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Social activist Wanida dies of cancer, 52
Came to prominence in Pak Moon dam fight
KULTIDA SAMABUDDHI
Bangkok Post. 7 December 2007.
Dedicated social activist Wanida Tantiwittayapitak died yesterday after three
years battling breast cancer. She was 52. Dubbed the ''iron lady'' of the
grassroots movement, Wanida worked with rural villagers to protect their rights
and natural resources from the negative impact of development projects.
Wanida was threatened and bullied by those who feared losing benefits if the
projects were scrapped.
But she never stopped.
Her fight for justice made Wanida well-known not only in the grassroots
network, but also among state officials and senior politicians, ranging from
prime ministers, senior police and military officers, to provincial governors.
One controversial and lengthy battle which brought Wanida to public prominence
was the decades-long protest against the Pak Moon dam in Ubon Ratchathani
province.
Wanida and the Pak Moon villagers were unable to stop construction of the dam,
which was completed in 1995, but they continued their protest to illustrate the
dam's adverse impacts.
Their battle yielded a result when the Thaksin administration in 2004 agreed to
their demand to open the Pak Moon dam gates four months a year to allow fish
from the Mekong to spawn in the Moon river.
Two years after winning the dam gates issue Wanida was diagnosed with breast
cancer, which spread to her lung. She died at Ramathibodi Hospital about 1.30pm
yesterday.
Wanida was unmarried and was survived by her sisters and brothers, most of whom
are also social activists.
Born to a Chinese family in Bangkok in 1955, Wanida started working as an
activist in her secondary school days when she joined the student-led mass
demonstration which ousted the military dictatorship of Generals Thanom
Kittikachorn and Prapas Charusathiara on Oct 14, 1973.
After the bloody massacre and coup of Oct 6, 1976, Wanida, who was studying as
an undergraduate at Thammasat University's political science faculty, entered
the jungle to join the armed struggle led by the Communist Party of Thailand in
the South. She resumed her studies following the government's amnesty policy,
and graduated in 1984.
Wanida worked as an insurance saleswoman and a tour guide for a few years
before joining the Foundation for Ecological Recovery, where she took part in
protests against several dam projects.
In the early 1990s, Wanida and fellow social activists formed the Assembly of
the Poor _ an alliance of people affected by government policies and
development projects.
The AoP provided a platform for grassroots people to learn from each other's
experience, and is the country's best-known grassroots movement.
Pak Moon villager leader Sompong Wiangjand, 56, who worked with Wanida for 18
years, said Wanida was one of the most dedicated activists she ever met.
''The first day this Bangkok girl arrived at our village and encouraged us to
stand up against the dam, we didn't believe her. But she became part of our
family in a short time because of her sincerity and determination to fight for
justice.''
Pak Moon villagers were considering building a monument to Wanida near the Moon
river to commemorate her devotion to protecting the river and villagers from
the dam's impacts, Mrs Sompong said.
Wanida's funeral rites are being held at Wat Wachirathemsatit until Dec 12 |
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