Songkhla group vows bigger protests against power plant
The group opposing the Thepa coal-fired power plant announced a bigger wave of protests next month against the Environmental and Health Impact Assessment (EHIA) of the project.
A group of locals from Songkhla’s Thepa district, who oppose the 2,200-megawatt coal-fired power plant in their area, had rallied in front of Natural Resources and Environment Ministry since Wednesday but failed to make any breakthrough. The group said on Friday that they would return home for now, but would return and stage a more intense demonstration.
The protesters had demanded on Thursday that the Natural Resources and Environment Minister meet with them and receive their request to cancel the EHIA of the project. They demanded that a neutral committee be set up to review the validity of the EHIA report, but as of Friday the minister had not shown up.
The Network of Community Rights and Environment Safeguards for Peace coordinator, Direk Hemnakorn, read the statement in front of Natural Resources and Environment Ministry that the protesters had decided to go home since the government has already made its stance clear by neglecting the suffering of citizens, hence there was no point in prolonging the protest.
“We will go back home and plan our next move with alliance groups to elevate the protest within September. We will consider every option that would make the government listen to us,” Direk said.
