 |
|
Can you spot the difference? |
 |
There's nothing wrong with a river's
natural features, the river doesn't deliberately avoid running in a specific
direction for a convenient distance therefore, this ignorance of what is best
for man can sometimes prove to be infuriating.
For example, imagine you wanted to build a
new resort by the banks of a river on Koh Chang. Your family happen to own
a ridiculous amount of land on the island already so there's no need to worry
about having to buy more. Some of that land happens to be beside a river -
that's a promising start. But there's a hitch, the land isn't really big
enough for what you plan to build. Mother nature, in typical female
fashion, has placed an inlet full of mangroves right where you want to build
conference facilities for your plush new riverbank hotel which is already
under construction. Now, as if to teach us all a lesson we didn't
already know, you have to show Mother Nature that you mess with Koh Chang's
elite at your peril.
Even I, the cynical guy that I am, would
have thought that whilst you can get away with cutting down a few trees
surreptitiously you'd have a hard time filling in a 70 x 100 metre kink in
the river without anyone noticing. And sure enough you'd be right, attempting to
pass off a couple of thousand sandbags as a naturally occurring riverbank
feature isn't as easy as it sounds. Fortunately the land owner sensibly
realised this too.
 |
|
"Sandbags? What Sandbags?" |
It would be even harder to believe that you
could actually get permission from the local planning, forestry
and marine departments to dump umpteen truckloads of landfill into the earmarked area without any
questions being raised as to how this equates with the government's official
policy of avoiding the rape & pillage of all the natural greenery on the island by
overzealous / greedy developers. But surprise, surprise, that's what's
happened.
Exactly how and why permission was granted
is a question that would probably get the enquirer into a spot of bother if they
cared or dared to ask.
Sadly, this kind of behaviour isn't an
isolated case - another couple of mentionables are:
The Grand Lagoona near Bangbao. The owner
built a huge boat resort , thereby illegally dredging the shoreline.
Apparently, the Harbor Department gave the developer permission to
dredge the beach, but (probably due to a simple misunderstanding)
they continued
dredging past the Harbor Department jurisdiction and way up into the
national park land. Oooops! After the Royal Forestry Department (RFD) found
out about it, they administered a small fine but the damage was
already done. When asked about the incident, RFD chief Plodpasop
Suraswadee (Yes, the same guy who's now in charge of Koh Chang) said that since they were so far along in the
construction he granted them further permission to continue the
dredging. It was either that or fill the hole in again which would
be a hassle. Then in late 2003, when the resort has been open for a
year the planning officials raid it, Thaksin declares publicly no-one is above the
law, even fellow billionaires such as the owner of the Grand Lagoona.
Three months
later Miss Universe ends up staying there as a guest of the Tourist Authority of
Thailand.
In 2002 a government panel that found
the Aiyapura Resort hadn't encroached on navy owned land deliberately
although it had managed to "unintentionally" build on 5 rai (about 2 acres)
of land that was destined for use as a reservoir to supply the nearby
village with water.
Ironically, PM Thaksin organized a mobile Cabinet meeting at the
Aiyapura Resort shortly after the panel announced it's findings. Turns
out that the PM's (then) Deputy Secretary-General, Lt-Gen Preecha Wannarat,
as well as two high-ranked military officials - Gen Jarupat Ruangsuwan and
Lt-Gen Paiboon Kanchanapibul – were shareholders of the resort.
Way down in the
south east of the island in the Hat Yuthanavy area entire hills are being
deforested and levelled right now (Jan 2005) for reasons that I'm sure will
eventually become apparent. The road heading here is lined with 'No
entry' signs in English and Thai which may just be due to the fact it hasn't
yet been completed - but is driveable - or it maybe to deter visitors as
guys hacking the trees of entire hillsides aren't the sort of images tourist
officials would like to appear in public.
Your choice whether to laugh or cry.
|
