BOONSONG KOSITCHOTETHANA
Bangkok Post
Be it a dam, a gas pipeline, a power plant or any industrial scheme, they invariably have to run the gauntlet of opponents, householders, self-styled activists or environmentalists.
The not-in-my-backyard ("Nimby") phenomenon is alive and kicking, not only in other parts of the world but right here in Thailand. The growing Nimby syndrome is threatening many vital projects such as infrastructure development, which have important ramifications for the Thai economy and national growth as well as security.
This rising trend is leading to severe consequences, not only for project sponsors but also for the nation as a whole. Project supporters are rarely as outspoken or effective as their professional, full-time counterparts who will stop at nothing to advance their cause. Opponents continue to expect cheap electricity 24 hours a day at the touch of a switch, but are against the construction of new power plants.
The growing opposition to infrastructure projects raises big questions about which is more important: the common good or individual rights?
That issue is debatable. But it may be worth pointing to the French example where the common good is held as sufficient reason to endure big development projects.
In a democratic society like ours, it is alright to hold protests against projects like gas pipelines or coal-fired power plants, but such acts should be based on a well-informed and logically sound background rather than on myth, misinformation and sheer emotion.
In many cases, opponents sometimes distorted facts in a campaign to increase public anxiety and generate fierce opposition.
Remember all the predicted "disasters" to the environment, society and safety which opponents vigorously hurled against the 260km Burmese gas pipeline in Kanchanaburi? It has been a decade now and the pipeline continues to deliver natural gas from the Yadana and Yetagun fields in Burma's Gulf of Martaban, to Thailand. The operation has been running smoothly.
The Thai-Burma pipeline provides 20% of all natural gas supplies which Thailand needs, especially for power generation. But it has not really contributed to higher electricity and gas bills as accused at the time.
The pipeline will continue to offer a sizeable amount of such vital fuel for Thailand for another two decades, providing secured energy supplies for the country.
The ongoing protest against the plan to build new coal-fired power plants in Thailand may illustrate another example of the lack of information and the negative perception of an alternative source of power supply for Thailand, which is too dependent on natural gas, at 70% of total generation.
Many opponents are still wary about the pollution risks caused by the lignite-fired Mae Moh power plant in Lampang 10 years ago, rejecting the fact that mitigation measures and clean coal technology that greatly minimises pollutants, are available.
Comprehensive air pollution mitigation measures - including the 7.1-billion-baht installation of flue gas desulphurisation units for the 10 generators at the 2,400-MW Mae Moh facility which can absorb more than 90% of sulphur dioxide (SO2) derived from the combustion before it goes into the air - have worked effectively.
That has resulted in the air around Mae Moh becoming much cleaner than Bangkok when measured with SO2 content - an annual average of 2 microgrammes/cubic metre at Mae Moh, compared to 5 in Bangkok.
The prolonged protests in Prachuap Khiri Khan which led to the demise of Union Power Development Co's 1,400 MW coal-fired scheme and Gulf Power Generation's 734-MW facility, also fuelled by imported coal, have kept the anti-coal momentum alive.
The Nimby sentiment is dangerously driving Thailand towards dependence on imported energy in the form of gas and power, from countries like Burma, Laos, Indonesia and even Cambodia. A greater sense of the common good, reason, understanding and acceptance are perhaps what some opponents need in order to allow schemes which serve the national interest to proceed.
More public education is one way for policy-makers to address the Nimby epidemic.
Boonsong Kositchotethana is Deputy Assignment Editor (Business), Bangkok Post.
The not-in-my-backyard ("Nimby") phenomenon is alive and kicking, not only in other parts of the world but right here in Thailand. The growing Nimby syndrome is threatening many vital projects such as infrastructure development, which have important ramifications for the Thai economy and national growth as well as security.
This rising trend is leading to severe consequences, not only for project sponsors but also for the nation as a whole. Project supporters are rarely as outspoken or effective as their professional, full-time counterparts who will stop at nothing to advance their cause. Opponents continue to expect cheap electricity 24 hours a day at the touch of a switch, but are against the construction of new power plants.
The growing opposition to infrastructure projects raises big questions about which is more important: the common good or individual rights?
That issue is debatable. But it may be worth pointing to the French example where the common good is held as sufficient reason to endure big development projects.
In a democratic society like ours, it is alright to hold protests against projects like gas pipelines or coal-fired power plants, but such acts should be based on a well-informed and logically sound background rather than on myth, misinformation and sheer emotion.
In many cases, opponents sometimes distorted facts in a campaign to increase public anxiety and generate fierce opposition.
Remember all the predicted "disasters" to the environment, society and safety which opponents vigorously hurled against the 260km Burmese gas pipeline in Kanchanaburi? It has been a decade now and the pipeline continues to deliver natural gas from the Yadana and Yetagun fields in Burma's Gulf of Martaban, to Thailand. The operation has been running smoothly.
The Thai-Burma pipeline provides 20% of all natural gas supplies which Thailand needs, especially for power generation. But it has not really contributed to higher electricity and gas bills as accused at the time.
The pipeline will continue to offer a sizeable amount of such vital fuel for Thailand for another two decades, providing secured energy supplies for the country.
The ongoing protest against the plan to build new coal-fired power plants in Thailand may illustrate another example of the lack of information and the negative perception of an alternative source of power supply for Thailand, which is too dependent on natural gas, at 70% of total generation.
Many opponents are still wary about the pollution risks caused by the lignite-fired Mae Moh power plant in Lampang 10 years ago, rejecting the fact that mitigation measures and clean coal technology that greatly minimises pollutants, are available.
Comprehensive air pollution mitigation measures - including the 7.1-billion-baht installation of flue gas desulphurisation units for the 10 generators at the 2,400-MW Mae Moh facility which can absorb more than 90% of sulphur dioxide (SO2) derived from the combustion before it goes into the air - have worked effectively.
That has resulted in the air around Mae Moh becoming much cleaner than Bangkok when measured with SO2 content - an annual average of 2 microgrammes/cubic metre at Mae Moh, compared to 5 in Bangkok.
The prolonged protests in Prachuap Khiri Khan which led to the demise of Union Power Development Co's 1,400 MW coal-fired scheme and Gulf Power Generation's 734-MW facility, also fuelled by imported coal, have kept the anti-coal momentum alive.
The Nimby sentiment is dangerously driving Thailand towards dependence on imported energy in the form of gas and power, from countries like Burma, Laos, Indonesia and even Cambodia. A greater sense of the common good, reason, understanding and acceptance are perhaps what some opponents need in order to allow schemes which serve the national interest to proceed.
More public education is one way for policy-makers to address the Nimby epidemic.
Boonsong Kositchotethana is Deputy Assignment Editor (Business), Bangkok Post.
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