Embattled villagers in Thailand’s Northeast Isan region have urged the Thai authorities to consider the environmental impacts of oil drilling before it is too late.
According to the Environmental Conservation Group of Na-moon-Doon Sad Facebook page, about 30 villagers from Ban Na-moon, Kranuan District, Khon Kaen Province at 11 am on Thursday came to the Damrongdhama Centre, established under the Interior Ministry to accept complaints, to issue a letter to the Governor of Khon Kaen.
In the letter, the villagers urged provincial administrators to thoroughly study the potential impacts especially on especially and the environment and come up with mitigation measures for oil-drilling activities near to their villages.
Na-moon-Doon Sad villagers submit a letter to the Khon Kaen Governor, urging the authorities to think of the environmental impacts from oil-drilling on 28 May 2015 (Photo from Neo E-Saan Movement)
The villagers also demanded that the authorities hold forums to inform the public about the potential impacts of petroleum extraction activities.
In early February, about 200 military and police officers escorted a convoy of 45 trucks of Apico (Korat) Limited, a US-based oil and gas exploration company, into a potential oilfield in Kranuan District of Khon Kaen.
The villagers have long opposed the plan to explore the oilfield because the plan and the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) were conducted without the involvement of local people who will be directly affected.
Prior to the transportation of drilling equipment, the villagers collected names to submit a petition to Khon Kaen Administrative Court and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in an attempt to stop the drilling, resulting in the NHCR issuing an order to halt the company’s operations.
Despite the NHRC order, however, the company continued drilling activities with the aid of the military and police.
According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), in early February, military officers from Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) Khon Kaen came to talk to village leaders and a local environmental conservation group and threatened to use martial law if the villagers obstructed the company’s operations because the Department of Mineral Fuels had permitted the company to explore the field.
