Salween

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/* Written  6:29 pm  Apr 27, 1994 by kamol@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx in igc:soc.culture.th */
/* ---------- "Salween" ---------- */
Sunday Perspective: 
THE SALWEEN: RIVER OF LIFE OR DEATH?
 
 
Burma's got it, Thailand wants it: water -- not only for its 
life-giving qualities, but also for its electricity-generating 
capacity. Multi-national plans have already been drawn up for the 
construction of dams on the Salween and other rivers. But, as 
KARUNA BUAKAMSRI reports, not everyone is looking forward to their 
completion.
 
GUNSHOTS and the cruelty of forty years of Burma's civil war are 
still echoing on Salween's watershed horizons. Yet a newer spectre 
of doom, that of dam construction, has crept in, posing a threat 
to the sanctuary that has preserved so far a cultural richness, 
biological diversity and the intricate human ties between peoples 
in Southeast Asia.  
 
Born in 1965, 29-year-old Saw Steve grew up in an intellectual 
family. Both of his parents were professionals; his father was a 
lawyer and his mother a physician. Saw Steve himself received a 
degree in geology from Rangoon University. With such a background, 
his life should have been a smooth one, if he hadn't been born in 
Burma under a military-run government, and hadn't been born Karen.
 
He left home eight years ago without telling his parents. It was a 
major turning point in his life. The long journey that led him to 
join the largest and most influential of the Karen rebels in 
Kawthoolei territory (the base of the Karen Revolution). His 
departure from his beloved ones came for only one reason: his 
desire to liberate his country.
 
"My father was once a revolutionary, and was arrested by the 
Burmese government in 1966 because he had contact with the 
dissident groups in Kawthoolei. I decided to follow in my father's 
footsteps, to do as much for my country and my people as I could." 
said Saw Steve.
 
The original cause of the conflict, which sparked a civil war 
between the ethnic Burmese groups and the Burmese government, 
occurred when the Panglong Agreement was broken by the Burmese 
military regime in the late 1940s.
 
The agreement, made in 1947 between General Aung San and leaders 
of Burma's indigenous groups, stated that the Burmese government 
would honour the contract to allow ethnic groups their autonomy 
once Burma gained back their independence from Britain in 1948.
 
  The military and politicians, who did not agree with Gen Aung 
San's political philosophy, conspired to get rid of him through an 
assassination plot in 1947. Ever since, successive Burmese 
governments have refused to honour their contract and give 
autonomy to the ethnic groups. 
 
  Like other dissident groups in Burma, the Karen began their own 
insurgency in 1949, under the name of the Karen National Union 
(KNU). Their mission was to fight the Burmese military regime 
which had dishonoured the agreement. Other dissident groups later 
joined the rebellion and their combined forces became known as the 
Democratic Alliance of Burma (DAB). The struggle for democracy has 
continued for the past 44 years and is still continuing at 
present. 
 
"When I was young, I knew nothing about conflict. I only remember 
being told about the peaceful Karen demonstrations in 1947. The 
demand is freedom for Karens. We want equality, peace, and 
tranquillity." said Saw Steve.
 
The Karen revolutionaries, up to the present, have been regularly 
attacked by the Burmese military junta government for the past 40 
years. The government has come to be known as the State Law and 
Order Restoration Council (Slorc).
 
Saw Steve revealed that for the past four to five years, Slorc has 
attempted many new strategies and tactics to eliminate the Karen: 
by creating conflict between the different ethnic groups, 
employing new fighting strategies, using religion to attempt to 
split their unity, and by engaging in massive attacks on their 
dissident groups.
 
The Karen people are both Buddhists and Christians. Most 
Christians use the Karen language in their worship of the faith; 
they learn to read the Karen language, although few become adept 
writers. The Karen are not given the opportunity to study the 
Karen language in school.
 
"It is dangerous for our people when we don't know our own culture 
or literature. The percentage of people who do not known the Karen 
language is increasing; in the foreseeable future we will lose our 
identity," predicted Saw Steve gloomily.
 
The most imminent threat which worries Steve even more is the 
feasibility of collaboration between the Burmese Government and 
the Thai Government in the future. The Electricity Generating 
Authority of Thailand (Egat) and the Department of Energy 
Promotion and Development (DEPD), which is part of the Ministry of 
Science, Technology and Environment, are collaborating with the 
Myanmar Electric Power Enterprise (MEPE), to construct eight dams 
altogether that would block the flow of five rivers in the Salween 
watershed areas which run between the Thai and Burmese borders.
 
One, a great river, begins her journey in the Tibetan Himalayas. 
Fed by melting snow, which tumbles down through the deep rugged 
gorges and passes through Yunnan in Southern China, it is called 
Nu Giang ("Nu River") by the Yunnan people. Another river named 
Nam Kong ("Kong River") begins in Yunnan and cuts across the Shan 
State to the Burmese border with Thailand. It then flows down into 
the Kayah state in Burma. The river runs through the north of 
Burma before reaching the Thai border, where the people call her 
Salween.
 
The Salween acts as a natural border between Thai and Burma for 
118 kilometres of the river's length, as it flows southwest of Mae 
Hong Son down to Tak. On the Thai side it is preserved as the 
Salween Wildlife Sanctuary, while the opposite side is known as 
Sop Moei. The junction of the Salween and Moei rivers hosts the 
Karen's main revolutionary base, Manerplaw. The Salween then cuts 
back into Burma, before it flows into the Gulf of Martaban in 
Moulmein and out to the Andaman Sea.
 
Totalling 2,413 kilometres, the Salween is the longest river in 
Southeast Asia, and the largest in terms of sheer volume. It 
carries 1,798 million cubic feet of water annually to the sea. 
There are many indigenous communities living on its banks, whose 
colourful cultures differ greatly.
 
These are the Karen, Kareni, Kayah, Shan, Pa-o, Palong and Wa. The 
Salween watershed is listed as the most culturally rich and most 
ethnically-diverse in Southeast Asia.
 
The Salween River has retained her natural beauty because she has 
received virtually no international attention, since Burma's 
internal conflicts began. But now Thailand has a strong impetus to 
push for the Salween dams, to keep pace with the country's rapid 
industrialisation and its insatiable appetite for electricity.
 
"The plan to construct dams in the Salween watershed regions, is 
not for development, but because Slorc wants to destroy the Karen 
revolution base, since it is our best area. If we move from our 
area, we and the Karen revolution, will naturally lose the fight, 
and our nation," added Saw Steve.
 
  "If the dam projects are fulfilled, they would pose a direct 
threat to the ethnic groups. The question must be asked as to how 
many people will be evicted from their native land. Not only will 
they lose their land but they will lose their culture, which is 
their means of life as well," Saw Steve said with regret. "It is 
now recognised that environmental destruction contributes directly 
to the refugee problem." he warned. 
 
The Salween River would be blocked by two giant dams. One of them, 
the Upper Salween Dam, would be located 76 kilometres from the 
meeting point of the Salween and the Moei rivers in Mae Hong Son 
Province. A feasibility study was carried out by a Japanese 
consultancy known as the Electric Power Development Co-operation 
(EPDC) in 1992. This colossal construction would install 
generators with the capacity to produce 4,540 megawatts of power. 
The Upper Salween Dam also includes a project to divert huge 
amounts of water, approximately 10,000 million cubic metres per 
year, from Salween into Thailand's Chao Phraya River.
 
The dam that lies on the Salween River, is referred to as the 
Lower Salween Dam. One possible location is in Mae Hong Son 
Province, about 30 kilometres upstream from Sop Moei (a junction 
of the Salween and Moei rivers). It is expected to generate 792 
megawatts of power.
 
Wildlife Fund Thailand documents have indicated that the World 
Bank, the Manhattan Bank of America and the Chinese Government 
will support the funding for these Salween projects.
 
The Salween River is fed by snow melted in Tibet, monsoon rains 
and moisture draining from alpine forests in the Himalayas, down 
to the murky mangroves in the plateaus of Southeast Asia. The 
range of forest types and wildlife are extensive.
 
A study of the rivers' various ecologies, by the Forest Research 
Centre at the Faculty of Forestry of Kasetsart University, 
suggests the Salween watershed regions host rain forests which are 
crucial in terms of balancing the world's ecology. Moreover, the 
Salween watershed area also stretches to the Thung Yai Naresuan 
and Huay Kha Kaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, which are listed as World 
Heritages.
 
"The forests of eastern Burma remain plentiful along the Salween 
River, while the forests have all been logged out on the Thai 
side. Constructing the Salween dams means we will lose our forest, 
which is so important in terms of ecology -- it provides us with 
our life. We know all about its importance because we are now 
dependent on nature and are well used to this pattern of life." 
said Saw Steve.
 
The other three dam projects, to be built across the Moei River, 
are referred to as Moei One, Two and Three. A feasibility study 
was completed by the EPDC in 1992. Installation of such dams would 
create the capacity to generate as much as 629 megawatts. The 
second Moei dam project, apart from generating power, would divert 
the river's flow to feed Thailand's Bhumibol Dam, which is facing 
continual water shortages.
 
The other projects which directly threaten the Karen, other ethnic 
groups and the pro-democracy armed forces, are the three dams on 
the Moei River. Both banks of the Moei River are extremely crucial 
as they pass through Manerplaw, where the headquarters of the KNU 
is located, and is considered the heartland of the Karen 
revolution.
 
"If the dam projects become reality, there are three ways for us 
to go. The first is to go to refugee camps in Thai territory. The 
second is to go to a Slorc concentration camp. And the third is to 
stay on the top of the mountain like animals." said Padoe Kawsoe, 
a member of the KNU Central Committee.
 
  Another plan being studied would dam the Mae Sai River in the 
Shan State, before it passes into Thailand. A feasibility study 
conducted by MEPE predicted this project's generating capacity to 
be 12.5 megawatts. 
 
A potential 294 megawatt dam is planned across the Kok River, 
while yet another in the series of dam projects, called the Kra 
Buri Dam, would block the Kra Buri River. Both have already passed 
the preliminary studies.
 
Documents from the Wildlife Fund of Thailand revealed that, if 
implemented, this gigantic series of dam projects would swallow 
the huge total of US$5.12 billion in cash, or equal to 128.02 
trillion baht. Ninety per cent of the energy generated would be 
imported into Thailand.
 
"We would get nothing but grave damages to our country, while 
Thailand would get our energy, and Slorc would get money for 
destroying our ethnic groups." said Padoe Kawsoe.
 
Thailand, under the present Chuan Administration has become 
involved with Slorc in planning these dam projects for two primary 
reasons. The first is to supply water for the large multi-purpose 
Bhumibol Dam which is the major source of fresh water for 
Thailand's central region, currently facing a water shortage. The 
second reason is that Thailand will tap a huge energy source.
 
"If the dam projects are fulfilled, Slorc will gain large sums of 
money which will be converted into weapons to kill us. The 
massacre of the indigenous people along the Salween watershed will 
inevitably happen." Padoe Kawsoe said.
 
"Moreover, we will lose our forests and bio-diversity which are 
the property of humanity." Saw Steve added.
 
S omnuek Benjawitthayatham, an NGO volunteer working with minority 
groups, said there's a high possibility that the Karen minority 
along the Thai borders will become refugees on the western side of 
Thailand if the water diversion scheme is eventually implemented.
 
"It's quite certain that those supporting the scheme will cite the 
benefit for the country while those affected by the scheme will be 
seen as just a small group or groups of people," he said.
 
The scheme is projected as a cooperative programme between the 
Thai and Burmese governments, and it comes as no surprise that 
little has been mentioned about human rights, if any. "It's 
involved with politics or international politics, not only 
Thai-Burmese relations. It has been publicised as a multi-purpose 
scheme which will benefit the industry and the economy at large, 
so chances are it will be promoted," said the Thai volunteer.
 
Chronology of events
 
 
 
 
 
C HRONOLOGY of events leading up to proposals to build dams on the 
Salween River which runs between the borders of Burma and 
Thailand.
 
1979 -- The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) 
initiates 14 projects to divert water from the tributaries of the 
Kong and Salween international rivers. 1985 -- The Japan 
International Cooperation Agency presents their study of the Khun 
Yuam Development Project to the National Committee on Energy. 
Included in the study are 10 hydro-powered dam projects on the 
Yuam, Mae Rid and Ngao rivers.
 
1989, January -- A committee responsible for the hydro-power dam 
projects on the Thai-Burmese border is appointed by the Thai 
Cabinet. The committee will pursue the dam projects on five rivers 
along the border.
 
1989, April -- Representatives from the Thai Committee on the 
hydro-power dam projects on the Thai-Burmese border discuss the 
projects with the Myanmar Electric Power Enterprise. A joint 
committee is set up.
 
1989, July -- Top officials of the National Committee on Energy 
visit Rangoon. The two countries enter into an agreement of 
cooperation in water development projects. A coordinating team is 
established with the National Myanmar Electric Power Enterprise 
and the National Committee on Energy playing a key role.
 
1989 -- The coordinating team calls for the first meeting in 
Bangkok in November. Seven hydro-powered dam projects are 
proposed. It is agreed that Thailand will be responsible for the 
study of the Khlong Kra Project, and Burma will study the Mae Sai 
Project.
 
1989 -- Egat lists the Lama Luang and Nam Ngao hydro-power dam 
projects in its 17-year power development plan (1990-2006) in 
December. The Egat Executive Board approves the two projects which 
are based on the Khun Yuam Project of Jica. Under the plan, the 
two dams are to be completed in 2000.
 
1990 -- August -- The coordinating team meets for the second 
meeting in Bangkok.  It agrees to speed up the preliminary study 
of the remaining five dam projects.
 
1991 -- The coordinating team meets in Rangoon. It is agreed that 
the National Committee on Energy will ask the EPDC of Japan to 
conduct the feasibility study of the dam projects.
 
1991, May -- The EPDC agrees to join the project by sending a 
survey team to Thailand.
 
1992, March -- The EPDC completes the study and proposes eight dam 
projects along the Thai-Burmese border. 1992, August -- The Thai 
Cabinet gives approval to the plan to solve the water crisis in 
the Chao Phraya River Basin which encompass the Salween Diversion 
Scheme.
 
1993, January -- Egat reveals information about the seven dam 
projects under the Salween Water Diversion Scheme to the press. 
1993, January -- The United Nation's People Organisation (UNPO) 
holds a conference at The Hague, Netherlands, on human rights. The 
Shan State calls for international cooperation in condemning Slorc 
for violence against the Shan people, and for joining hands with 
the Thai Government on the Salween Dam projects. 1993, February -- 
Seven winners of the Nobel Prize for Human Rights visit Thailand. 
They are critical of Thailand and neighbouring Asian countries' 
"constructive engagement" policies, that allow Slorc a large 
benefit which it is able to divert into weapons to kill ethnic 
groups.
 
1993, October -- Gen Saw Bo Mya, leader of Karen National Union 
(KNU), declares at Manerplaw that the KNU is totally against the 
Salween Dam projects. He states they are willing to use armed 
force if peaceful protests prove useless. 1994, March -- The House 
Committee, led by northern MP Songsuk Pakkasem, announce they will 
follow up on the cabinet resolution and organise a seminar on 
comprehending the Salween water diversion scheme.
 
According to Mr Songsuk, the water diversion scheme is designed to 
replenish the Bhumibol Dam and the Chao Phraya River Basin and 
increase the electricity supply for Thailand.
 
It is revealed that three Thai companies, namely MDX, Wes Group 
and World Impex, have approached the Burmese leaders for 
concession rights to construct the dam projects under the water 
diversion scheme. At least nine areas in Burma are surveyed for 
dam sites.
 
Two of the main minority groups under the Karen National Union and 
the Muang Tai Army voice concern over the effects of the scheme.