Thai Villagers Hail Return of Fish as Pak Mun Dam's Gates Re-opened by Phairath Khampha 30 June 2001 Two new studies of impact under way The Pak Mun community on June 16, 2001 celebrated the opening of Pak Mun dam's eight sluice gates. A ceremony witnessed the mass return of several species of fish as well as a revival of the local fish market. The mood, however, was slightly dampened by a report that a consultant agency was to conduct a parallel study to that of another team already appointed by the cabinet. On April 17, the Thaksin Shinawatra cabinet ordered the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) to open all gates of the Pak Mun dam for a period of four months, originally scheduled for May 15 to August 15. Moreover, Ubon Ratchathani University was assigned to conduct a study on how to revive the ecology and way of life along the Mun River. After a month's delay, EGAT finally opened all eight gates on June 14. Previously, the cabinet's resolution was not carried out, as EGAT claimed there was another group of villagers protesting against the opening. Lamduan Serathong, 49, was elated at the return of the fish. She said there were now between 40-50 species of fish that had started to come back for the first time since the dam went into operation in June 1994. Thongcharoen Sihatham, a leader of the Assembly of the Poor which had spearheaded the decade-old protest, was optimistic the study commissioned by the cabinet would bring the truth out into the open and support the villagers' repeated demand to have the Pak Mun dam decommissioned. However, the National Economic and Social Development Board also commissioned a team to conduct a similar study, but at a much higher budget of 94 million baht, compared to the 10-million-baht budget granted to the Ubon Ratchathani University team. Its job is to prove that the villagers' claims were wrong. Given it had a larger budget, provided by a good part of Thailand's economic and political elite, who had an interest in proving the villagers wrong, it was more likely to win out. The Pak Mun villagers raised the fact that EGAT was behind the NESDB's move. The consultant agency was the same one commissioned to study the Kaeng Sua Ten dam. Both EGAT and NESDB officials were not available for comment on this fact.