from Minamata to Map Ta Phut

I believe that most of Thai people, especially those in their twenties like me, are quite familiar with th e word "Minamata" for it is not only written in our social sciences textbooks since grade 4 but also has long been repeated countless times on TV news report.

According to Mary R.N. Kugler, "in the mid 1950s the people of Minamata, Japan, on the coast of Shiranui Sea, began to notice something wrong with the cats in their town. The cats appeared to be going insane, and were falling into the sea." And that is the beginning of this tragedy. "Soon the people in this town were also contracting a strange illness," which includes numbness in their limbs and lips, difficulty in hearing or saying, tremors in their arms and legs, difficulty in walking, and even brain damage. 

After researching into the cause of the strange illness, it was suspected that the fish in Minamata Bay were being poisoned. In 1959, scientists from Kumamoto University concluded that organic mercury, which had been dumped into the Bay by Chisso company, a large petrochemical plant in Minamata, was the source of Minamata disease.

((more infos: http://rarediseases.about.com/od/rarediseases1/a/102304.htm))

When I'm done reading about how the people in Minamata fighting back for their own rights, it reminded me of home and Map Ta Phut.

Located in the province of Rayong, Thailand, Map Ta Phut is considered to be one of the  biggest petro-chemical hubs in the world. That's why it is not a surprise if the residents living around this area might have undergone the same experience as those in Minamata. In this case, it has been a long desperate attempt of the public sector to protect their welfare. Fortunately, the efforts seemed to pay off.

Two years ago, "on Dec 2, the Supreme Administrative Court upheld a lower court suspension of 65 industrial projects at the Map Ta Phut industrial zone for failing to abide by Section 67 of the 2007 charter, which requires projects to pass public hearings and independent reviews and to complete environmental impact and health impact assessments before being allowed to operate."


((source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/29342/map-ta-phut-fears-rise))

After the legal fallout from the Map Ta Phut case, we were warned that our attractiveness for foreign investors, especially from Japan, has dropped considerably and the investment climate would continue to be depressed for more than a decade. That's such a bad news.

On the other side, nevertheless, because, despite their money, they have also damaged surrounding environment and brought natives the strange disease, there have been a great number of people whose lives have been depressed by these industries for decades too.

I don't wanna judge anybody; everyone for themselves .. that's definite and reasonable.

Still, I love the fact that this matter has driven people to hold on to each other and proved the quote "better together" to be true. ^^
And though I said I don't wanna judge, as a citizen ,, of course ,, I have a bias against the business side.

Therefore, I'm really looking forward to the Minamata trip this weekend.
I wanna see how people of Minamata getting together, helping each other, and becoming a formidable opponent for the business section and political power.
Maybe one day, I can use what I learn for my country's people and help them strengthen the public sector's role in this fight as well. :p