Master Program in Sustainable Development Faculty of Social Science, Chiang Mai University

Local Knowledge and Rights on the Mekong Rivers Ecosystem: A Case Study of A Mekong 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

Content

Introduction Section 1: Local Knowledge on the River Cosmology of the People Definition of Local Knowledge Topic 2: Property Rights Systems: Capitalism VS Localism Topic 3: Natural Resources Management: Development VS Conservation Topic 4: A Case Study of Mekong Riparian Community Mekong Development Program and Dam Construction

1 3 3 4 6 8 10 10

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

The Folk Story of Love on Mekong Mainstream as Mode of Ecological Analysis 16 The Fishing Gears The Use of Mekong River Ecosystems Access Rights in the Mekong Ecosystems Conclusion Reference 18 19 21 22 24

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 in this 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 members 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

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 rights 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.

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 the South. 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 sources, 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 and conservation 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

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, rural 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 developed 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:

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 way knowledge 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

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 may 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

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 not only 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.

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 represents the highlanders 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 People 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 argued that the construction of the Karens image is the accumulation of cultural capital to contest the hegemonic discourse of the state. The Karen people accumulate this strategy of social construction as the children of 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

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 to bring 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 comanagement 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. Before the 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. But in 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 are increasing 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 integration in 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 capacity of 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)

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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 Dam 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 called 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. The villagers 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 are rapids 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). Don (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. The villagers 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 the father 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: Nang 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 the rapids called Khun Malor in the dry season.

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 see her 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 Keang ecosystem, 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 in the 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 it into a Lamp Boat. During the festival, most 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 people from 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. Thailand and 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 regionalization 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 resources for 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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