Free The Dying Beach by Angela Savage Page A

want them to migrate. Without the birds to control them, the insects will take over, destroy our crops and spread diseases. (Others in the group murmur in agreement.)
    N UKUN: Perhaps the insects will also not find the environment to their liking.
    D AENG: So now you are saying the project will scare both the birds and the insects away?
    N UKUN: Excuse me, let me refer your concerns to the consultant responsible for Forestry and Wildlife. I am really not qualified to comment on this issue.
    The more Jayne read, the more intrigued she became by the project, and the more frustrated by the lack of information on who, what, where and why. Pla seemed to have deliberately omitted any identifying features from her notes. For all Jayne knew, she’d used pseudonyms for the consultants and villagers, too, leaving her with almost nothing to start filling in the blanks. Why would Pla take such detailed notes but leave out the most important detail of all?
    Though she rarely deviated from her role as scribe during the meetings, Pla added her own comments to the end of the transcript. These became more frequent over time, with the two most recent transcripts annotated more extensively than the others.
    Jayne decamped from the veranda to the hotel room, switched on the air conditioner and lay down on the bed to scrutinise the last of the entries.

14
    Pla took her customary position in the centre of the crowd towards the back, where she could overhear the hushed comments of those reluctant to speak out. Khun Nukun, the public relations officer, had brought three people with him to the village meeting, including a foreigner.
    â€˜I understand people in this village have concerns about the project,’ Nukun said, as everyone settled. ‘So I have invited these experts to join us at this evening’s meeting. May I introduce Professor Azim from India, who studied engineering in America and now works for an international agency in Bangkok.’
    Professor Azim’s smile pushed his cheeks against the black plastic frame of his glasses. He had tufts of grey hair above his ears and wore a snug-fitting charcoal safari suit. He pressed his hands together and shook them in greeting.
    â€˜Also Doctor Budsaba, who is leader of the team responsible for surface water quality, aquatic biology and public health.’
    In her high-heeled shoes, buttoned-to-the-neck blouse and fitted skirt, Doctor Budsaba looked as misplaced among the villagers as porcelain among earthenware. When she pressed her perfectly manicured hands together and bowed, her hair did not move.
    â€˜And finally, Mister Kraichat, who will be translating for Professor Azim.’
    A man with thick lips and a thin moustache greeted the villagers with a wai .
    â€˜I invite the chao ban to outline the concerns of the villagers,’ Nukun said.
    The villagers looked expectantly at the wiry man in the front row, who loudly cleared his throat.
    â€˜My name is Uncle Amnat,’ he began. ‘I am chief of this village. I have been chief for fourteen years. My father was chao ban before me.
    â€˜We had the experience of a project like this in our village before, back when my father was chief. At that time, the representatives from the company assured us we would become rich from the project. They said we had nothing to lose, only to gain. Same as you say, Mister Nukun.
    â€˜It was true for a short time. Some local people were given work on the project and others made money at the small morning market out front of the site.
    â€˜But the riches we were promised did not come. Instead, when the project did not find what it was looking for, the company used dynamite to go deeper into the ground and the explosion caused the temple wall to crack. In the Muslim village neighbouring ours, the mosque wall cracked, too.
    â€˜After the temple wall cracked, there was an outbreak of dengue fever in the village. Fifteen people died, ten of them children.’
    â€˜ Aie ,