PM’s struggle over power
It’s official. The controversial environmental and health impact studies for the coalfired power plant in Krabi are to go back to square one, much to the delight of the project’s opponents.
Yet despite this, there is much to read between the political lines, according to political experts.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s decision to scrap the existing environmental health impact assessment (EHIA) — as well as the environmental impact assessment (EIA) — was warmly received by the large group of Krabi residents and their supporting network who had travelled to Bangkok to present a unified front of opposition outside Government House two weeks ago.
Prasitchai Nunuan, one of the protest leaders fighting against the use of coal for the plant, said the news from the prime minister was the best he had ever heard.
“We are extremely happy. We knew from the outset that senior figures in the government favoured rejecting the existing assessments,” he said.
He and fellow protesters had confidence in the prime minister, the energy minister and 1st Region Army commander Apirat Kongsompong whose mediation of the protest encouraged them to disband their brief rally.
In the process, Lt Gen Apirat had gambled with his reputation. He had promised that if the government went back on its word and pushed ahead with the existing assessments, which the opponents slammed for favouring the use of coal and for lacking public input, he would pay for their trip back to Bangkok to re-stage the protest.
Mr Prasitchai said the wrangling over the issue and the resistance his group drummed up were the byproduct of the confusion engendered by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, which has been insisting that the existing EIA and the EHIA remain intact and that they should only be reviewed.
Gen Prayut’s announcement has, once and for all, put an end to the confusion, Mr Prasitchai said, adding the premier’s message was loud and clear that the assessments must be cancelled and everything must go back to square one.
Gen Prayut stressed that the assessments this time must thoroughly sound out everyone’s opinions, especially the input from the local residents. He pointed that the assessment procedures must be conducted with transparency.
Earlier, the prime minister instructed the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning to write to the Energy Ministry, ordering it to inform the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand that it must formally scrap both the EIA and the EHIA.
The decision means another lengthy wait for any further moves on the plant, as the new studies on the impact are expected to take at least two years. Even if the EIA and the EHIA sail through at the end of it, building the power plant will require a minimum of five years.
Observers feel it is open to interpretation whether the scrapping of the studies may be a tactical move by the government.
They say the last thing the government needs is more public resistance to its administration. It is already under a lot of pressure from the Wat Phra Dhammakaya controversy, and defusing the power plant tension would leave it with one less battle to fight.
The government also does not want to be distracted from the reform and reconciliation campaigns it is driving, which are high up on the agenda and must get started before the next general election can be arranged.