Thailand: Environmental activist killed
Event- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Jul 31, 2011
- Event Description
Jomkwan Sawekchinda, 46, said coal-related companies, and in particular the transport sector, will have been angered by Thongnak's disruption of their business. She said her husband was a key leader in the fight against the coal business in tambon Tha Sai in Muang district. The protest started in 2006 and also involved the local fisheries network which blames the transportation of coal for polluting air and water in the area. "There had been a continuing war of words between my husband and an owner of coal trucks who was once my husband's friend," said Mrs Jomkwan. She said Thongnak's former friend had started to attract the attention of highway police in recent months, with his lorries being frequently inspected and said to be overloaded. Mrs Jomkwan said the lorry company owner believed the police were working on tip-offs from Thongnak, and confronted her husband over this. She said the latest argument between the two was Thongnak's last confrontation before he was shot dead in front of his house in tambon Tha Sai on Thursday. Thongnak, 47, was shot six times by a man on a motorcycle wielding a .357mm pistol. He was taken to Mahachai Hospital, where he died. National police chief Pol Gen Wichien Pojphosri yesterday assigned his deputy Pol Gen Panupong Singhara na Ayutthaya to hunt for the killer. Investigators visited the murder scene yesterday and found more evidence. An officer in the investigating team said the conflict between Thongnak and coal transport business operators was considered the prime motive, but other possibilities are being looked into. Chanchai Rungrojsakorn, a key member of the protest, said coal transport operators were angered by Samut Sakhon governor Julapat Saengchan's order to suspend their operations for three months after residents blocked Rama II highway as part of the protest on July 13. "The negligence of duty by authorities who tolerated law-breaking in the area have to share the responsibility for Thongnak's death," he said. Mr Chanchai said a 1,000-tonne gross barge, transporting coal at a port in the area, has a capacity of only 500 tonnes. The 12 ports in Samut Sakhon are designed for crops and fishery products, not coal, he said. Furthermore, he accused coal transport operators of overloading barges by up to 2,400 tonnes for each 1,000-tonne barge. The coal loads are shipped from deep-sea ports in Chon Buri to Samut Sakhon before being loaded into trucks and transported to five coal separation factories elsewhere in the province. Mr Chanchai said coal-contaminated water was frequently discharged into the Tha Chin River by these factories. "We will not let Thongnak die for nothing," he said. "We will keep fighting until all coal separation plants cease their operations here." A villager said students at Ban Klong Samrong in Ban Phaeo district are also being put at risk by the coal business. "Coal dust spread everywhere, especially in winter season," she said. "If you come here[to the school], you will see a pile of dust from coal. The school teachers have no idea how to deal with it, but the problem won't go away."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Death
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Event Location
Latitude: 13.7234
Longitude: 100.4762
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
The wife of slain protester Thongnak Sawekchinda said her husband's murder was likely a result of a drop in profits caused by the movement to stop coal being transported through Samut Sakhon.