Free The Dying Beach by Angela Savage

response of the Bangkok-based ‘experts’ who’d met with them on various occasions over the previous six months. All persons were referred to by an honorific and first name only, though this wasn’t unusual. Surnames had only been introduced in Thailand in the nineteenth century and were rarely used for anything other than bureaucratic purposes.
    Several names recurred with greater frequency than others. One was Yada, whose honorific Mae , meaning ‘mother’, suggested a village matron. Mae Yada was a straight shooter who tolerated no nonsense. Jayne pictured her as a large matriarch with betel nut–stained teeth, who talked loudly at blessing ceremonies if the monks prattled on too much, but cuffed the ears of her grandsons if they dared show disrespect.
    The following passage was typical of Mae Yada’s contribution to the discussion.
    K HUN N UKUN: The road will be improved. The old dirt road will become a sealed road.
    M AE Y ADA: But an increase in traffic on the new road will mean more road accidents.
    N UKUN: But the new road means a faster route to hospital if anyone is injured in road accidents.
    M AE YADA: But we wouldn’t need a faster route to hospital if not for more road accidents. Besides, the hospital is a long way from the village.
    N UKUN: The project will provide a new medical unit in the village to reduce the need to travel to hospital. This will also prevent road accidents.
    M AE Y ADA: I’m sorry, young man, please explain how the new medical unit will prevent road accidents.
    N UKUN: Because people won’t have so far to drive to hospital, so there’s less risk of accidents.
    M AE Y ADA: But they wouldn’t need hospital in the first place if not for the accidents they had while driving along your new road. (She laughs.)
    This transcript was followed by a comment, a change of pen suggesting it was added later.
    I asked Khun Nukun when the company planned to build the medical unit. He said his job is only public relations: to make the villagers understand, accept, assist and cooperate with the project and create a good image of the company.
    Nukun’s was another name that came up often. Jayne gathered he was based in Bangkok, though he made frequent visits to the communities affected by the project. Not all interviewees were as assertive as Mae Yada, but the public relations officer had his work cut out for him.
    K HUN N UKUN: You say everyone is opposed to the project. But I have received delegations from people very much in favour of the development.
    K HUN P OOMCHAI: The only people in favour are those who will profit personally from the construction.
    N UKUN: Uncle, have you considered that your fear and short-sightedness may be blinding you to opportunities that others are choosing to embrace?
    P OOMCHAI: What’s short-sighted about wanting to protect my farmland?
    K HUN B APIT: Is that all the ambition you have for your children, to be a dark-skinned peasant like you?
    N UKUN: The company is offering new jobs, higher incomes, new lifestyles for the next generation.
    P OOMCHAI: That’s all very well, Khun Nukun. But what happens to the older generation when there is no one left to tend the farm?
    N UKUN: Your family will have no need for the farm.
    P OOMCHAI: But you don’t understand. The farm is what makes us a family.
    While it was Nukun’s job to put a positive spin on things, at times he could spin out of control. Jayne came across an example in an exchange with someone of indeterminate gender, referred to by the nickname Daeng, meaning ‘red’.
    K HUN D AENG: Village LK is worried about the impact of the project on the birdlife. We have many protected species in this area.
    N UKUN: Do not worry about the birds. The species in this area are mostly common species of the country and have high adaptive ability. They are free to migrate when the environment is not preferable.
    D AENG: You don’t understand. We do not