tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145117592063944458.post6187912489516988620..comments2023-11-02T03:40:09.064-07:00Comments on Human Perspective on Development and Environment: Building the EnvironmentCIEE - Thailandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00702040572805817922noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145117592063944458.post-10872657449813907262008-11-02T04:40:00.000-08:002008-11-02T04:40:00.000-08:00This incident really illustrates a problem that is...This incident really illustrates a problem that is ubiquitous across the world - the fact that governments just do not listen to their experts. Even in the United States - which has a high concentration of think tanks, private institutions of academics in nearly every field, and more "special panels" formed each year than you can shake a fist at - tends to bend actual facts to fit their policies. <BR/><BR/>You're right when you say that Ministry officials probably don't know much about ecology and environment...which is ironic considering they ARE the Ministry of Agriculture (I mean, there should be SOME standards of background...). Its frustrating when you consider the place of academic experts and 'advisors' in any government administration - they're precisely so that even if government officials are better at administration than having a body of knowledge it'll be okay. Unfortunately, whether its due to bribery or just pure stubbornness in thinking that they are more intelligent than academics...we'll probably never know.Emma Htunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17279284307764033506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145117592063944458.post-74887167932471685372008-10-31T22:17:00.000-07:002008-10-31T22:17:00.000-07:00I think that much of this negligence stems from th...I think that much of this negligence stems from the fact that these mega-projects rarely affect those that plan and implement them. Even villagers we've encountered have a hard time understanding that the benefits they might experience from a development project might negatively affect their neighbors just a few kilometers away. During our exchange with villagers living near the Hua Na and Rasi Salai dams, I was struck by a conversation between two men, one of whom was pleased with his new-found ability to harvest rice twice each year, while the other man explained that because of the Rasi Salai dam, his land is so flooded that he can no longer grow rice at all. "The good impact [of the dam] is much greater than the negative," the first man said. "My rice field is flooded," the second man explained. "Everything is flooded…Since these dams were built, I can no longer make a good living." I know that for me, this conversation put a face to the negligence and detachment we've heard so much about. I've realized how important it is for all of us, villagers and government officials included, to think about the effects these mega-projects have not only on the environment, but also on our fellow human beings.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145117592063944458.post-79309351116873326642008-10-16T23:58:00.000-07:002008-10-16T23:58:00.000-07:00I remember being equally as perplexed as you are w...I remember being equally as perplexed as you are when P’Jit Kaiya Ma said that EGAT “builds the environment”. I think it essential in understanding the goals of Thailand’s industrial development plan. They seem to think that development in the way that the West has developed in the last 50 years is the ideal development plan. This involves changing the natural environment instead of changing ourselves. It seems that, especially in the case of EGAT, they still see the natural environment as something that needs to be overcome whereas the sustainable way to approach the situation would be to study natural ecological processes and learn from these. I don’t think the problem is that there is a lack of plastic-lined fishponds, but instead that we feel it necessary to have plastic-lined fishponds. It seems that the natural environment was just fine without these. There is already a “green movement” happening in the United States, where people are looking at natural ecological processes and trying to change ourselves to adapt to these processes rather than change those processes themselves. If only EGAT and the government of Thailand would look towards this new development trend instead of the old destructive trends of the past.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08456579903232222696noreply@blogger.com