Megaprojects need local participation

Locals from Songkhla's Chana district at Dusit police station in Bangkok in January give moral support to 37 villagers — most of them women who were arrested for staging a protest in front of Government House demanding the scrapping of the planned Chana industrial estate. (Photo: Nutthawat Wicheanbut)

In January the Chana Rakthin Group, a grassroots movement from Chana district in Songkhla province, returned to the capital to protest against the Chana Industrial Complex Project, a few weeks after about 30 of its members -- mostly women and the elderly -- were arrested during protests last December.

The demands of the villagers were loud and clear: "Stop the top-down policies that threaten locals' sources of livelihood. Respect our voices."