Plans for industrial zone threaten fishing community in southern Thailand, locals say

[webfact]

 

The residents of Chana, a seaside district in Thailand’s Deep South, live by a slogan: “Hill, forest, rice field and sea.” 

 

For generations, people here have lived off the bounties of the land and sea by farming, logging and fishing. But some of them worry that, one day, their livelihoods could vanish should the Thai government go ahead with a plan to build a 2,680-heactare industrial estate in the mainly Muslim Malay border region.  

 

“This project does not promote or support the quality of life of the local people nor help them grow with the government policy,” Khairiyah Rahmanyah, a 21-year-old resident of Chana, told BenarNews, referring to the megaproject approved by the central government in 2019. 

 

“It could also [worsen] climate change. The factories would spew greenhouse gases and harm nature.”

 

Wissarut Verasopon

Picture: Villagers help push a boat out to sea to catch crabs during the monsoon season in Chana, a district in southern Thailand’s Songkhla province, Nov. 22, 2023. (Wissarut Verasopon/Thai News Pix/BenarNews)

 

Full story: BENAR NEWS 2023-12-09

 

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[Srikcir]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

 

“This project does not promote or support the quality of life of the local people nor help them grow with the government policy,”

With the State of Emergency still in effect in the South, no citizens have any constitutional rights to object to government plans. The pseudo pro-military government continues the Prayut policies.

[MarcelV]

So sad. The locals don't want this, but the govt keeps pushing these business proposals.

I am one of those locals and know firsthand how people resist the efforts to spoil their homeland. Miss Khairiyah is a brave young lady to speak up for her community. Hopefully, nothing bad will happen to her but I ain't betting money on it.