19 Pianporn Deetes

Social Entrepreneurship to Protect the Environment and Empower Citizens

Victoria Johnson

On March 6, 2010, Pianporn (“Pai”) Deetes, a Thai social entrepreneur, flew from Bangkok with a group of twenty-eight journalists and Thai senators to the border between Thailand and Laos. Pai, who leads the nonprofit organization Living River Siam, wanted them to see the drought-stricken Mekong River with their own eyes. For more than a month, the Mekong had been so low that economic and agricultural activity dependent on the river was severely affected. Villagers who earned their livelihoods from fishing had seen their catch size decline; farmers no longer had enough water to irrigate their crops and care for their livestock; and ferry boat operators had had to suspend their services, badly affecting tourism and trade. While some blamed a long spell of dry weather for the drought, Pai was convinced that there was an additional and possibly more significant cause: several massive dams that had been built upstream on the Mekong in China.

The Mekong is one of Asia’s longest rivers, flowing from its source in Tibet through China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Like many other major rivers around the world, the Mekong has seen the construction of hydroelectric dams designed to provide power to millions of people. While such infrastructure projects offer significant economic and social benefits, they also create environmental, economic, and social problems of their own. Dammed rivers can flood farmlands and villages, disrupt fish spawning cycles, and—as Pai believed was the case for the Mekong in northern Thailand—lead to severe drought conditions.

Among the members of the group Pai had brought from Bangkok to tour the region were members of the Thai Senate’s Subcommittee on Mekong Development. If these key politicians learned about the damage to Thai ecosystems and livelihoods firsthand, might they be persuaded that dams on the Mekong were the source of the problem?

A Social Entrepreneur Is Born

Poised, articulate, and politically savvy, Pai had been working on behalf of the rivers of Southeast Asia—and the people who lived along their banks —for nearly a decade. But her personal connection with environmental issues went back to her earliest years. Pai had spent her childhood in a village in northern Thailand, where her parents had moved in the 1970s to help identify and promote sustainable agricultural practices among hill tribes such as the Lisu, the Karen, and the Hmong. In 1997, after two decades of work on behalf of these tribes and the ecosystems in which they live, Pai’s mother, Tuenjai Deetes, was named one of twenty-five “Women Leaders in Action” on global environmental issues by the United Nations Environment Programme. Growing up in such a family meant that Pai was fluent in both the Lisu and Thai languages, was equally at home in the very different worlds of urban and rural Thailand, and was deeply attuned to the tensions between economic development and environmental protection. It also meant that she had, in her mother, a role model of a very dedicated and accomplished female social entrepreneur.

Successful social entrepreneurs have much in common with successful “classic” entrepreneurs: both kinds of entrepreneur seek to innovate— whether they are creating a new organization, a new service, or a new product —by turning a personal vision into a concrete reality through single-minded hard work. Social entrepreneurs differ, however, from classic entrepreneurs in that their primary goal is neither profit nor the production of a product or service, but instead the amelioration of social problems. Of course, profits, products, and services are sometimes the means to this goal. Indeed, one of the most famous social entrepreneurs in the world today, Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, has fostered commercial enterprise among the poor through the establishment of microlending institutions. Yet while some social entrepreneurs create for-profit businesses (sometimes called social enterprises or social businesses), many others work within the framework of not-for-profit organizations.

The term “social entrepreneur” was coined in the early 1980s by Bill Drayton, the founder of Ashoka, an organization dedicated to supporting citizens who seek to effect social change around the world. Drayton, whose organization awards prestigious Ashoka Fellowships to a small group of social entrepreneurs each year, defines the term with reference to large-scale social change:

Pai’s mother, Tuenjai Deetes, was named an Ashoka Fellow in 1990. The funding, increased visibility, and new contacts that accompanied her appointment as a Fellow supported her efforts to help tribal villages on the Thai/Burmese border abandon slash-and-burn agriculture in favor of sustainable farming practices. In 2006, Pai herself was named an Ashoka Fellow for her work with Living River Siam. Ashoka selected Pai because her approach to the problem of the ecological devastation created by hydroelectric projects unfolds on three different social levels:

At the community level she engages the people in researching and documenting the ecosystem, natural resources, and livelihoods in the river basin. Nationally, she brings the issue into the national discourse regarding cross-border livelihoods and human rights. At the policy level, she advocates for legislation that protects the rights of affected communities.² Pai works toward these goals both individually and through her organization, Living River Siam.

Protecting the Environment, Empowering Citizens

Pai came to Living River Siam after earning her degree in English at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University and working at several NGOs. In 2002 she joined the Southeast Asia Rivers Network (SEARIN), a precursor organization to Living River Siam. Founded on March 14, 1999, the International Day of Action Against Dams and for Rivers, Water and Life, this Thai not-for-profit organization was created by academics and activists concerned about the potential impact of dam construction on the riverine ecosystems of Southeast Asia. In 2005, SEARIN’s name was changed to Living River Siam and the organization was restructured, with Pai taking a leadership role. Although Pai calls herself a “coordinator,” her colleagues at Living River Siam consider her in many ways to be the organization’s unofficial leader. One reason for this is her skill and experience in grantwriting; another is her comfort in interacting with a variety of constituencies, including villagers, academics, journalists, politicians, and activists, both locally and internationally.

Like its predecessor, SEARIN, Living River Siam is a campaign-based organization, working to support local communities’ rights to their water resources, promote local knowledge-based sustainable water resource manage ment, and oppose threats to rivers and riverine ecosystems in Thailand and neighbor countries in the Mekong and Salween river basins, such as large-scale dams and water diversion projects.³

Living River Siam occupies a spacious two-story house on the outskirts of Chiang Mai, the second largest city in Thailand (Figure 19.1). Although Chiang Mai, located in the hilly northwestern region of the country, suffers from severe air pollution, the suburban neighborhood from which Living River Siam operates is leafy and green, and the air is fresh. In the warm Thai climate, staff members work on the porch and in rooms open to the outdoors. Hanging on the walls and spread out across tables are maps tracing the courses of the Mekong and the Salween rivers, key sites in Living River Siam’s efforts to protect villagers and ecosystems. In the kitchen, an apron hanging on a hook bears the image of a beaming Nelson Mandela.

Pai divides her time between Bangkok, where her husband is employed, and Chiang Mai, where she meets and works with the Living River Siam staff. No matter which city she is in, however, she is working on behalf of her organization. During a conversation in the Chiang Mai headquarters, her infant daughter sits on her lap as Pai discusses the mission, structure, and strategy of Living River Siam. The first step in protecting the rivers, Pai and her team believe, is collecting accurate information on their ecosystems, so that any proposed dam projects can be thoroughly evaluated in advance for the potential impact on the river in question—and in the

Figure 19.1 Living River Siam Headquarters, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Source: Victoria Johnson, March 2010.

event that a dam is constructed, its actual impact on ecosystems can be measured. Living River Siam employs a novel strategy for collecting this information. Instead of relying on academic or govern ment experts, the organization’s members work closely with the villagers who make their living from the rivers and know the cycles of its flora and fauna more intimately than anyone else. As Pai points out, this obviates the need for a large organization. Instead, the seven full- and part-time staff members strive above all to support the villagers in gathering, organizing, and disseminating data about the river ecosystems in which they live, farm, and fish. As she explains,

In order to gather and disseminate local knowledge, Living River Siam employs a method called Thai Baan (“Thai villager”) research that is designed to maximize villager involvement in the process. In each village that agrees to participate, several Living River Siam staff members and/or volunteers guide the participants through a set of key steps. First, representatives of the organization visit the village in question to introduce the Thai Baan method and to discuss which research topics are most important for that particular village. “The topics of the research,” Pai says, “are chosen by the villagers themselves,” according to what concerns they have about the impact of dams on their river and their livelihoods.

The next task is to decide with the villagers on a group of about five to ten researchers selected from among their number. Any villager is considered eligible for participation; researchers might include, for example, an eighty-year-old fisherman who has known the river and its cycles for decades, or a ten-year-old boy who has fished with his father since he was a toddler. Most villagers are very receptive to Living River Siam’s research initiatives. As one villager involved in a Thai Baan study on the Mun River put it:

Next, Living River Siam staff work with the villagers to collect basic information on the selected research topics, such as the local names of relevant fish species, types of native plants, the medicinal uses of those plants, and so on. A timetable for the research is also agreed upon, and the villagers begin the fieldwork. In this phase of the project, the researchers collect data and take relevant pictures—for example, of fish they have caught, of water levels, or of local plant species—in the course of their routine daily activities. Because, according to Pai, the villagers “do not read or write; they just verbally explain,” staff members from Living River Siam gather the information collected by the village researchers into a written report. This report is discussed with the researchers, who are invited to suggest changes or additions. If additional information is needed, the village researchers collect and submit it to the Living River Siam staff, who revise the report accordingly. Also, in order to further strengthen the data, staff members conduct in-depth interviews with key informants in the community as well as focus group discussions with sets of villagers. The draft is revised on the basis of these conversations and the final draft is presented to and discussed with the community.

The next phase of the process takes place outside the village, as Pai and her colleagues work to bring the information generated by the villagers’ research to bear on national and international policy-making concerning the construction and operation of dams along the rivers of Southeast Asia. Given the number of governments, corporations, and communities involved in these projects—and all the competing interests they represent— this is by far the most challenging stage of the Thai Baan method. Yet for Pai and her colleagues, having a positive impact on the fate of Southeast Asian rivers is the single most important outcome of their work.

The Challenges of International Water Politics

Humans have been constructing dams for centuries, but in recent decades the pace and scale of dam projects has increased dramatically. From Egypt’s Aswan High Dam, constructed in the 1950s, to the current Three Gorges Dam project in China, hundreds of dams have been built through the collaboration of governments, developers, and international funding organizations to harness the power of flowing water to bring electricity and a higher standard of living to millions of people around the world. And while supporters point to hydroelectricity as a renewable and relatively clean source of power and to the control of the river’s flow as a source of transportation, opponents point to side-effects such as the flooding of farmlands and villages, the disruption of natural land-fertilization cycles, and the destruction of the ecosystems crucial to fish and other wildlife. As Pai put it:

In Thailand, one of the earliest major dam projects was the Pak Mun dam, constructed on the Mun River in 1994. This project, partially funded by the World Bank, displaced approximately 5,000 people and led to intense, ongoing protests over the negative impact on locals’ livelihoods. In January of 2000, more than 800 villagers from the affected region traveled to Bangkok by train and camped out in a city park for over a week in order to bring their plight to the attention of the urban public and the govern ment. In response to their protests, the govern ment eventually announced a policy of opening the gates for several months a year in order to permit fish to migrate and spawn. In 2007, however, the gates were closed permanently. While the Pak Mun protests have thus far been largely unsuccessful in keeping the river flowing free, the movement against the dam gave rise to the Southeast Asian Rivers Networks (SEARIN) and, in turn, to Living River Siam. And in addition to ongoing work on behalf of those affected by the Pak Mun dam, Pai and her colleagues have expanded their focus to include villagers on the Salween and Mekong rivers.

The Salween River begins in Tibet, travels through China and Burma, and forms the Thai/Burmese border for over one hundred kilometers. According to Living River Siam, “over 10 million people from at least thirteen different ethnic groups including Nu, Lisu, Shan, Wa, Kayah, and Arakan rely on the rich natural resources of the river for their livelihoods.”⁷ And while the Salween is currently undammed, the governments of Thailand, China, and Burma have been discussing a number of new hydro electric projects in recent years. Thailand’s energy authority, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), is a strong supporter of these dams, which would generate electricity for it to sell in Thailand. On April 5, 2006, the Thai and Burmese governments signed an agreement to build a dam on the Salween in Burma’s Shan state, and discussions continue over the Hatgyi dam in Burma’s Karen state. China has also proposed building a series of thirteen dams on the river in its territory.

Deeply concerned about the impact of these projects on Southeast Asia’s longest undammed river, Pai has spearheaded a multi-pronged effort to protect the Salween. Her unusual childhood, her formal education, and her persistence and dedication all play important roles in this work. First, she has helped coordinate Thai Baan research among the residents along the river in the Thai section of the river basin. This research is conducted mainly in the Karen language, although the Burmese political situation does not permit the conduct of this research among the Karen who live across the border.

The reports generated by this research are compiled and translated into Thai under Pai’s supervision and disseminated widely to university and govern ment representatives involved in the study of and policy on dam projects. Pai’s large network of contacts, built up through her work and expanded further by her appointment as an Ashoka Fellow, facilitates the distribution of this research. She also writes many opinion pieces for the Bangkok Post and other regional newspapers and sees to it that these are circulated widely on the web and to relevant organizations, government officials, and university representatives and researchers. For example, in June 2008, regarding proposed dams on the Salween and Mekong rivers, she wrote in the Bangkok Post:

In addition to writing for newspapers and blogs, Pai also works with the Prime Minister’s Office as an advisor on the Salween River. In this capacity, she was able to draw attention to research conducted by Living River Siam showing that an earlier environmental impact assessment on the Salween project, a legally required stage of the dam construction process, had addressed only the Burmese stretch of the river, neglecting cross-border impacts of the proposed dam. In part due to her efforts, EGAT signed an order in late 2009 for a new environmental impact assessment that would investigate the potential social and environmental consequences of the project for Thailand. In order to celebrate and draw attention to this important gain, Pai worked with other environmental organizations and villagers to plan an event on the banks of the Salween River. On March 14, the annual International Day of Action for Rivers, 600 villagers came together in a Buddhist ceremony to bless the river and register their opposition to the dam projects.

While working on the Salween campaign, Pai and her colleagues continued to monitor developments on the Mekong River, which flows through Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos. Recognizing the complicated cross-border issues raised by hydroelectric projects on this important river, four of the countries through which it flows—Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam—came together in 1995 to form the Mekong River Commission. Currently, the four main goals of this organization are:

In 1996, Burma and China became “dialogue partners” of the Mekong River Commission. Given that most of the extant and planned dams on the Mekong are located within Chinese borders (where the river is known as the Lancang), China’s lack of full membership is alarming to opponents of the dam projects. A major problem, according to Pai, is that China releases very little data about its operation of the dams, which makes it impossible to determine the impact they are having downstream in Thailand. In order to draw attention to the plight of villagers living along the Mekong, and of the river itself, Pai decided she needed to take senators and journalists to view the drought conditions themselves.

The brief trip had an impact on diplomatic relations almost immediately. Within a few days, journalists who had been on the trip asked the prime minister of Thailand whether China should be held responsible for the drought on the Mekong. In turn, according to the Bangkok Post, “China’s Assistant Foreign Minister Hu Zhengyue told Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva . . . [that] China’s dams were not a major cause of problems along the river.”¹⁰ A counselor at the Chinese embassy in Bangkok pointed out that “only 64 billion cubic metres of water—about 13% of the water that feeds the Mekong—comes from China. The other 86.5% comes from the downstream countries.”¹¹ Members of the Mekong River Commission offered support for China’s stance. Undaunted, Pai began countering China’s response right away, arguing that while only 13 percent of the entire Mekong (Lancang) is indeed in China, 95 percent of the waters upstream from the drought-stricken area are in China.

The Continuing Work of Social Entrepreneurship

The fate of the Mekong, and the livelihoods of millions of people, will continue to hang in the balance while Pai and those who share her concerns struggle to make the case for an alternative future. Social entrepreneurs rarely enjoy straightforward “success” in their efforts. Instead, they work in difficult conditions to try to make a dent in daunting and persistent social problems. In the face of the powerful vested interests involved in international water policy, Pai displays a quiet but intense determination. And although the organization she works with is very small—she doesn’t pursue govern ment or industry grants because of possible conflicts of interest—the potential impact of her brand of social entrepreneurship is exponentially bigger. When Pai and her colleagues lead villagers through the steps of Thai Baan research, they aren’t merely collecting information on river ecosystems. They are also teaching villagers how to articulate and defend their way of life, which depends on healthy rivers. Impoverished Thai citizens who had never before considered communicating with, let alone standing up to, more powerful members of their society now have research experience and public-speaking skills that are enabling them to contribute to national debates. As Pai put it: