The military demanded that an Isan environmental activist shut down his personal Facebook page and a Facebook page on the controversial Pak Moon Dam and ordered him to report in. The activist said he would defy the order, however.  

 

Kritsakorn Silarak, an activist from People’ Movement for Just Society (P-Move) revealed that he had received two phone calls from a military officer on Monday night and the following day, who tried to intimidate him into closing a community Facebook page called “Together, let’s open the gates of the Pak Moon Dam forever”, citing that the page brings discomfort to the authorities. 

 

The military also ordered him to close down his personal Facebook profile ‘Paijit Silarak’. 

 

The military also summoned him to Sappasit Prasong Military Camp in northeastern Ubon Ratchathani Province on Thursday. However, he told Prachatai that he would not report in.

 

The Pak Moon Dam is located on the Moon River in Ubon Ratchathani Province near the confluence with the Mekhong and was completed in 1994. The dam displaced approximately 3,000 families and affected tens of thousands more upstream since it caused a massive reduction of fish stocks in the river.    

 

Kritsakorn reported that the military also ordered him to come to the military camp and close down his personal Facebook page ‘Paijit Silarak’, citing its inappropriate content.

 

The activist, however, did not close down the page and told the authorities that the Pak Moon Dam community page is harmless to the junta and that he forgot the password and address of his personal email, which he stopped using a while ago.

 

He further stated publicly that the authorities’ measures to cover up the facts and people’s perspectives are not compatible with the present day world.

 

The intimidation started only a day before students at Kasetsart University in Bangkok organized a rally, which was forcibly cancelled by the police, against the construction of the Mae Wong Dam.