Showing 1 - 10 of 18
Decentralise, or Pracharath bound to fail
News, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 23/09/2015
» When Thaksin Shinawatra was looking for innovative policies to launch his Thai Rak Thai Party, he looked for inspiration from activists leading social movements and was not disappointed. Universal health care and village funds became his landmark policy successes that subsequent governments could only try to outdo by pouring in more money to expand the programmes further.
Last-ditch fight against forest tyranny
News, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 01/02/2021
» After two decades of hunger and hardship -- and a life without dignity in a prison-like resettlement village -- a group of indigenous forest dwellers decided to return to their ancestral home deep in the Kaeng Krachan jungle in Phetchaburi province.
Racism is fuelling more than wildfires
News, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 04/05/2020
» With the May rains coming to our rescue, we can now put the forest fires and toxic haze nightmares behind us -- until they return to haunt us again next year.
A forest lockdown will fuel more fires
Oped, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 11/04/2020
» With strong wind and fast-approaching forest fires, a group of forest dwellers on Doi Mon Dok mountain in Chiang Mai's Samoeng District are racing against time to stop the flames from engulfing their village.
More violence ahead for forest poor
News, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 17/07/2019
» Now that the junta has revoked its draconian order on nationwide forest evictions, will life for the 10-million-strong people who live in national forests be more secure? The answer is no.
Why violence persists in our forests
News, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 10/06/2019
» In the corridors of power, as female politicians in opposite camps were wrangling over what-you-should-wear for their first day in the parliament, some 350 kilometres from Bangkok, 61-year-old peasant Sinuan Pasang was thrown into jail for trying to protect her land.
Autocratic bureaucracy is killing us
News, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 18/02/2019
» Big business won. Again. We should not be surprised nor disappointed at the government's decision to support the weed killer paraquat which poisons the environment and makes us sick. We should be angry.
What next after the passing of iconic Ko-ee?
News, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 08/10/2018
» At 107, ethnic Karen elder Ko-ee Mimee had only one wish -- to return to his ancestral land deep in the Kaeng Krachan jungle and die there. On Friday, the icon of indigenous forest dwellers' struggles against state violence and injustice passed, his last wish unfulfilled and the future of his people hanging in the balance.
Seeing the langsat for the trees
News, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 15/09/2018
» Langsat, a sweet fruit with a leathery yellowish skin, once served as the pride of Uttaradit province. Not anymore.
As poor are evicted, the rich get an island
Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 02/08/2017
» What do you get from fighting for land rights in Thailand? You cannot ask Den Khamlae, 65, a prominent grassroots land rights activist. He mysteriously disappeared in a forest reserve near his rickety home in Chaiyaphum last year.