Already more than 3,000 people have put their signatures expressing solidarity with the campaign, which will continue till September, a KRW official said. The move by KRW is “to prove the Karen people’s concern and to show solidarity with the Thai movement against the Salween dam project,” the official said.

Though at present, there are no activities for construction of the dam, a joint venture of the Thai and Burmese governments, a recent renewal of the proposal for exploiting Salween River by the Electric Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) indicates that the plan has not been put off.

Unlike in the Mekong River basin, where many local and international organisations are involved in campaign against construction of dams, the public awareness about the issue is relatively low in both Thailand and Burma. It is largely because of Burma’s complex civil war that very little information about Salween is available with the people about the Salween, which runs along the Thai-Burma border before turning inside Burma.

However, the mass petition against the Salween dam is being used as a popular information sharing tool at the grass-roots level. This is done as the KRW activists educate the local people while travelling on foot and collecting signatures.

The KRW published a report late last year, stating how the Karen people were paying the price for cheap electricity for Thailand and how the inhabitants in the entire project area were being evicted. The report, “Damming at Gunpoint”, details on the atrocities of the Burmese army, who have destroyed 85 villages and depopulated a vast stretch of the Salween bank since 1995.

At present, about 8,000 villagers are living as internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the area around the Salween on the Thai-Burma border. The Bangkok Post, a Thai national newspaper, reported on May 20 that the Burmese government would use the electricity for local use and sell the surplus to Thailand.

In response to that, Saw Nay Thablay of KRW said, “If you look from other regions, you will view the country’s entire population, including the military leadership, as locals. However, if you look from within the country, you will find only us as the local people. The Baluchaung Hyro-power plant, which was built in Karenni State, should have immensely benefited the local Karenni people.

But, it only caused forced relocation, untold environmental damage and human sufferings. It certainly does not indicate that the local communities will be benefited.” Unlike in Burma the Thai law recognises the right to voice public opinion. However, the Thai constitution stipulates that any activity, relating to the national boundary, requires Parliamentary approval.

Thus, any movement within the country against the Salween dam project will attract that provision of the law. But Karen social organisations, such as KRW, hope to make the Thai people feel that they too have responsibilities in maintaining the environment in the affected areas.

“Whatever the political regime there may be, dam builders from Thailand should acknowledge that ethnic groups like Karens, will always be their neighbours on the border. Any plan should treat them as equal stakeholders to ensure protection of natural resources and maintaining a sound environment in this frontier area”, a KRW official said