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NHRC criticises use of troops to get drilling rig to oil well
Chularat Saengpassa,
Natthapat Phromkaew
The Nation

Niran says oil firm has failed to hold forum as promised

BANGKOK: -- A NATIONAL HUMAN Rights Commission (NHRC) subcommittee will lodge complaints today |over the deployment of security |officials for an oil firm in Khon Kaen province.

"We will write to both the Khon Kaen governor and the chief of the Second Army Area to let them know that the deployment of security forces is utterly inappropriate," Dr Niran Pitakwatchara said yesterday in his capacity as chairman of the NHRC subcommittee on community rights.

He was commenting on reports that hundreds of police, soldiers and volunteers showed up in Ban Na Mun, Tambon Dun Sad in Khon Kaen's Kranuan district, from last Saturday to help Apico trucks carrying a drilling rig so they could move past protesting locals to the site of a new well in nearby Kalasin province.

Residents of Ban Na Mun have been protesting for several days now because they fear exploration for oil and gas so close to their hometown will hurt the environment, natural resources - and their health.

Niran said locals said they had no idea what the energy concessionaire, Apico (Khorat), was doing due to the lack of public consultation. He said locals were now very worried that no one would take responsibility if there were adverse impacts.

"This is a conflict that should be settled through talks, not any use of force," Niran emphasised.

He pointed out that it was agreed at a meeting between his panel and various agencies such as Kalasin and Khon Kaen branches of the Internal Security Operations Command and the Mineral Fuels Department on February 10 that an academic forum on the petroleum operation be held fast for all stakeholders to get adequate information.

"But the firm has chosen to move its equipment into the site before the forum is held," Niran said, adding that the NRC will go ahead with the forum.

At Ban Na Mun, locals were praying and crying yesterday as they had to watch trucks with drilling equipment move past them.

Locals 'ignored'

Nattaporn Artharn, co-ordinator of the Ban Na Mun - Dun Sad Environmental Conservation Group, lamented that locals felt hurt because concerns about their health and environment were ignored.

Srisuwan Janya, secretary general of the Association of Organisations for the Protection of Thailand's Constitution, has chosen to stand by the villagers. Yesterday he called on the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to investigate officials allegedly involved in |favouring the gas-drilling firm.

He said NACC should suspend from duty Rural Roads Department director general Daroon Saengchai, Mineral Fuels Department head Puangthip Silpasart, and relevant officials pending an inquiry.

"I believe their actions have violated many laws," he said.

PTT Plc, meanwhile, told the NHRC yesterday that its fourth gas pipeline - from Rayong to Kaeng Khoi - had a proper environmental impact assessment.

"We have held 305 forums covering some 18,820 participants," its representative said. The firm has started paying compensation to affected people too.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/NHRC-criticises-use-of-troops-to-get-drilling-rig--30254303.html


-- The Nation 2015-02-18

[rametindallas]

They are 'fracking' for natural gas all over Texas including the cities. There are oil wells in downtown Los Angeles. I have worked in different facets of the oil business for a dozen years. This is not like a mine or a coal-burning generator; oil drilling is simple and safe.

For a country to have its own oil supply is better than money in the bank because it creates jobs, helps with balance of trade, steadies price fluctuations, and prevents disruptions in supplies abroad. Since the US started recovering huge amounts of Shale Gas and Oil, the price of crude the World pays has dropped by 50%. This benefits everyone who burns electricity in their homes or powers their businesses.

They don't hold hearings in Texas; the drilling companies lease the land and then get a permit from the State Railroad Commission.

Drilling Permit Approval Process for a problem-free application

http://www.rrc.state.tx.us/oil-gas/applications-and-permits/drilling-permits/

[Rob8891]

They are 'fracking' for natural gas all over Texas including the cities. There are oil wells in downtown Los Angeles. I have worked in different facets of the oil business for a dozen years. This is not like a mine or a coal-burning generator; oil drilling is simple and safe.

For a country to have its own oil supply is better than money in the bank because it creates jobs, helps with balance of trade, steadies price fluctuations, and prevents disruptions in supplies abroad. Since the US started recovering huge amounts of Shale Gas and Oil, the price of crude the World pays has dropped by 50%. This benefits everyone who burns electricity in their homes or powers their businesses.

They don't hold hearings in Texas; the drilling companies lease the land and then get a permit from the State Railroad Commission.

Drilling Permit Approval Process for a problem-free application

http://www.rrc.state.tx.us/oil-gas/applications-and-permits/drilling-permits/

This is an article about THAILAND.... Thaivisa gives you a hint....it's in the Thai News forum for another hint. Why oh why, do posters immediately bang on about their home country? I hesitate to say who cares, but, well.....who cares about the UK / US / etc....the countries that many of us decided to leave.

The situation in this instance (getting back on topic) shows that it pays to have friends in high(ish) places, to ride roughshod over the people and the environment.

[FangFerang]

They impeached a former PM for appering on a cooking show, but use soldiers, police and "volunteers" to get an oil rig to a controversial drilling site (and before an Environmental Impact Study was even simply fictionalized, much less conducted)?

Just like the lottery ticket is an unsolvable problem (because military people control over 30% of all the lottery tickets), free labor is okay...for certain people....I wonder who owns the drilling company and land and mineral rights??

Here is a hint -- take two guesses, and the first one doesn't count.

[ratcatcher]

They impeached a former PM for appering on a cooking show, but use soldiers, police and "volunteers" to get an oil rig to a controversial drilling site (and before an Environmental Impact Study was even simply fictionalized, much less conducted)?

Just like the lottery ticket is an unsolvable problem (because military people control over 30% of all the lottery tickets), free labor is okay...for certain people....I wonder who owns the drilling company and land and mineral rights??

Here is a hint -- take two guesses, and the first one doesn't count.

This would be my second guess, as the 1st one didn't count.

http://www.amchamthailand.com/ACCT/asp/corpdetail.asp?CorpID=1029

[Prbkk]

The old guard is back in power. Expect more use of public resources for private gain and no focus at all on the rights of small communities. The 'Bangkok elite' have a green light to do as they please.

[halloween]

They impeached a former PM for appering on a cooking show, but use soldiers, police and "volunteers" to get an oil rig to a controversial drilling site (and before an Environmental Impact Study was even simply fictionalized, much less conducted)?

Just like the lottery ticket is an unsolvable problem (because military people control over 30% of all the lottery tickets), free labor is okay...for certain people....I wonder who owns the drilling company and land and mineral rights??

Here is a hint -- take two guesses, and the first one doesn't count.

Opening your post with a piece of irrelevant BS, displaying ignorance of the historical facts and your usual bias, does little to give the rest of your post credibility.

"APICO LLC was incorporated in Delaware, USA in 2002 and is privately owned." http://www.amchamthailand.com/ACCT/asp/corpdetail.asp?CorpID=1029