Dateline Dispatches: Around the World in Ten Days
DAY EIGHT Friday, 24 November 2000

Bangkok

THAILAND: Anchoring Asia

The Pak Mun Dam protest village was burned two days earlier. The press predicted demonstrations outside the WCD hotel during its regional launch.

Bangkok - question from the floor

But NGOs had no plans to protest; they were all inside. About 15 journalists and 160 people listened to the WCD's Asia presentation, some travelling from Malaysia, Japan and Vietnam.

Following a presentation of the report by Commissioners Judy Henderson and Jan Veltrop, stakeholders began to speak.

The Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Science Technology and the Environment, IUCN's Councillor Nobutoshi Akao, (Japan's Ambassador to Thailand) and Peter Stephens of the World Bank Singapore Office offered initial reactions and suggestions for the discussion.

Participants from Thailand included Government staff, scientists, diplomats and international organisations based in Bangkok, as well as community groups and local stakeholders of the Pak Mun Dam - a WCD Case Study that reflects many of the conflicts of the wider debate.

The meeting was also attended by representatives from ESCAP, UNDP, Wetlands International, Oxfam US, WWF International, UNEP and FAO, as well as the Asian Development Bank and Mekong River Commission Secretariat.

IUCN facilitated the meeting and arranged for participation of a representative from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Vietnam, who had been responsible for the regional WCD consultation meeting earlier this year in Hanoi.

Many people expressed concern over the "decommissioning" of the Commission and felt that some additional support will be needed, as a catalyst, to resolve outstanding local issues.