Stone milling concession and factory in Ban Klang, Ao Luek District, Krabi Province
Ban Kao Klom is a traditional community located in Tambon Ban Klang, Ao Luek District, Krabi. Most of the villagers are gardeners in rubber and oil palm plantations. Like many southern communities, Ban Kao Klom has very abundant natural resources. There are as many as five streams passing through the village. These streams originate from the dozen limestone mountains around the village. For locals, these streams and mountains have been important food and medicinal herb resources for the community for a very long time.
In 2007, Trung Phu Thong Milling Limited Partnership requested Ban Klang Tambon Administrative Organization (TAO) to hold a meeting for TAO members to approve three mountains in village vicinity --Lek Fai Mountain, Nora Mountain and Tham Chang Nok Mountain--as industrial stone resource area. However, the company did not notify the community that it also planned to reserve other mountains as stored stone resource.
In 2010, Trung Phu Thong Milling Limited Partnership requested a concession permit for a stone mine. TAO and local village headman held a consultation meeting, but the process was very short. Little information was given on the impacts of the project. The meeting report also contained many names of those who did not attend the meeting.
Consequently, Ban Kao Klom formed “Ban Klang Natural Resources and Environmental Preservation Group” to promote environmental preservation activities and monitor the stone milling project proponents. The group submitted opposition letters to various government agencies including the District Director, provincial Industrial Department, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Prime Minister‟s Office. The community found false approvals by the landowners and inaccurate investigative reports by the village headman. However, the Industry Ministry had already granted the concession to the private company in 2012. Meanwhile, the company filed civil and criminal cases against 7 community leaders after they submitting the opposition letters. The company demanded over 10 million baht for compensation.
A local community organizer contacted the Thai Human Rights Lawyers Association (HRLA) to providing legal assistance to the community on both civil and criminal cases. HRLA viewed the community‟s action as a lawful constitutional right of the community to protect their natural resources. On the other hand, the concession was done without community participation. HRLA‟s legal assistance was its main support to empower the community. In addition, it also connected the community with other organizations such as the Fine Arts Department, the District, Thai National Human Rights Commission and educational institutions.
Ban Klang Natural Resources and Environmental Preservation Group attempted numerous times to submit a letter to relevant government agencies to review the concession. It argued that the investigative report contained contradicting findings and did not truly reflect the site, the government agencies rejected their argument and stated the investigation was legitimate as it followed all the procedures. After numerous numerous attempts the community then finally concluded that it had to generate a systematic community research to complement their evidences that were only photographs. Somporn Pengkam and ENLAWTHAI Foundation assisted the community to conduct CHIA.
They began with doing a community mapping to find the community values. The map revealed eight issues to study in details: physical geography, community history, importance of the mountains and water source, local economy, medicinal herbs, archaeological site and possible impacts of stone milling.
The study showed that limestone mountains are the most prominent feature in the area. They are important source of water for the community. Local economy could generate over 100 million baht annually. Most of the villagers are farmers and have stable income. There are over 100 different types of medicinal herbs. The villagers also found a 5,000-year old painting on the cave, which was later enlisted by the Fine Arts Department. There are over 10 mountains in the area and locals believed that these mountains were once home of ancient communities and deserved to be preserved.
The community used results from CHIA as evidence during the judicial process, mainly to repeal the concession permit. More importantly, they used the findings to deepen the community understand its capacity, to realize the values of their natural resources and the connection between the community and its environment. Consequently, the community organized forums to present its findings and to expand their network. The forums also brought the community together to decide how they would like to develop their community.
For this case study, we find that CHIA is a useful tool for the community to protect its legal rights due to the following: 1. CHIA prepares the community to exercise its legal right by building their confidence to explicit their arguments before government agencies or the court because the community is the one who conducts the research. 2. CHIA helps organize community‟s knowledge to be more systematic, making it suitable as evidence 3. CHIA draws in new perspectives that can be used to argue inaccuracy in the environmental impact assessment reports. New findings and new arguments can strengthen the community‟s position and lead to cancellation of the project. 4. CHIA unlock the court‟s limitation to abide by only one set of ruling. It opens up the access to more comprehensive facts. 5. CHIA provides a more comprehensive set of information to balance the interests between the community and the project proponents.