost completed a report. With respect to the latest violent incident, the NHRC will ask the provincial governor to take special care to prevent further violence.

The NHRC had also asked the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP) to send its expert panel to visit the area for a thorough inspection before making a decision on approval of the environmental impact assessment report for Sahaviriya's smelting plant, and had asked relevant agencies to suspend land filling in and around the local peat swamp forest until the EIA report is approved.

Sureerat Taechutrakul, leader of another conservation group campaigning against the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) coal-fired power plant project in the nearby Thab Sakae district, said that the local people had set up their own surveillance to watch over the peat swamp forest for months. In light of the violent incident, they have been more organized, and about 300 of them kept guard at their camp at the swamp each night. The supporters of the steel company, mostly teenagers, have also been gathering at houses of community leaders.

Sureerat added that a subcommittee of the ONEP have been mulling over the nomination of the Mae Ramphueng peat swamp as a Ramsar site, under an international convention on wetland preservation. Although eventually Sahaviriya decided to avoid filling the 1,400-rai peat swamp, and turned to fill adjacent lands instead, land fill around the peat swamp would prevent natural drainage to the sea, resulting in flooding of the peat swamp and nearby Bang Saphan district town.

Mae Ramphueng TAO Chair Kriangkrai Jaidee said that the violent showdown has scared the TAO officials and people who need to contact the office.

"So far the subcontractor Prachuab Pattana Company has yet to submit its request to fill land at the construction site of the smelting plant. And the TAO council has never made any decision on the matter, as I already signed a cancellation of the land fill in November," he said.

Related news:

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• 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