Deep-sea port project in Tambon Klai, Tha Sa La District, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province
Ban Bang San is a village located on the coastal beach of Tambon Klai, Tha Sa La District of Nakhon Si Thammarat Province. The beach is 225 kilometers long and free of islands and rapids. Its unique characteristic offers a wide-open view far towards the horizon. Nearby is the Klai River Mouth where freshwater, brackish water and seawater meet and create rich ecosystems. Occasionally, there would be pink and gray dolphins swimming in the area. The majority of the villagers is Muslim and fish for a living. Small fishing rafts disperse across the river mouth.
Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production Co., Ltd, permitted by the Thai government, was planning a petroleum exploration and production project under the provision of Department of Mineral Fuels. The project would cover a vast area of the Gulf of Thailand. Although Chevron Thailand already set up two shore bases--one in Muang District, Songkhla and another in Sattahip District, Chonburi--but there were limitations. So, the company planned to build a new shore base at Ban Bang San in Tambon Klai, Tha Sa La District, Nakhon Si Thammarat. The new shore base would merge the existing two shore bases into one. The planned project would consist a port for transporting equipments between the shore base and the marine base and new facilities on the shoreline e.g. premises, storages and roads. NST Supply Base Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production Co., Ltd, would be commissioned to build the port.
The project plan indicated that the port would be 330 meters long. Thailand‟s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) required any port project with a length beyond 300 meters is considered a project with possible severe environmental and health impacts on communities. In addition, Section 67 Paragraph 2 of the 2007 Thai Constitution stated that an environmental and health impact assessment must be conducted for any project with possible harmful impacts on the community environment and health. The company chose to implement its project in Tambon Klai because: 1. There was no law restricting how the proposed site shall be used. The land was not part of a marine or terrestrial reserve area. 2. The proposed site was not considered an area with particular environmental and social values; and 3. The proposed site and its adjacent were mostly used for planting coconut trees with only a few communities residing in the area. Comparing with other areas, the proposed site was less vulnerable to potential impacts.
Sediment dredging in the sea was necessary to develop the project. Dredging would happen during construction and be repeated annually to maintain a suitable depth of 8.5 meters from mean sea level (an equivalent to more than 100,000 square meters) for shipping. As much of the sediment at the sea bottom was very saline and very soft clay, after dredging, it would be dispersed back to the sea.
Community Health Impact Assessment (CHIA) was introduced by non-governmental organizations that were already working with local Fisher Folks Association. As the community and NGOs were highly concerned with the potential impacts, they chose to use CHIA as a tool to promote learning and, eventually, insert community knowledge into the decision-making process.
The process started with forming a core team to design CHIA framework. The core team was a mix of community leaders, such as public health center staff, teachers and leaders; and community organizers such as civil society groups, the director of Chawang Hospital and NGOs. The core team drafted a CHIA framework and presented to the whole community both at a village level and Tambon level.
Data collection began with determining factors required for a quality health. The community organized a learning platform for Klai community to indicate which factors promote or harm their health. Each villager was asked to respond to a questionnaire. Their answers were analyzed and summarized to determine which factors were most important to maintain good health. The results were then discussed in further detail with community leaders.
Each village reviewed the response and additional comments with support from Walailuk University (yet, support was restricted in some areas due to local political conflicts). The results revealed both positive and negative information. Positive information was mainly about abundance in agriculture. Negative information focused on concerns on impacts of heavy industries. Both types of information were studied in further detail and discussed in various forums in the community and in other areas.
After more than a year of learning and conducting community-led research in Klai, the core team finally published a report. However, it was not powerful enough to change the situation. Moreover, the longer they worked, the less participation they got. The core team decided to change its plan and focused on the most vulnerable group in the community: fisher folks. It also adjusted the impacted area from an administrative area of Tambon Klai to fishery area, which would be affected by the port. This expanded CHIA area from Tambon Klai to the home of more than 1,000 fishing boats in Tha Sa La Bay.
What really motivated the Tha Sa La fisher folks to take action was what‟s written in the draft report on environment and health impact assessment (EHIA). It stated that Tha Sa La Bay was not rich in resources. In the villagers‟ word, “they say our home is a deserted sea.” Tha Sa La leaders were formed instantly to inquire the risks on their sea and review the draft EHIA report for its accuracy.
This led to a new round of CHIA. This time, the assessment focused on Tha Sa La Bay as an important food source and driver of local economy. It also emphasized the values of the local community.
Informal talks among community leaders led to fruitful debates and powerful ideas on the future of the community. These talks created a “sense of collective ownership” and urged the community to critically reviewed the factors that enhanced local capacity and abundance of Tha Sa La Bay. The process engaged wider groups of villagers. Talks were organized in every village. Each factor was analyzed and used to form a research framework. Detail study was done in various ways. For example, collecting economic data from fishery facilities; conducting scientific survey and collecting samples on aquatic species at Tha Sala Bay; and studying wind direction, wave movement and ecological relationship. During the research, the community revealed collected data at local forums for all residents to check and review for accuracy. There were more than 100 forums with various groups and sectors attended. The community also presented their findings to relevant government agencies that might allow the destruction of Tha Sa La Bay. The community hoped the public would learn about their home and their intention to determine their local development strategy.
Tha Sa La CHIA team’s reflection on CHIA:
“The core values and importance of CHIA are not all about seeking information but creating a sense of collective ownership and building a sense of a community. When these objectives are met, the information will be even more powerful. The heart of CHIA is not about fighting an enemy but empowering the mind of the people and freeing the community from conflicts in order to prevent violence. This community chooses to fight with their knowledge first by using a tool called CHIA. Our decision that day enables us to determine our own future and to prevent conflicts between us and Chevron and a coal-fired power plant project. What we actually create is a process to guarantee our own future as food producers and that this land and sea are for producing food for the people of this world.”