Environmentalists from Satun province submitted a petition to Unesco and a House panel on land use on Tuesday, asking them to look into rock quarry concessions that they say threaten parts of a Unesco "Global Geopark" established in April 2019.
These concessions have applied to blast three mountains in Thung Wa, Langu, and areas between Khuan Ka Long and Khuan Don districts in the province. It is an area renowned for its abundance and diversity of fossils from the Paleozoic era.
The environmentalists say the concessions pose a danger to the area which is the first Unesco-listed site of geological interest (geosite) in Thailand. They are also right to raise concerns that the geosite will be stripped of its status if the areas are blasted.
In rallying against the quarries, the environmentalists claim the concessions contain irregularities and lack local participation in the process. They claim provincial authorities gave approval too easily to the rock quarry businesses.
Apart from fossils, the recent discovery of ancient skeletons, dating back more than 3,500 years, adds significance to the area, with the Fine Arts Department registering the area as an archaeological conservation site.
In addition, some parts of the area are the habitat for indigenous Maniq villagers who are known in Thai as sagai. Their livelihoods will be disturbed if not destroyed if the area is used as per the concessions' intent.
The rock blasting will also lead to the loss of rich forest areas.
Meanwhile, the environmentalists say the Forest Department has agreed to revoke conservation status for those areas now designated to quarry sites.
There are also reports that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for a concession at the Thung Wa site has been approved and another is about to follow, much to their dismay. The state agencies' behaviour has triggered suspicion about transparency or lack thereof.
Somboon Khamhang, a key figure among the environmentalists, urged the authorities to take into consideration the fact that two mountains are already being blasted and used as quarries in the province which should secure sufficient rock supply for a period of time.
He said it's unusual for the state to give quarry concessions for three mountains simultaneously, and questioned why the province did not use the updated mineral law, the Mineral Act 2017, to consider these proposed concessions.
The updated version requires such activities to follow a national master plan instead of approving them on an individual basis. The new law calls for a provincial committee on mineral resources to make decisions on approving concession requests.
If there are local concerns on health and environmental grounds, the committee must resolve such problems, or even arrange a public referendum for the local community to help in making a decision.
Now if the quarries go ahead the country will lose key edu-recreational areas; in this case, Unesco-listed areas in which the Thai government had taken pride.
Instead of kowtowing to business demands, conservation agencies such as the environmental panel which scrutinises the EIA reports must protect the country's natural heritage. Conservation should not be compromised for such environmentally invasive businesses.
The House panel on land use must pay heed to local people's input, and ensure transparency in the process. Such heritage areas must be preserved, not destroyed for the sake of cheap rocks.
