Term Paper_Local Knowledge and Rights in the Mekong River's Ecosystems

8/3/2019 Term Paper_Local Knowledge and Rights in the Mekong River's Ecosystems

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Master Program in Sustainable DevelopmentFaculty of Social Science, Chiang Mai University

Local Knowledge and Rights on the Mekong River s Ecosystem: A Case Study of AMekong Riparian Community under Dam Construction Proposed Project

By

Tanasak Phosrikun

540435901

Submitted To

Professor Dr. Yos Santasombat

Lecturer Dr. Santhita Ganjanapan

Lecture Prek Gymantasiri

This Term Paper is a Partial Fulfillment for

A Course on Local Rights and Knowledge in Sustainable Development

First Semester of 2011


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Content

Introduction 1

Section 1: Local Knowledge on the River 3

Cosmology of the People 3

Definition of Local Knowledge 4

Topic 2: Property Rights Systems: Capitalism VS Localism 6

Topic 3: Natural Resources Management: Development VS Conservation 8

Topic 4: A Case Study of Mekong Riparian Community 10

Mekong Development Program and Dam Construction 10

Ban Koum Hydropower Wier Proposed Project in the Mekong Mainstream River 12Mekong Ecosystems: Knowledge and Rights 14

The Folk Story of Love on Mekong Mainstream as Mode of Ecological Analysis 16

The Fishing Gears 18

The Use of Mekong River Ecosystems 19

Access Rights in the Mekong Ecosystems 21

Conclusion 22

Reference 24


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Introduction

The Mekong River is an international river commences in Tibetan Plateau and flow to Yunnan

Province, China. Then it became the border between Northern Burma and Northern Laos, and

between Northern Thailand and Northern Laos. Then it flows inside Laos pass the ancient

mandala state Luangprabang. Then became a border line again between Middle Laos and

Northeastern Thailand then flow to the Southern Laos, fill the water to Tonlesap in Cambodia,

which is an important lake in the Mekong River Basin and lastly it isolate became 9 branches

created the wetland area call Mekong Delta in the Southern Vietnam. Around 4,900

kilometers that the Mekong River passes, it crated the diversity of ecosystems in its

mainstream and its tributaries. Around 60 million people depend on protein from the fish inthis river and its tributaries and more than 50 ethnic groups were remains in this region. So,

the river created the cultures and livelihood and vis--vis.

Now the Upper Mekong River remains 4 dams in Southern China. Chinese Government

employ the language to legitimize the dam construction by call the Mekong River that

Lancang Jiang and define the Mekong River that it is not international river inside China.

For a decade that China build the dam in the Upper Mekong River, they try to deny the

negative impact from the Upper Dam Construction, but in other hand, there are the CSOs from

the Lower Mekong Mainstream contesting the Chinese Government, because the level of the

water changing irrelevant to the season. It causes flood and drought in the downstream of the

dam site. Even the intergovernmental organization such as The Mekong River Commission

also does not dare to claim the impacts from the Chinese Dams, MRC is the representative of

the government that not really protect the benefit for the local people. They represent the

Mekong River Commission member s benefits.

Recently, The Lower Mekong Basin facing the dam development project in the region. The

Lower Mekong Countries including Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, proposing to

build the dam in the Mekong Mainstream and its tributaries to generate the electricity for

improve the average income higher than the UN poverty line and engage the economic


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growth, especially Laos had the certain plan to be the Battery of Asia. In Development Plan

in the Mekong River Basin, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) also play the key role in

improve infrastructure to integrate the economic cooperation in the region. This plan call

Greater Mekong Subregion programs, then the consequence of this program is the flow the

capital, people, technology and cultures around the region faster than the past.

Under the context of development in Neoliberal Globalization period, I would like to examine

the livelihood of the village as a micro level issue to reveal the value of the Mekong

Ecosystem through the value of the knowledge and rights on its mainstream. This case study I

took in 2008 when I join the EarthRights International School-Mekong Training Program, in

Ban Khun Tha Kwain Villager, Tumbon Na Pho Klang, Ampheo Khong Chiam,Ubonratchathani Province, which is the Mekong riparian community and the border between

Thailand and Savanaket Province, Laos PDR. This village located on the Mekong Riverbank

as a riparian community for many generations before the nation-state establishment and

border demarcation. From the interaction between the villagers inside the community as a

social interaction and the interaction between the villagers and the ecosystem surround their

habitat. The local knowledge and access rights on the natural resources were developed for

many generations. I will examine these local knowledge and rights on natural resource in the

villagers worldview. Then I will analyst the situation of the local knowledge and ri ghts on

access Mekong River in the context of regionalization of the Mekong Subregion and Greater

Mekong Subregion Program (GMS). These developmental factors are the new challenge of

the local knowledge and rights on the water resources for many years ago. But as we know

that the Mekong River is the international river, this complexity of rights and knowledge may

cause a lot of fuzziness in power relation on Mekong Resources Management for the member

governments, INGOs, NGOs, Local People, CSOs and so on.


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Section 1: Local Knowledge on the River

Cosmology of the People

Local Cosmology and Local Knowledge was raised up by the alternative perspective, after the

lost of trust in scientific knowledge on natural resources management that cause a lot of

environmental degradation. The cosmology of the people is a first important concept to make

understanding on the peoples livelihoods especially important to study local knowledge issue.

It represents the diversity of the peoples worldview or universal view in this world. Because

in this world there are more than 5,000 cultures remaining, especially in the areas call theSouth. When the scientific knowledge was developed and become the dominant knowledge,

the other cosmology and knowledge was excluded as non-knowledge. Especially, in the

development discourse, the tradition, cultures and cosmology was identified as the obstacle of

development or it oppose development. When the development and the scientific knowledge

dominate the world development direction for four decades, they convince the subject

countries leave the local tradition, non-scientific knowledge and cosmology and follow the

direction of Westernization to increase the economic growth and become rich.

Dolmatoff studied the cosmology of the indigenous people in the forest area. He found that

the cosmology of the people in many places of the world remain the knowledge of ecological

analysis. In the case of Tukano Indian of Colombia in Northwest Amazaon, the carrying

capacity of the protein sourc es, such as the hunting game to collect the animal was

determined by the shaman. The shaman is the spiritual leaders who control the amount of

hunting animal and powerful in the community members belief (Dolmatoff: 1976). When the

local knowledge was excluded as non-knowledge, both the development projects andconservation project excluded the local knowledge from the natural resources management.

For many decades in Thailand, we found that both natural resources management and natural

resources for development were controlled by the state power. The consequence is the there

are a lot of environmental degradation in Thailand and Thailand lost a lot of forest land from


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the state management ideas. Whereas the community forest conservation project in many

communities in Thailand achieve the goal of use and management by the local people. That

means the local knowledge can employed to manage the natural resources, more than the

knowledge point of view, the local knowledge also represent the power on natural resources

managements competitiveness.

Definition of Local Knowledge

So, there are many definition of local knowledge, but mainly the people understand the local

knowledge as the non-scientific knowledge, unimportant knowledge, traditional knowledge,rura l knowledge, the elders knowledge, and the local people pass this knowledge from one

generation to the next generation. This definition is the linear of thinking and this analysis

freezing the local knowledge stuck in the pitfall of the dichotomy thinking of knowledge

definition. Actually the local knowledge can not be identify that it is scientific or not, because

the local knowledge can employ to use in a certain local area. Some local knowledge also was

call as local technology, some instrument was de veloped as mechanic system and was test,

improve and develop like the scientific process. More than the scientific process in instrument

creation, the local knowledge relevance to the knowledge of management, social control,

norms, belief and so on. This knowledge is related with each others in a certain community or

group of the people, ethnic, gender and so on. The biodiversity of the certain area also create

the diversity of knowledge and vis--vis. In the same way, the scientific knowledge also

developed from the biodiversity such as the food and medicine. The different is the

mechanism to control the use of biodiversity of the local people related to the local knowledge

and social relation on natural resources. This mechanism is very competitive in sustainability

of forest conservation.

In the biodiversity area in Northern Thailand, the area remains the diversity of ethnic groups

and cultures. For the local knowledge, Yos Santasombat (2003) suggest to classify the

knowledge in 4 layers included:


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1) Food and Medicine: The knowledge to collecting and processing the food and

medicine.

2) Production and Resources Management: Knowledge to manage the resources for

produce the food and medicine for consumption.

3) Belief and Ritual: The social control, norm systems to control the member of the

group or community.

4) Mode of Thoughts: the way of thinking, cosmology and episteme of the local

people on their habitat and resources.

These kinds of knowledge were developed in the certain mountainous areas through

generations, social interaction, exchange and adaption for many decades. The form of knowledge also can be changeably to the context of the certain areas. This local knowledges

definition also remains the axis idea of certain area. Because human being can moving around,

from one to others areas, especially in neoliberal globalization period, the problem of the local

knowledge falls in the pitfall of dichotomy thinking again. When the people from one certain

context move to located the habitat in another context, the important thing that come with the

human being is knowledge, then the people will employ their knowledge in a new context for

their survive.

Nygren contested the old meaning of local knowledge in the forest use knowledge. Most of

the people examine the local knowledge in the village or community, which located in the

certain place and that place is surrounding by the forest area. The forest remains biodiversity

of fauna and flora that can be the cause of local knowledge or indigenous knowledge of the

people, who depend on the forest for many generations. In the opposite site, there are a

resettlement program brought the people from other area to this forest area, these new comers

was stigmatized as the encroachers of the forest. Because the way they came from and the wayknowledge that they employ to extract the forest for survives, are differ unlike the way that the

people who live in the habitat before the new comers. In this case Nygren argue that most of

the anthropologist do not interested in the migrant forest encroachers, because they are

contaminated by modernization and has no autochthonous tradition. But when Nygren studied


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the migrant peasant in Rio San Juan, southeastern Nicaragua, these migrant peasant not just

the encroachers as the traditional knowledge, they have a lot of knowledge to occupy the new

area related to the social relation. This knowledge was called Situated Knowledge, because

the people can apply their knowledge according to the situation of the new area (Nygren:

1990). In sum I m ay argue that the local knowledges definition can not be only one meaning

or universal meaning, it should be defined in a certain context of the people who depend on

the certain area. So, the specific context should be one of the local knowledge definition

related to other perspective of gender, class, belief, ritual, management, and so on. Especially

the issue of power relation on the resource should be one of the local knowledge form,

because without power on knowledge, that knowledge is risk to disappear.

Topic 2: Property Rights Systems: Capitalism VS Localism

As I mention in the Local Knowledge Topic that without power, the local knowledge can not

be exist. The local knowledge can be existed, because the people can employ their knowledge

to use the natural resource in a certain habitat. In order to have local knowledge practice, the

people have to manage the use of the resources as the systems to arrange the access to the

members of the groups or communities. Usually the people did not see the natural resources as

properties, but the properties concept was created by capitalism to facilitate the human to

accumulate. So, the state has to change the land and natural resources as the property for this

propose. In industrial revolution in Britain, there are the first primitive accumulation emerge

in the history, this process the state employ the law to enclosure the land from the people to

accumulate the profit from the production. In the colonial period the colonial employ violence

power to accumulate the land and labor (Li: 2007).

Daniel W. Bromley (1991)s argument on the property rights is that the mode of thought of

property rights regimes between the capitalism and local knowledge are different, because the

capitalism proposed the rights on property to accumulation. So, in the market economy, the


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property rights in the capitalism economic regime remain tree main kinds of right included

First is state property, which the individual have duty to use by the determination of agencies.

Second is private property that the individual have rights to use refrain in socially

conventional way. Third, the common property was the rights to use, manage and maintain by

the group user. This rights has to be socially respectable acceptance in the use of resources.

Forth, Nonproperty, this has no defined group or owner and no benefits stream to anyone. It

is open access resource which to everyone to reach out.

Bormley likes to use term of common property regime to explain the real situation of the

common property. In term of common property regime, the property remains virtue of

collective perception rather than physical perception. So, the common property regime is notonly open access system of the all people who desire, but it has the correlation with the

society system and system itself works like private and state property. The environment policy

always remain failed perception of the natural resources by divide the natural resource to be

dichotomy thinking ways, for instance they do conservation by exclude the use of the people

out of the natural resource. The types of rightful are action in the ways of permissible and

inviolable and it is may interfered by impermissible. This kind of rights was called

compossible rights and the rights that claimed by many two rights in the same property

called incompossible rights (ibid: 1991).

So, rights systems of local knowledge are different, because the system of local knowledges

rights is very complex, because it relies on the local network in one certain group of people or

community and the collective form of practice. This rights regime called local rights, which

included some rights engage to common use, some rights are private use, some rights are

current use and so on. For example there are many rights on the river ecosystem and forest is

controlled by rights of regular use called usufruct rights. This rights mean that the rights of use by the individual person in a certain places, but it was accept and claim by a certain group

or community, social relation, gender, age, kinship and so on.


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Topic 3: Natural Resources Management: Development VS Conservation

Because of the state property rights regime tries to exclude the people from the natural

resources. They set the department to manage and control the resource. For example there are

Royal Department of Forestry to control the forest and Royal Department of Marine to control

the river as state property also.

In Southeast Asia, many indigenous people pass their knowledge on cultivation for a long

time ago. Especially in the mountainous area, there are many research on the highlanders

livelihood illustrate that the highlanders knowledge of Rotational Shifting Cultivation can

sustain the forest use and management. Whereas the states perspectives repr esents thehighlanders as forest destroyers and harm national security. The state mention that the

highlanders practice shifting cultivation or swidden by slash and burn practice, which destroy

a lot of forest area in mountainous area. These kinds of analysis and understanding were

called deductive viewpoint, the way that the state make the observation and conclusion is

shortage. It can lead the misunderstanding of the rotational shifting cultivation only a

proportion instead of holistic understanding in long term period. Andrew Walker argue that

the Karen people manage the forest and natural resources based on their economy and for

subsistence value, there are many scholars did a research to support the state share the power

to legitimize the Karen Peop le on forest management. His point is the Karens limited

legitimacy undermining the Karens shared power on resources management and

development assistance because the development workers and the scholars in Chiang Mai

University represent the overstate image of Karen People as the guardian of the forest and the

children of the forest (Walker: 2011). But Yos Suntasombat argue d that the construction of

the Karens image is the accumulation of cultural capital to contest the hegemonic discourse

of the st ate. The Karen people accumulate this strategy of social construction as the childrenof forest to against the discourse of forest destroyer to share the power on natural resource

management (Yos: 2004). So, representation of the indigenous knowledge or local knowledge

is not just the issue of good or bad on natural resources management, but it is the issue of the

power relation. The knowledge space is the cultural capital that the people also transform to


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the symbolic power to against the hegemonic discourse (Yos: ibid). It also means that the

cosmology and local knowledge of the people are constructed in order to remain the power

relation on the natural resources management.

Toward Community Based Resources Management and Co-Management Concepts

The mode of co-management of natural resources is important for institutionalization for the

local rights in a neoliberal globalization context. Co-Management is a model to share the

power from the state power on natural resources to engage the rights of the people to use and

conservation. This program was promoted by the NGOs, who play the coordination role tobring the local people and governmental organization to join the program. The consequence of

the co-management can be both successful or fail Most of the successful case remains the

equal power between the members or stakeholders, who use, monitor and control the forest

use and conservation and the CSOs and state have rights to be the ownership and engage the

management program (Li: 2002 and Persoon and Van East: 2003). From these arguments the

co-management or community based management is the new form of management that

concern the issue of multiple actors in natural resources management. Anan Ganjanapan

suggest to go beyond the rights system should not be just the state or Karens rights, but the

rights system should be complexity of rights systems in the forest management (Anan: 2008).

The model of successful case is the case of co-management in the Pacific Northwest Region.

The huge concession for the company excluded the local Indian to access the fisheries

resources (Salmon). And because it is the border between United States and Canada, the co-

management project solve the problem on Salmon resources by included all representative

from local, state, and national level to shared the knowledge and institutionalized the

committee on Salmon Resources management in Northwest Pacific Region (Sigleton: 2001).For the Mekong River Basin, even it is the international river shared by 6 countries and 60

million people. The Mekong Regionalization did not focus on the co-management between the

Mekong member countries, China and Burma are still not a members of the Mekong River

Commission. The Mekong River Commission and Great Mekong Subregion Programs are


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focus on only economic integration facilitation. They are still not included the peoples

participation to the decision making of the development project in this basin.

Topic 4: A Case Study of Mekong Riparian Community

Mekong Development Program and Dam Construction

In 1990, the global was changed to be a new form and it was called Globalization. Beforethe globalization project play the important role around the world, many socialist and former

socialist countries enacted the policy to open door of the countries. Then the market

economy penetrated to every countries, whatever those countries were governed by socialist

or democracy systems. Development project also flowing around the world in the new forms

of assistant and investment. The global project was created by technology development,

especially the communication technologies (McMicheal: 2004).

The idea and practice of regionalization in Mekong Subregion are difference, in terms of political and economic integration, with the European Union, which remain different process

of regionalization quite explicit unity. We can found that the regionalism and regionalization

in Mekong Countries, even use the idea of geographical proximity to integrate the region into

economic cooperation region, but its process differ from the European Regionalism in the

process of political integration. The background of the Mekong Regionalization is not alike

the regionalization in Europe, because its geographical proximity does not remain the same

economic and political structure. Especially the distrustfulness of the government in the

Mekong Subregion still remains the problem in the countries.

Oehlers argue that the Mekong Sub-Region, which was underpinned by ADB program, focus

on economic integration. It means that the institution were supported by the ADB program has

the agenda only on free market mechanism, still the Mekong States still contain their own


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sovereignty especially national security. The regionalization process aim to solute the poverty

in the region and the vision of free market connection is only one way that was underpinned

by the program. So, the market oriented program in the Mekong Region commenced to focus

in production activities which run by the market mediated exchange and trade (2006).

Then there are many economic development project flew around the Mekong Subregion. The

core process of the GMS program is the idea of Neo-Liberalism, which come with the

globalization dispersing around the world. The floor of the capital, technology, labor and

cultures also come to this region. In another perspective, regionalization is the a consequence

of globalization and vis--vis. The regionalization is the process that formed the group of the

proximity countries to cooperate on economic, cultural and social securities in the region. Butin the Mekong Subregion, the members remain the different situation of economic, cultural

and social security, so the institution framework just focuses on economic cooperation.

Soavapa argue that the Mekong Regionalization add the word sub in the program, because it

does not integrate to be a unity or union. And the GMS program will create advantage in

political conflict solution, disputation, economic cooperation for the member states (Soavapa:

2008). On other hand, the Mekong Subregion cooperation not just bring advantage to the

region in economic cooperation, because the economic cooperation engage in market

economic and overlook to the social and environmental issue. The civil society also

established the network to monitor and inspect the economic activities in the Mekong

Subregion (Hirsch: 2002).

The way of Development in Mekong River Subregion is growing significantly. The concerns

of the scholars are related to the different of the political, cultural and economic issues in

development context of the Mekong Subregion, which emphasize only in economic

cooperation. The growth of infrastructure the development in the Mekong Countries areincreasing parallel with social and environmental degradation affected to the peoples

livelihood in the rage of the winner and looser in development project. The development

project in the Mekong Subregion emerged since the cold war period, especially, the Mekong

Power Grid scheme, North-South Economic Corridor and East-West Economic Corridor was


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promoted by the intergovernmental organization. Then the role of development project was

raised in the region in order to establish the basic infrastructure to facilitate the market in the

region. Then there are a lot of new road construction, energy development project and

facilitate investment in the region. The regional market development projects were engaged by

two key state actors in the region are China and Thai. Both countries try to occupying the

other Mekong Member for their investment expansion (Yoavapa: 2008). For example in

energy development program especially Mekong Power Grid Scheme, the national electric

departments in Thailand and Laos trying to operate the hydropower dam construction in the

region. The barrier of energy development still remain in the region because of the regional

politics does not support the cooperation on the project. Yu suggest the Mekong Governments

solute the political understanding to cooperate the energy development and energy integrationin the region (Yu: 2003). The development project fund and assistance was interested by many

developed countries and IFIs. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is one key actor always

assist the GMS program open the countries for the development project from Japan (which is

the biggest state holder of the ADB). Thailand and China always support the infrastructure

development to facilitate their investments.

Ban Koum Hydropower Wier Proposed Project in the Mekong Mainstream River

Plans to dam the Mekong mainstream are not new. In the Cold War or Vietnam War (1959

1975). The U.S. Army come to fighting with the Communist Movement, this army set the

headquarters in Thailand to store the arms and bomb. In the binaural governmental

cooperation between Thailand and United Stated Army, I found that the U.S. Army advise

Thailand in development program, especially, with hope to win over the war the U.S. Army

plan the huge dam in the Mekong River in order to help the Mekong Countries build capacityof electricity generation. Especially Pha Mong and Strung Treng Dams, which were supported

by the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and For East (ECFE) to shape the

flooding in the Mekong River (Molle, F., Foran, T. and Floch, P: 2009)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War


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In 2005, the Department of Alternative Energy and Energy Conservation, Ministry of Energy

employed Panya Consultant Company Limited and Mahanakorn Consultant Company Limited

to conduct a feasibility study of the Mainstream Dam Competition in Mekong River. The

result of the feasibility study proposed 7 hydropower dams that could provide benefits for

engineering and economy : Nam Khon Fall Hydropower Dam (Laos), Ban Kum Hydropower

Dam 2,175 MW (Thailand-Laos border), Xayyaburi Hydropower Dam (Laos), Pha Mong

Hydropower Dam (Thai-Laos border), Luang Prabang Hydropower Dam (Laos), Pak Beang

Hydropower Dam (Laos) and Sambor Hydropower Dam (Cambodia). In an Initial

Environmental Study, March 2008 edition show that Ban Kum Hydropower D am will be

located near Ban Tha Long village, Tumbon Huay Pai, Khong Chiam District,

Ubonratchathani Province. The reservoir can store water filling 2,111 million cubic meters,running the length of the 110 kilometers along the river from Khong Chiam District to Khem

Ma Rat District. The model dam is a run-off river dam with 22 gates, a Ship Elevator and Fish

Ladder located beside the dam, and installed is a 1,872 MW generator with a capacity of 375

MW (20% of generator capacity). The project budget is about 120,330 Million Baht (about

353.91 Million USD, as of 3 September 2008).

The Ban Kum Hydropower Dam impacts are the following: the reservoir will flood 98,806 rai

of the river bank, including areas which the people use to cultivate crops. The reservoir will

flood 1 village on the Thai side - Kun Tha Kwian village - and flood 3 villages on the Laos

side. There will be a negative impact on fishery on the river mainstream and the tributaries in

the upstream of the dam, because the dam will block fish migration, the water level and rate of

water flow in the downstream of the dam, proving detrimental it will affect the Thailand and

Laos boundary (Public Hearing: Ubonratchathani Civil Societies and Ban Kum Hydropower

Dam: 2008).


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Mekong Ecosystem: Knowledge and Rights under the Border and Development Contexts

Ban Khun Tha Kwian is a community located at the closure of the Mekong River, also

marking the border between Laos and Thailand. This community is interesting because the all

people living along the Mekong River never separate from each other. The people on both

sides have the same ethnicity and kinship, even across the border of nation-states. The people

in Ban Khun Tha Kwian still survive by the natural resources in the Mekong River, and the

knowledge of how to these resources was for a long time passed from generation to generation

to educate the people. The results of our research found that the villagers classify the Mekong

Rivers ecosystem to include the following 11 categories:

1). Phou/Pha (the mountains and cliffs): The mountain is the highest ecosystem in the

area. Phou Pha Deang, Pha Kon Voi, Phou Jom Kom and In Laos side the villagers know the

name of the mountain included Phou Phaeng Ma, Phou Khang Kob, Phou Lon and Phou Kong

Khoa.

2). Kok/Teenphou (the land and the foot hill along the riverbank): the people hunt the

animal in this area.

3). Ba (the rocky land): This ecosystem is characterized by rocky areas mixed with a

little bit of soil. 1). Ba Bok Kung: In the past there was a hole c alled Bok Kung and the

villagers liked to bathe at this hole. But now it is used as a cattle grazing area. 2). Ba Nam

Tiang: In the past there was a hole called Bok Nam Tiang. Around this shale cliff today

there are many orchards, including cashew, banana tree and cassava.

4). Tha/Saen (Riverbank): There is abundant soil and sand along the Mekong river.

Such as Tha Chang, Saen Luang, Sean Phan, Sean Yor. For Example, Tha Chang: The word

Tha means waterside and the word Chang means elephant, because elephants used to

come from the Laos side and cross the Mekong River into the Donnatham Forest. Thevillagers from Ban Pak La Village used to go to the waterside to do their riverbank cultivation,

find wild produce, and fish.

5). Huay/Hong (stream): The streams flow from the mountain to the Mekong River.

There are at least 17 streams such as Huay Sao Khae Huay Nam Sai Huay Don etc. For


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instance, Huay Sao Khae: The word Sao Khae means young female crocodile. This stream

bears this name because in the stream there is a shale rock shaped like a crocodile with a

female head. This stream appropriates to fishing by hook and net and the waterside for the

villagers cattle.

6). Khun/Khon (Rapids): These are the rapids formed along the riverbank, extending

out to the middle of the Mekong River.. In the dry season, next to the rear side of the rapids,

there is a sand side used to grow the riverbank cultivation plants. On the this rapid itself use to

catch fish by fishing net in the rainy season, or by scoop fish and string hook in the dry

season. Such as Khun Bung Phae, Khun Tha Earn etc.

7). Keang: These are rapids in the middle of the Mekong river and can cause the river

to flow in a circular way called Khun . For example Keang Yang Kood: Keang Yang Kood arerapids close to the rapids called Khun Bung Phae . The name of this ecosystem comes from the

tree called Kok Yang , which breaks in this area and falls down to the river. There is also a big

tree called Yang Kood that because in the past, the people used to tie the golden boats and

silver boats to that tree and it broken nearby the rapids. In the dry season, there is sand around

the rapids, but it is not suitable for cultivating any plants.

8). Bung (pond): Ponds occur in the dry season (October-April), when the rocks

around them separate from the mainstream of the river. Such as Bung Phae Yai and Bung

Phae Noi: This ecosystem is near the ecosystem called Khun . This ecosystems name comes

from a past incident. The house raft would flow from upstream and stop at this area so that the

people from other villages such as Ban Na Pho Krang Village and Ban Nam Thaeng Village

could come to fish in this area. The word for raft in the local language is Phae . This area is

used for fishing with nets and finding snails.

9). Do n (island): the villagers describe the islands as the land located in the river,

surrounded by water, mixed with a small amount of soil on the rapids. Such as Don Bung Ya:

This island is close to the Bung Ya ecosystem, so the villagers call it Don Bung Ya . Thevillagers used to grow tobacco for themselves on this island. There is a sandy side called Haad

Bung Ya , which is suitable for cultivating plants.

10). Thum (cave): The caves emerge during the dry season (March-April), as they are

located in the rapids and rocks of the river that are submerged during the rainy season. Such as


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Thum Sae: Boats often follow the river channel and stop at this cave in the dry season. The

word Sae in the local language means flow to stop automatically. When the villagers travel,

they like to stop at the Thum Sae before walking to the Lao side.

11) Wern: This ecosystem is within the mainstream river. The ecosystem of the Wern

is more diverse and abundant than any other river channel. In the dry season there is only one

Wern Yai.

The Folk Story of Love on Mekong Mainstream1

as Mode of Ecological Analysis

A long time ago, at Ban Khun Tha Kwain on the Lao side, there was a family in which thefather was named Thao Sing Korn and the mother was named Nang Prayom. This family had

two daughters named Nang Sumali and Nang Sirin. Sumali had a lover named Phoummarin,

who was the son of the family of Mr. Salai and Nang Keow, who lived in a cave on the

mountain called Phou Jom Kom at Ban Khun Tha Kwian on the Thai side.

Nang Keow was a villager who had escaped from the war when she and her family lived

around the mountain in the past. Her parents held her as they escaped from the enemy, and she

cried and made noise. The parents were afraid that the enemy would hear their daughters

voice, so they put their daughter in a big hole, which the villagers now call Bok Sao Keow , and

they escaped to hide themselves in a different area. When her parents came back, they felt

amazing because their daughter was still alive.

Back to the story: Nan g Payom, who was Sumalis mother, prohibited them to love each

other, did not allow her daughter to meet Phoummarin, and refused to let them get married.

Because the power of love is unlimited, Phoummarin appointed to meet his girlfriend at therapids called Khun Malor in the dry season.

1 This story was named by the monk, who is a teller of this story. The villagers believe that it is true story.


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Sumali waited for her mother to go to her riverbank cultivation. When her mother was out of

sight, she ran all the way to the riverbank and looked for the boat to meet Phoummarin.

Unfortunately, she could not find any boats at that riverbank.

Phoummarin waited for Sumali for a long time, and the sunlight was so strong it caused him

to tire and fall sleep at Khun Malor . Sumali did not see his boat and decided to call out to

Phommarin, but he did not hear her voice because he was asleep. The word for call out in

the local language is earn, so the rapids are called Khun Tha Earn . While Sumali was

calling her boyfriend, her mother came back to the house and heard her daughter calling her

boyfriend: Phoumarin! Phoumarin! Phoumarin! She called out many times, but there was no

answer from her boyfriend. She was scared that her mother would come back home and seeher at the rapids. She decided to hold onto a log that flowed from the upstream and swim to

Phoummarin. The log stopped at the rapids and the villagers now call it Don Ma Khang which

means stop at the area.

Sumalis mother followed her daughter to the riverbank, and when Sumali saw her mother,

she swam faster, aiming to reach her boyfriend. At that moment, Phoummarin got up and saw

his girlfriend swimming to him. Sumalis mother then got into a boat and rowed to her

daughter, getting closer and closer to Sumali. Sumali saw her mother rowing toward her and

she was afraid her mother would punish her, so she decided to release the log and swim to

Phoummarin. When Phoummarin saw his girlfriend swimming to him, he decided to jump

into the river and swim against the river flow to his girlfriend. Both lovers swam to each other,

and then they swam hand in hand, hugging. But they became tired, and their energy fell lower

and lower, until they slipped under the Mekong River. Sumalis mother sat on the boat and

watched Sumali and her boyfriend drowning in the water.

Both families grieved and looked for their children for three days. The dead bodies emerged at

the riverbank called Wern Lan , about three kilometers from where the two lovers drowned.

They found the bodies of the lovers hugging each other on the sandy side of the riverbank.


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After that, each family took their child separately to do a funeral on each side of the river.

Sumalis body was kept at Phou Long (the word long means coffin), half a kilometer from

Wern Lan . Phoummarins body was kept at Phou Jom Kom . Three years after the incident,

Keow, who was Phoumarins mother, still could not stop crying and grieving. Every day she

went to the mountain and called for her son. Con Voi Con Voi means my son, my son, so

that mountain was named Phou Kon Voi . Phayom and her second daughter, Sirin, still grieved

and missed Sumali. Everyday they went to visit her daughter at the grave. Along the path,

there were many wild animals, and unfortunately, Sirin was caught by a tiger on the way go to

meet her sister.

The Fishing Gears

The villagers interact for a long time in their life, so they have the knowledge to use natural

resources as tools. Fishing gear is one example of how the villagers were the masters of the

natural resources before the nation-state line was established by the western world during

modern times. The fishing gear demonstrates their knowledge of catching fish by themselves

and depending on the Mekong River for generation after generation, until the present. The

research found that the villagers in Ban Khun Tha Kwian village have many kinds of fishing

gear, including:

Hae: This fishing gear is a net, which is made from nylon or plastic thread, and used to

throw on the riverbank and the sandy side in the dry season.

Mong: This fishing gear is a net made by plastic thread, bought from the market in the

district. There are five kinds of Mong, depending on the fishing side and the fishing season.

These types are: Mong Lao (used to fish by following the river flow), Mong Pern (used for

catching fish at the water face on dry season), Mong Yang (used for fishing at the Keangecosystem, especially at the crucial water flow in dry season), Mong Priw (used to fish by

tying it in the rapids and throwing it to follow the rivers flow in dry season) and Mong Tang

(used for fishing in stable water areas such as seasonal ponds in the dry season).


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Bed (Hook): In the local language, a hook is called bed . The villagers have already

stopped using two kinds of hooks, Bed Harm and Bed Nam Tao , because of the large

reduction in the number of fish. Now they use three kinds of hooks: 1) Bed Khun: Made with

bamboo and used along the riverbank; 2) Bed Puek Jom: Made for string fishing in the rainy

season; 3) Bed Puek Loi: Made for string fishing in the dry season.

Hua (Boat): The boats in the Mekong River are bought from Ban Thung Na Muang

Village, which has a carpenter who can build boats. The design of the boats is similar to the

boats in Moon River. The heads of boats in the Mekong River are triangle-shaped.

Chon/Dang Tak: This fishing gear made from bamboo in the forest and thread. The

villagers use it to scoop the fish in the dry season, especially at Keang Hoo Zun, Bung Phae,

and Keang Poon from May to August.Zai: This fishing trap is made from bamboo and used to fish at the streams. The fish

get from this trap use to make lure in the Mekong River.

Sa-Wing: This fishing gear is made from climbers in the community forest, and it is

used to scoop small fish, shrimp and freshwater crickets in the pond or stream.

The Use of Mekong River Ecosystems

The different ecosystems in the river inspire the need for different tools and the invention of

methods to enjoy various benefits from each ecosystem. The villagers main income is from

fishing and riverbank cultivation during the dry season, but that does not mean they dont get

any benefit from other methods or sources. Briefly, their many uses of natural resources in

Ban Kun Tha Kwian village are catalogued as follows:

Natural Products

1) Wild products such as bamboo shoots, mushrooms, natural herbs and wild animals.

Almost all of the wild products can found in the ecosystem known as Kok as well as on the

mountains.


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2). Fisheries: They can go fishing year-round by employing different methods and

fishing gear according to the ecosystem, season, and fish species.

3). Energy: The villagers use the wood from dead trees from the forest and riverbank

for firewood and use it for cooking food and everyday life tasks that require heat.

4). Natural Vegetables: In my research, I found that villagers are able to get about 20

natural vegetables and 7 natural herbs from the ecosystem within the mainstream of the

Mekong.

Agricultures

1). Paddy field: A few families in this village have paddy fields. They grow the rice inthe rainy season and harvest it in October. The rice they grow is not enough to last all year, so

they have to bring other products and exchange them for rice with other communities on both

the Thai and Lao sides of the river.

2). Plantations: Along the riverbanks they grow many plants such as cashews, bananas

and cassava. These plants are grown for economic purposes and are sold to the middle men.

3). Riverbank cultivation: This cultivation can be planted in October and harvested in

March and April. The crops are cotton, corn, sweet potato, black bean, and soy, among others.

Ceremonies and Belief

Ceremonies and Festivals: The villagers use the two docks of Tha Baan to set up Lai Rua Fai

(Flow Fireboat), Loi Krathong festival, and Haad Malor for Songkran festival (Thai New

Year) every year. For example Lai Rua Fai or Fireboat ceremony and festival was set on the

Out Buddhist Lent Day. Three days before the festival day the men in the village go to select

bamboo in the community forest together and bring it to the Mekong riverbank and make itinto a Lamp Boat. During the festival, mos t people in the village come together in the

evening. The monks pray and apologize to the river for having to use in everyday life. Pra

Sungwan, a monk of the community temple said that Because the people in the village use

the river for survival for a whole year, sometimes they do something bad in the river and the


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spirits in the river are dissatisfied with the peoples behavior. This festival set up for apologize

the river spirits including Naga and Garuda.

Access Rights in the Mekong Ecosystems

The Rights systems in the Mekong are very complex and fluid, because they did not have any

certain rules to determine the access rights on the river. In the border area, the Mekong River

resources remain vaguely form of power control over the resources. Both Thailand and Laos

states have rights of state sovereignty to control over their territories. Both countries agree to

demarcate the borderline at the channel of the river. In practice, the border is very flexible,because the border concept in the neoliberal globalization period, was employ to gain benefit

from trade and exchange.

In terms of ethnicity, the villagers in both sides are brothers and sisters. They have the

collective history of resettlement, war, revolution, trade, exchange and so on. From the history

until now, the people still cross the river to visit their relatives and friends, parents and so on.

The rights to access each ecosystem in the Mekong River around the village also were

determined by these social relations. In sum, there are the rights on the ecosystem such as the

fishing site (Luang Pla) was inherited from their parents. As long as one person uses that

fishing site, he still has rights on that fishing site call usufruct rights. Some fishing site in

Kaeng ecosystem was preserve for common rights, those people in Thailand and Laos sides

can access to this Kaeng (rapids) as common rights. For the sand bar (Haard) in the dry

season, the people can inherit the land to their children and can sell to others, because of sand

bar in the early dry season (October) can be cultivated the cotton and corn, so this land can be

sell without the legal rights from the state. Such as in Lao revolution period (1972), the peoplefrom Na Pho Klang Village, the village far from the riparian around 5 kilometers, sold the

sand bar cultivated land to the villagers in Ban Khun Tha Kwain. In sum, the rights system in

the Mekong Mainstream River is very complex and dynamic. The rights system was


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controlled by the social relation and customs. In the same time the state commence to cite to

the rights of state on the river.

Conclusion

In the situation of Mekong Regionalization included GMS Program and Mekong River

Commission and ASEAN Community in the future, the local knowledge and rights still in the

powerless position in intergovernmental cooperation. The Mekong States and companies in

the one market idea in the region trying to gain benefit from the trade and exchange. Thailandand China play the key roles to stimulate the economic cooperation in the region. Both

counties construct themselves as the investor in the region, especially China waking up with

the economic boom influence in the global level. The development projects are funding by the

assistant of ADB and MRCs facilitation. That means the regi onalization in this region

focuses mostly on the economic proportion rather than the human security and environmental

sustainability.

What the state seeing on the river? Water is for the national benefit and it should support the

modernity of the state. Dam construction is one of the symbols of capitalism in neoliberal

globalization period and exclusive power of states on natural resources by excluded the

participation from bottom-up decision making process. In Discourse level, the vague

definition of sustainable development discourse also was seized to employ to support the dam

construction, because it was embedded to the rational of non-fuel energy as alternative energy.

In terms of alternative energy, the hydropower energy is not burn the carbon to the air and the

river flow is not exhaust. This legitimacy support the states and private sectors cooperate to

commoditize the river to benefit the investors and state as the national interest discourse.So, the value of river in state and investors eye is in form of Megawatt rather than the

resource in the water, even they see things in the water, it is not important as energy and

investment, because they can accumulate more from the rivers hydropower rather than

catch the fish, natural products, cultivation and cultures and beliefs in the Mekong River.


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The NGOs also criticize the dam construction in the mainstream river and its tributary. They

monitor the role of the Mekong State by organized the people to challenge the dam

construction in the Mekong Mainstream River as the environmental degradation, ecological

change and impacts on fisheries as the main protein sources for the people in the region. They

organize the riparian community to contest the dam meaning by the villagers research. And

now Pak Mun Thai Baan Research is the new paradigm of power that was upraised by the

local people to other places movement inside and outside the Mekong Region and I would

called this Thai Baan Research as Pak Mun Consensus.

The local people is not really focus on the river for conservation or species amount concerns,

this is the new idea was brought from outside. The people use and utilize the river resourcesfor their economic income, subsistence and accumulate for their economic reason. Then the

challenge is the dam construction just not discloses the clear information to the local people. I

found that the dam construction not just destroy the physical value of the ecosystems, fishes

and natural products as economic value. It also destroys the sources of knowledge, cultures

and rights of locals by excluded the local people from river resources access.

For the Mekong Situation in the present neoliberal globalization, David Biggs argued that the

Mekong facing the dam as a big machine from the modernizer to do meta -commoditization

of the river (Biggs: 2008). My argument here is to improve the governance in the Mekong

River Basin, the NGOs and the Civil Society Organization just not campaign for oppose the

dam construction only. In order to contest the dam construction, the networking of the people

also is very important to questioning and moving forward to share/fight/negotiate the states

power , not the campaign by in the representative roles by the NGOs. To claim the power, we

have to raise the power of the people and this power need to come from the knowledge based

on the locals that is local knowledge and rights.


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Term Paper_Local Knowledge and Rights in the Mekong River's Ecosystems

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