What to do when officialdom fights mass opposition to its mega-projects with lies? What's happening to our society when there's a total lack of moral outrage against such dishonesty? Take the Yadana gas pipeline controversy. 

When environmentalists tried to stop it two years ago, one of their main arguments was that the project was financial suicide. The Thai economy had just crashed. Given the country's huge energy surplus, investing in new power sources made no business sense. Given the imminent delay in construction of the Ratchaburi power plant, the take-or-pay agreement would cost Thailand dearly, warned environmentalists. They suggested that the government cancel the project, which would have saved the country a huge fortune in the long run since Thailand is dead poor. 

The Petroleum and Electricity Generating authorities rejected these concerns as sheer nonsense. Among their threatening responses were that without Yadana, Bangkok would suffer blackouts, and Thailand would have to pay as much as 100 million baht a day in fines for any delay. They also argued that the investment was a business decision that had nothing to do with the government. 

Now we know who cries wolf. The 100-million-baht-a-day fine was a lie. The Ratchaburi power plant is still unfinished. Bangkok is doing fine without gas from Yadana. And as the environmentalists predicted, the PTT must pay a huge amount of money in advance for the unused gas where there is a delay-about 13,000 million baht to date. But the PTT is broke. So it made the government pay through new foreign loans. That means you and I are paying for the energy bosses' mistakes. And nobody seems to mind, judging from the absence of a media outcry. 

"It's sad. Our Thai culture is too weak to make policy-makers pay for their lies," said Piphob Dhongchai, a leading social activist. The saddest thing is that he's right. Thailand's failure to make policy-makers accountable is a manifestation of society's moral breakdown, which accounts for our apathy in the face of glaring injustice. 

Take the Pak Moon dam dispute. To paint the Pak Moon villagers as troublemakers, Egat is claiming that the sit-in protest will cause flash floods and blackouts in Ubon Ratchathani. In reality, the rising water at Pak Moon is being released as normal automatically. And the blackout threat is a farce. Power in Ubon comes from the national grid, which is enjoying an energy surplus, not to mention additional supplies from dams in Laos. Yet, Ubon gas suffered partial blackouts, something an Egat union leader called a technical antic. 

The people's struggle has advanced greatly. The Pak Moon villagers have forged national alliances with other grass-roots movements. They have won support from academia and civic groups both in and outside the country. When the mainstream media ignores them, they resort to the Internet. But officialdom continues to lie. Why? Because they believe we don't know any better, they make things up. They know they can get away with it even when we know they are lying. That's why environmentalists want the PTT and Egat bosses put on trial.

Will other policy-makers heed the wake-up call? Not until the media stops treating official statements as truths. Not until society gets angry when it sees the truth violated. Not until we can take part in making decisions affecting the management of natural resources. 

Until that happens, we must pay for our apathy. As in the cases of the Yadana and the Pak Moon follies. 

Sanitsuda Ekachai is Assistant Editor, Bangkok Post. [email protected]

NB: I always appreciate Sanitsuda's commentary.  It is analytical and right to the point.  (webmaster)