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PAK MOON DAM
Home-bound protesters ride free again
'Anonymous person' pays fare for all 800
Anchalee Kongrut
The 800 protesting villagers from Ubon Ratchathani who refused to pay train
fares on their way to Bangkok, got another free ride yesterday as they
headed home.
Arriving at Hua Lamphong railway station at noon, the villagers'
representatives immediately started negotiating with officials for a free
ride.
At first railway officials insisted the villagers were no different from
other passengers and would have to pay.
Then at about 2pm Narin Jantaradecha, the station master, announced that
"an anonymous person" had paid for all tickets and the villagers could
board the train at 3.25pm.
While the villagers cheered, their representatives told officials the eight
carriages slated for them would be not be sufficient for 800 people, and
demanded 14 bogies.
For the past 10 months, the villagers have been living in a makeshift
village at the edge of Pak Moon Dam in Ubon Ratchathani. They came to
Bangkok last Monday to air grievances stemming from the dam's construction.
They descended on a train en masse in Ubon and refused to pay the fare. The
State Railway of Thailand (SRT) subsequently announced it would not allow
the protesters to board a train home. The threat was not carried out.
An agreement was reached at 6pm yesterday.
The SRT offered 10 bogies with one restaurant carriage, although food
served would not be free.
The atmosphere at the station was quite jovial. Protesters and students
handed out leaflets and played music to collect cash donations. Even
policemen keeping watch over the crowds were smiling and appeared at ease.
A senior railway official told the Bangkok Post that the railway authority
had been prepared to provide up to 12 carriages to take the protesters
home, but the SRT did not want to be seen giving in to the protesters'
demand too easily.
Protest leader Wanida Tantiwittayapitak praised the SRT for "doing a good
job", while SRT deputy governor Sanong Jotikasthira called the protesters
demanding and unreasonable. |
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