Kira (Thailand): We are not afraid

You guys may be weary of reading (or not reading, whichever the case my be) about my life-changing experiences, but the trip I just got back from was pretty incredible, in every sense of the word.

We just finished our water unit trip. The water unit focuses on the impact that large government-planned dams have on local communities, and how these communities are protesting. Basically, the Thai government (under influence from the world bank and such) is really into building dams for irrigation and/or electricity. They often lie to local people about what they are building and how it will affect them (one community was told that the government was simply building a bridge and not a dam. Incidentally, it is impossible to cross the "bridge" created by the dam because the government put a ton of thorny plants across one side. In another instance, villagers were told that the government was building a rubber weir. Strangely enough, a large concrete dam was built instead). Problems created by these dams include lack of fish (which is a HUGE problem for communities that have subsisted on fishing for generations), flooding of land (kind of sucks for rice farmers), and salinization of soil (which the royal irrigation department denies, but which we also saw with our own eyes). Some villagers got some compensation for their land, but others don't have land titles (which they wouldn't need, really, unless they needed compensation from the government). Also, the villagers don't want money. They want their farmland and their fishing rivers back.

The day we left Khon Kaen, we had exchanges with the Royal Irrigation Department and the Electricity Generating Association of Thailand. These exchanges were pretty frustrating because a lot of what these groups said were lies (flat-out denial of facts), they weren't very well informed (EGAT had us talk to engineers, who obviously knew little about social issues), and they just didn't like us much (and we didn't like them much, really). That night though, we got to exchange with the man whose house we were all staying in for 3 nights. He does a lot with the AoP (explained later), and he was pretty inspirational to talk to. He talked a lot about his experience protesting and his views on democracy.

We spent this part of our homestay in Sansakrit province to participate in the 100-day after-death ceremony for Wanida. Wanida was an activist who worked with the Assembly of the Poor, which is a movement that includes poor people (farmers, fishers, slum dwellers, etc.) from throughout Thailand. It originated in Sansakrit province, which is where the ceremony was and where Wanida worked. As part of the ceremony, we went on a 16-km march with around a thousand people (mainly villagers and NGOs. We saw some people we knew from other homestays, which was fun). It was pretty amazing. Even though it wasn't technically a protest (we aren't allowed to participate in protests because the presence of foreigners delegitimizes them), we all carried flags that either had pictures of Wanida or the words "No Dam." The march took most of a day, with a couple of fried-rice breaks. During lunch break at a temple, a bunch of us students jumped into the Mun River. The villagers made fun of us and kept telling us that there were big snakes in the water (there weren't). We also exchanged with NGOs during the day (i guess as somewhat of a mistranslation, the term "NGO" is actually used in Thailand to refer to individuals. Someone who, for example, works in a community and helps them protest is an NGO). We ended up at the Thai Baan Center, which is the headquarters of the Assembly of the Poor.

The next morning, we went on a boat and explored the Mun River and the Mehkong. The highlight of the trip was seeing Laos (the Mehkong separates Laos and Thailand). Although we couldn't legally go to Laos without visas, we stopped at a little island (more like a bunch of rocks) that belongs to Laos. So we were in Laos (kind of)! We were all really excited about this. That afternoon, we went back to the Thai Baan Center and had some more exchanges with NGOs. We also got to see a former prime minister speak (briefly, in Thai, but it was pretty cool that he showed up for Wanida's ceremony), and we saw a short documentary of Wanida's life and some singing and dance performances. I really liked the atmosphere at the Thai Baan Center, and I wish I could have communicated better.

After this, we left Sansakrit province and spent a day touring the large dams. It was kind of depressing, really. We spoke to one woman who wasn't against the dam, and she said that this is because she wants water for irrigation (even though she already has water, and she doesn't think the water would come to her village anyway). She also said that the only people who protest are those directly affected by the dam. She doesn't protest because she isn't. We also talked to some people who were making salt. When the dam is closed (this one hasn't yet been closed, but has already caused problems), the land that these people use to make salt will be flooded (yay salinization of water).

Then we met our 1-night homestay families. My family was really super-nice. I love homestays, and I am kind of sad that this was our last organized one (although I may be going on one in a couple of days? Not sure). We had an exchange with the villagers, which went really well. The village headman told us a lot about the villagers' experiences with protesting. Once, when the villagers were protesting outside of a ministry in Bangkok, the Prime Minister himself grabbed a pregnant woman who was protesting and kicked her in the stomach, causing her to lose the baby. Stories like this were horrifying.

The next morning, we woke up early to water plants. Later on, a bunch of us went fishing. This fish pond was larger, and the fishing was a multi-step process involving hitting the water with long sticks, fencing off part of the pond, digging up the lilies, and then fishing with large and small nets. I really enjoyed working alongside the grandmas with small nets, catching small fish. After fishing, we all had a yummy lunch that consisted mainly of grilled fish. Then we went back home, showered (I'm really starting to like the bucket showers), and said goodbyes. Our host mom gave me and the other girl HUGE bags of snacks and plaid scarves. It was really nice and unexpected, especially since we were only there for a night (students usually stay longer, but we had Wanida's ceremony).

So now we're back in Khon Kaen. I still have to process everything.