The field studies which lasted for six (6) days starting from 6th -11th January 2011, included visits and interactions with communities on various issues that are clear indications of conflicts that require solution. The first day of the field study was an orientation on the history of Ubonratchathani by Professor Sombat Worthong, former Dean Faculty of Law, Ubonratchathani University. Thereafter, Professeor Songwut Sansarin of the Department of International Law from the same university oriented us on the Nationalityless and Stateless people who are leaving in different settlements within the Thai Nation without an identify, and it is viewed as breeding ground for resentment that may a in the long run result in conflict as such groups of people are currently insecure.
A good part of the second day was taken to survey the tourism potentials and endowments of the area during which we had the opportunity of visiting Phataem National Park located at the most eastern past of Thailand. Other places visited were the 3000 thousand waves and holes river located along Moon River. The two colour river which is the midpoint between Moon and Mekong River was also visited. The interesting thing about this place is that the meeting point of the two rivers is the border line between Laos Republic and Thailand. The tour was rounded up with a warm welcoming dinner by the Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Lotus City, Ubon.
The active study started with a visit to the Civil Society organization, in which fellows were addressed by Miss Jongkonnee Sirrat in the company of other volunteers on the roles of Civil Society Ubonratchathani, during this session we were able to learn that they play active role in training different communities on the basic human right information and other essentials knowledge based skills. The team visited the Senior Deputy Governor of Ubonratchathani City who addressed us on the urban development policy in Ubonratchathani during which he addressed areas of land use and right within the country, this is because the land form the common causes of conflicts mostly between the communities and the government authority. The Urban Poor Community Network was visited, during which an interactive session that lasted for about 2hours 30minutes was held. Questions were asked on the operations of the network and what it stands for. The network is a non political organisation aimed at protecting the interest of the poor in various communities and they do this by making consultations with government at all levels. Where the government fail to address their needs they embark on protest.
The Wat Luang community was another group of people visited and their issue heard to do with government constructing a river bank to avoid flooding in a nearby river in which the community depends upon for their livelihood. After the river bank construction, it was not high enough to prevent the flooding; this made the community to continue to put pressure on the government to make adjustments of the constructions to prevent flooding into the community houses. After assessing the situation, the government decided to find a more lasting solution to the problem and this was to involve reconstructing the houses of the community population and for this to be done, it will require that government pull down the houses of the affected community members to allow for the reconstruction of new and modern houses at an arrangement of 80%: 20%. In which the government will pay 80% of the total cost of constructing each house, while each house owner takes care of the remaining 20%. So far, the project is completed but the community is left to pay their part of 20%. The impact have created some socioeconomic gap in the community as finding alternative livelihood is difficult, this is because they were left with no space for vegetable farming where they use to earn their living from. Fellows heard the opportunity of asking questions and learning from the community on the procedures they followed to peacefully resolve their problem with the government.
Another community visited was the communities located near the Pak Moon Dam, their issue was the case of construction of a controversial dam for generation of electricity in Pak Moon Rivers which is over the years known to be a place for fishing by 55 surrounding villages covering four main areas. After several protest for over 20yrs by the community against citing of the project, the government insisted on constructing the dam, this is believe by the community to have frustrated their age long profession of fishing thereby denying them of their right to livelihood. The problem has persisted for long as the communities insist the Dam be open. The protest camp was visited by fellows, in which it was observed the communities are maintaining a firm position of continuing the protest against the government as long as the government will have the dam open and on the worst scenario the community may be forced to destroy the dam. A practicing Lawyer in person of Mr. Nikom Veesapan, who delivered a lecture to us on the dam and issues surrounding it, was of the opinion that the right thing to do is for the government to order for the opening of the dam which is in agreement with the outcome of a research sponsored by the government on the situation.
The Meeting with Nhongpak Village Community, Boondarik District and Ba Hai Tai Mui Community was held on the 9th and 10th. Their issue has to do with Nationalitylessness. They are Lao citizen who migrated to Thai Area for the past 36 years and their legitimate country Laos Republic reject their plea to return after displacement form Laos due to conflicts. The Thai Government on the other hand has allowed them to stay in their territory but does not allow them access to Thai national ID which allow citizen have access to the social security (Health, School, Work) provided by the Thai government. The life of these groups of people is characterized by;
· Threat from the security men, restrictions from moving around, no government scholarship opportunities for their children, limited land for farming and no ownership to any property.
· 20,000 people involved (Nhongpak)
· Applying for National Identity is difficult for them as they have to come to Bangkok and in most cases before reaching the Bangkok City, they suffer harassment from the police because of their lack of identity, which further discourage them from making efforts to get the ID.
· They only wait for opportunity of daily pay hired job as they have no access to schedule paid jobs and this get them grossly unsecure.
This is another dimension in conflict studies as fellows were not only surprise by such situation but emotionally moved by the hopeless state of this categories of people. It was another opportunity of open learning as the interaction with the people resulted in several questions from both the communities and the fellow.
The field studies ended on 11th with debriefing by the fellows and the Rotary Peace Center (RPC) staff facilitated by the Deputy Director, Jenn Wiedman. This was a time of hearing the reactions and comments of fellows on their experiences and challenges based on the analysis of all the cases studied. During the sessions fellows expressed their appreciation to the Rotary International for providing such an opportunity of learning and also to the RPC for the good organization of the field study.
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