Page 84 - Rights beautiful : collection of Professor Saneh Chamarik

Rights Beautiful Collection of Professor Saneh Chamarik

Section 59: A person shall have the right to receive information,
explanation and reason from a State agency, State enterprise or
local government organization before permission is given for the
operation of any project or activity which may affect the quality
of the environment, health and sanitary conditions, the quality of
life or any other material interest concerning him or her or a local
community and shall have the right to express his or her opinion
on such matters in accordance with the public hearing procedure,
as provided by law.
And Section 79: The State shall promote and encourage public
participation in the preservation, maintenance and balanced
utilization of natural resources and biological diversity and in the
promotion, maintenance and protection of the quality of the
environment in accordance with the sustainable development
principle as well as the control and elimination of pollution
affecting public health, sanitary conditions, welfare, and quality of life.

The idea of community rights would sound inconceivable and
illegitimate to the mind-set of cultural essentialism, as referred to right at the
beginning of this presentation. Never mind about that. Community rights, like
all others in human history, arise out of the struggles against oppressions
under a great variety of specific circumstances. It is as simple as human
nature itself. What we have been facing now is the fundamental question of
development and globalization that needs to be urgently and thoroughly
reexamined and set in its proper perspective. The same is true with
community rights presented here. They are by no means a ready-made
formula. Even though being built-in everyday life in traditional communities
and recognized by the Constitution, they are still in the process of evolving
in the face of changing world around. Neither do they necessarily mean
communities or collectivities taking precedence over individuals. That
would amount to turning the clock back, and bound to fail. Traditional

78 OFFICE OF THE NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF THAILAND