Page 21 - Rights beautiful : collection of Professor Saneh Chamarik

Rights Beautiful Collection of Professor Saneh Chamarik

Asian Positive Regionalism*

Saneh Chamarik
Chairperson,
National Human Rights
Commission of Thailand

We have gone through the two-day deliberations on one most
crucial problem of our time, i.e. Natural Resource Management and
Cooperation Mechanism in the Mekong Region. A fairly wide range of
topics have been touched upon, starting from the issue of development
in general to those concerning energy development and the rights and
liberties of the grass-root people and communities. As well comes along
the immediate problems arising from the controversial Upper Mekong
Navigation Improvement Project (UMNP), providing for a comprehensive
dredging and blasting of the hindering rapids and shoals along the way.
It is indeed this shared sense of concern and urgency that prompted our
gathering here.
As we all know, this UMNP was initiated by China, and soon
after agreed upon by the three participating nations: Myanmar, Lao PDR,
and Thailand. The whole rationale for China is to serve as a means to
improve the capability of commercial vessels to navigate from Yunnan
Province into Laos and Southeast Asia along the Lancang and Mekong
Rivers. As for the other three junior parties, it is looked upon as a great
opportunity to benefit from potential economic growth in neighbouring
th
* Opening Address, 18 November 2004, International Conference on Natural Resource
th
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Management and Cooperation Mechanism in the Mekong Region, 16 -18 November 2004,
United Nations Conference Centre, Bangkok, Thailand
OFFICE OF THE NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF THAILAND 15