By
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE on February 20, 2017
BANGKOK: Thailand’s military government on Sunday shelved plans to
build a coal-fired power station in a popular beach region, a rare success for
demonstrators in a country where the right to protest has been severely curbed.
Hundreds of protesters had gathered
outside government offices in Bangkok since Friday to demonstrate against the
junta’s decision to approve an 800-megawatt coal plant on the coast of Krabi, a
southern region renowned for its tropical beaches and steep limestone hills.
Three protest leaders were detained
on Saturday and held in a barracks prison but released on Sunday in a deal
struck with authorities.
In a statement, government spokesman
Lieutenant General Sansern Kaewkamnerd said the government had ordered a new
environmental impact assessment to decide whether the plant should be built,
reversing the cabinet’s decision last week to press ahead.
Protesters said they would end their
demonstration in response to the announcement.
The gathering was a rare act of
defiance of the junta’s ban on public protests. Generals seized power in 2014
and have severely clamped down on dissent.
The military government is largely
popular in Thailand’s south. But some Krabi residents were alarmed at the
decision to push ahead with the power station.
The junta says the power plant is
desperately needed to combat energy shortages in the south.
Thailand’s southern beach regions
are a comparatively wealthy part of the country but suck up significant energy
resources. Blackouts have become more common.
Krabi protesters say the military
government should use renewable energy to plug the gap.
They fear a coal-fired power station
could ruin the environment in a country where safety standards are poor and
corruption is rampant.
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