Apirat Suthawan, 54, is the village chief of Lao Dong village. "In 29...READ ON
Apirat Suthawan, 54, is the village chief of Lao Dong village. "In 29 years the dam has not given us even the smallest bit of water to use!" he said. He also saw how the village became split between those for the dam and against and how some of the disagreements still affect relationships today. June 2020
Community members fighting against the Rasi Salai Dam stand in Mae Mun Man...READ ON
Community members fighting against the Rasi Salai Dam stand in Mae Mun Man Yuen 2 protest village as it is slowly flooded in 1992. This protest village was constructed on the flood plains of the dam and was their way to attempt to demand the flood gates remain open. The authorities refused, kept the gates closed, causing this protest site to become submerged. Photo courtesy of the Wetland People Association - Rasi Salai, Si Saket.
The Rasi Salai dam in Si Saket Province completed and began operation in...READ ON
The Rasi Salai dam in Si Saket Province completed and began operation in 1994. The area is popular with young teens, many of which are unaware as to the struggles their parents' generation faced to protest the dam. June 2020
In 1997 members of the Rasi Salai anti-dam community joined hands with other...READ ON
In 1997 members of the Rasi Salai anti-dam community joined hands with other anti-dam communities from across Thailand to protest during a infamous 99-day protest in Bangkok organised by the Assembly of the Poor. Photo courtesy of the Wetland People Association - Rasi Salai, Si Saket.
Community members from the surrounding villages take part in the annual rice...READ ON
Community members from the surrounding villages take part in the annual rice offering ceremony at the Rasi Salai Wetland Centre. This ceremony uses the sale of the rice, which is in the tonnes, to pay for the activism and educational activities of the Centre throughout the next year. February 2020
A group of women members of the Assembly of the Poor wait for the arrival of...READ ON
A group of women members of the Assembly of the Poor wait for the arrival of the community chief during a meeting in 1996 in Rasi Salai. Photo courtesy of the Wetland People Association - Rasi Salai, Si Saket.
The peripheries of the dam reservoir see a lone large tree still standing....READ ON
The peripheries of the dam reservoir see a lone large tree still standing. Most of the large trees have died in the flood-plains of the dam unable to withstand the permanently flooded land. In a few months this area will be under water making seasonal farming impossible. June 2020
Nong Pa Kongtham, 69, one of the community group leaders stands on stage...READ ON
Nong Pa Kongtham, 69, one of the community group leaders stands on stage talking about the issues still facing the communities affected by the dam. She has been talking on stages like this for almost 3 decades against the dam. February 2020
The banner reads "The Rasi Salai dam destroyed our forest and our...READ ON
The banner reads "The Rasi Salai dam destroyed our forest and our community." In 1997 members of the Rasi Salai anti-dam community joined hands with other anti-dam communities from across Thailand to protest during a infamous 99-day protest in Bangkok organised by the Assembly of the Poor. Photo courtesy of the Wetland People Association - Rasi Salai, Si Saket.
Local villagers collect a reed that grows at the edge of the dam reservoir...READ ON
Local villagers collect a reed that grows at the edge of the dam reservoir which they use to make mats. June 2020
Local people, many kilometers away from the dam work to stop the rising...READ ON
Local people, many kilometers away from the dam work to stop the rising waters caused by the closing of the flood gates in the mid-1990's. Photo courtesy of the Wetland People Association - Rasi Salai, Si Saket.
Thongin Nongrak, 63, fishes with a traditional bamboo fish trap in the...READ ON
Thongin Nongrak, 63, fishes with a traditional bamboo fish trap in the reservoir of the dam. He has lived at the Rasi Salai Learning Centre since 2010 and been actively involved in helping events and workshops at the Centre. Despite his community of Ket Manor village being approximately 70km from the dam he still felt the effects and received compensation for loss of land in 2009. June 2020
Pranee Makanan, coordinator of the Wetlands People’s Sufficiency...READ ON
Pranee Makanan, coordinator of the Wetlands People’s Sufficiency Economy Learning Centre sits in the research room of the centre being interviewed by a local Thai journalist about the current issues facing the communities around the dam. September 2020
Pranee Makanan and members of the Rasi Salai anti-dam movement gather outside...READ ON
Pranee Makanan and members of the Rasi Salai anti-dam movement gather outside Si Saket's City Hall on October 19 1995 to voice their demands to the government asking for action. Photo courtesy of the Wetland People Association - Rasi Salai, Si Saket.
With the dam reservoir came sand-mining companies which suck large amounts of...READ ON
With the dam reservoir came sand-mining companies which suck large amounts of sand from the bottom of the lake to sell for construction. Many villagers question the environmental impact of such activity and the continuous transportation by large trucks. June 2020
In 2000 after years of protests in the form of the construction of permanent...READ ON
In 2000 after years of protests in the form of the construction of permanent protest villages built next to the dam the government had had enough and decided to close the gates flooding the Mae Mun Protest village pictured here. As a result the villagers were forced to vacate the villages and pursue other ideas. Photo courtesy of the Wetland People Association - Rasi Salai, Si Saket.
A protest march in 1999 that passed through Rasi Salai town. Photo courtesy...READ ON
A protest march in 1999 that passed through Rasi Salai town. Photo courtesy of the Wetland People Association - Rasi Salai, Si Saket.
Community members from the surrounding villages take part in a Buddhist...READ ON
Community members from the surrounding villages take part in a Buddhist ceremony as part of the annual rice offering ceremony at the Rasi Salai Wetland Centre. This ceremony uses the sale of the rice, which is in the tonnes, to pay for the activism and educational activities of the Centre throughout the next year. February 2020
Some local fisherman catch small fish at the edge of the reservoir. Many...READ ON
Some local fisherman catch small fish at the edge of the reservoir. Many local people used to graze their cattle in this area until it was flooded. Forced to sell their cattle few options remain in finding extra income from the what was once an important ecological wetland. June 2020
In 1997 members of the Rasi Salai anti-dam community joined hands with other...READ ON
In 1997 members of the Rasi Salai anti-dam community joined hands with other anti-dam communities from across Thailand to protest during a infamous 99-day protest in Bangkok organised by the Assembly of the Poor. Photo courtesy of the Wetland People Association - Rasi Salai, Si Saket.
Sombun Suphap, 65, struggles with a snake which has entered his fish trap to...READ ON
Sombun Suphap, 65, struggles with a snake which has entered his fish trap to eat the fish trapped inside. Locals say that since the dam has been built the number of snakes has risen substantially, often competing with the fishermen. June 2020
Photographs taken in the mid-1990’s show large fish traps previously...READ ON
Photographs taken in the mid-1990’s show large fish traps previously used by the community in the Mun River before it became a reservoir. Used for generations, the fish traps would be submerged into the Mun River and the fish would swim in and not be able to escape. Because the Mun River no longer flows and is now a reservoir, this traditional method can no longer be used. Photo courtesy of the Wetland People Association - Rasi Salai, Si Saket.
Banmi Sortang, a village researcher from a community around the reservoir,...READ ON
Banmi Sortang, a village researcher from a community around the reservoir, stands at his home holding books of research that he helped collect the data for. Starting in 2000, Rasi Salai villagers welcomed “Thai Baan” research when local fishermen and farmers served as citizen scientists to collect data on environmental changes caused by the Rasi Salai dam. September 2020
Communities members protesting the dam take part in a rice offering ceremony...READ ON
Communities members protesting the dam take part in a rice offering ceremony in 2000. This tradition continues today with the rice donated being sold and the money raised is used to support activities involving the struggle. Photo courtesy of the Wetland People Association - Rasi Salai, Si Saket.
A mountain of rice stacked up in the centre of the Rasi Salai Learning Centre...READ ON
A mountain of rice stacked up in the centre of the Rasi Salai Learning Centre before the crowds arrive for the annual rice offering ceremony. This ceremony uses the sale of the rice, which is in the tonnes, to pay for the activism and educational activities of the Centre throughout the next year. February 2020
Chicks are illuminated and warmed at night in a village that is located close...READ ON
Chicks are illuminated and warmed at night in a village that is located close to the Rasi Salai dam and who's community members have been an active part in the anti-dam struggle. September 2020
Sa Plakaithong, 77, previously the village chief of Lao Don village now works...READ ON
Sa Plakaithong, 77, previously the village chief of Lao Don village now works as a security guard for a sand dredging company in the reservoir created by the dam. At the beginning he wasn't sure as to whether the dam would affect the villagers in a negative way, but after seeing it with he changed his mind and began protesting against the dam. June 2020
Phaitoon Thotong, a village headman and researcher from a community close to...READ ON
Phaitoon Thotong, a village headman and researcher from a community close to the reservoir, collects wild fruit in the forest surrounding the reservoir. He assisted in collecting vital data and writing reports about the environment of the area affected by the dam. This information was was used as evidence in the struggle for compensation. September 2020
Realising that the community needed to understand and explain the...READ ON
Realising that the community needed to understand and explain the environmental changes that were happening because of the dam, using local community researchers they began monitoring and recording the natural environment including fish stocks. Photo courtesy of the Wetland People Association - Rasi Salai, Si Saket.
Sombun Suphap, 65, wades through the water of the flooded reservoir to...READ ON
Sombun Suphap, 65, wades through the water of the flooded reservoir to islands of land where he has placed small fish traps. At this time of year before the dam the area was dry and you could walk and farm on the land. Now it is continuously flooded all year round. June 2020
Since the mid-1990’s, a series of intense anti-dam movements across remote Thailand caused a rural-based social awakening that lead to continued social movements of remote communities against injustices until today. These initial struggles, namely that of the Pak Mun and Rasi Salai dam in Northeast Thailand, whilst being unsuccessful in their requests to decommission the structures not only empowered communities to confront the Government and corporations but ultimately forced national companies to shift most of their operations to neighbouring countries where the civic space was more limited.
In 1993, the Rasi Salai Irrigation dam began to operate on the Mun River, a tributary of the Mekong River, in a remote and impoverished corner of Northeast Thailand. The reservoir flooded the second most important wetland area in the country, and is part of the five decades-long, massive Green Isan Project, created to reduce irrigation issues in the drought-stricken area. As a consequence, thousands of households lost their land, livelihoods, culture and identity. The disruption triggered a rural exodus and local conflict which continues to this day: thirty years on, village heads, activists and NGOs still fight for compensation for the loss of people’s primary food source, while trying to help the local population find alternative sources of income.
This protest movement was inspired and supported by the communities impacted by and resisting the Pak Mun hydro-power dam, built around the same time at the confluence of the Mun and the Mekong on the Laos border. In the mid-1990’s, the Assembly of the Poor, an umbrella-organisation of numerous communities affected by infrastructure projects and land rights issues, emerged to organise people to fight for participation in the process of decision-making which affects their lives.
Yet three decades on, the community of Rasi Salai in Si Saket Province continues to demand the remaining compensation for loss of land and income whilst struggling to adapt to an environment that has irreversibly changed.
This documentary includes images taken by local photographers and community members during the 1990's. These negatives, kept at the centre of The Wetland People Association close to dam itself were scanned and preserved with the assistance of a Earth Journalism Network Special Grant.
Luke Duggleby - Photographer
Website of photographer Luke Duggleby. Based in Bangkok, Thailand, Luke specialises in documentary and portrait photography focusing on Asia.