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marine resources. They also participate in the making of fisheries-related laws 3. Proposed coal-fired power plant project at Thepha
and policies and are part of the decision-making processes for plans affecting the
ecology and marine resources. The proposed power plant project at Thepha led by the Electricity Generating
Authority of Thailand (EGAT) is a coal-fired power plant with two 1,100-Megawatt
Today, the sea has regained its natural abundance. Fish populations have (MW) units to be constructed in a 4.5 square kilometers land in Moo 4, Pakbang
bounced back in the sea, beach and in the canals of the mangrove forests. One sub-district, Thepha district in Songkhla province – a part of Khao Pachang-
visible indicator confirming this is that local people can catch fish with bare hands Laemkham Non-Hunting Area. This area is currently used for the communities’
again. They also source food and make food products from the fish and krill they residence, agriculture and for animal husbandry. It houses mosques, Pondok
catch along the beach. Teluk Patani is so rich in seafood resources – it not only schools, Islamic graveyards and workplaces of the people, both on land and in
feeds the local people but can also share its produce with others. The catch is the sea. According to the Environmental Health Impact Assessment (EHIA) report,
sold fresh on the villages’ fish markets or in the fresh markets as seafood products there are 152 families that will be evicted from the area.
in the form of dried fish, dried shrimps, shrimp paste, etc.
The power plant will use bituminous and sub-bituminous coals as the main
Local fishermen also sell in the fish markets (on the fishing pier) or send their fuel. These will be imported from other countries including Indonesia and Australia
catch to the seafood processing plants, e.g. ‘Mahachai’ market and others in by ships of 13,000 deadweight tonnage, of around four trips a day. The plant is
Bangkok. Further, seafood is traded with merchants coming from Malaysia and also designed to use biomass pellets at not more than two percent rate and will
exported to countries such as Indonesia, Japan and Bangladesh. use co-firing as well as diesel to start the engines.

Fishing in Teluk Patani can be categorised into four groups: 1) without fishing The port of the project will be three kilometres away from the coast and good
boats– using only fishing gears, which includes catching with bare hands, 2) boats for up to four ships to port at once. It will use two screw conveyors, which are run
without an engine or paddle boats, 3) boats with a small engine or local fishing continuously by electricity, for the unloading of coal at 2,000 tons per hour rate at
boats, with and without registration. There are more than 5,000 of such boats, and the least and is designed as a closed system.
4) big or commercial boats. There are more than a thousand of these in the bay,
coming from Nakhon Si Thammarat, Narathiwat, Surat Thani, Rayong, Phetchaburi, The power plant will require around 21,700 tons of coal per day, or 6.7 million
Songkhla, and Pattani. tons per year (calculated at 310 working days annually), 1.4 million tons of which
is reserved for use in the project area only, which is good for generating electricity
The income of the local fishermen in Thepha and Songkhla ranges from for at least 60 days. The coal will be stored in two buildings of 165x760 square-
25,000 - 30,000 baht per month which excludes additional earnings from vegetable metre-area each, totaling 157 rais of storage space of around 40 metres in height.
growing and seafood products such as shrimp paste, dried shrimps and dried fish. In each of the buildings, coals are stored in two rows of 55 m.x725m.x21m. (height)
Those without boats who catch with their bare hands can earn up to 300 - 700 or 350,000 tons for each row.
baht a day.
The electricity will be generated 24 hours a day. Coal will be transferred from
Besides fishing as their main source of income, the local people also grow the coal storage buildings by conveyor belts, ground to the right size and then
rubber trees, coconut trees and vegetables like cucumbers, long beans and corns burned for hot gas. The power generated by the heat of the coal fire will be used
on a rotational basis. A popular cash crop is the ‘Thepha Watermelon’ named after for producing pressure steam at 566 degrees Celsius. The superheated steam
the place where it is grown, sold, and distributed in the deep South. Popular local produced is then sent to the turbine electricity generator to propel the turbine
rice varieties like Jante, Huana, Chorlung, Homchan, Lookpla, Lepnok and Sangyod machines and the electricity generators which produce electricity.
are farmed once a year for subsistence and the surplus is sold. Locals without
land offer labour to landowner neighbours for rice cultivation for which they receive The heat distils the water which is freed from impurities and minerals. The
a half share of the produce. Such landowner-tenant relationships without rent are hot gas which may have some contaminants will be collected and treated differently.
also practised for growing vegetables and coconut trees. Bottom ash will be collected from the bottom of the burners and the fly ash that
comes out with the exhaust will be caught by the electrostatic precipitators.

The steam coming through the turbine will be sent to the condenser which
will produce water thereby releasing the heat through the cooling process.
The project will employ the ‘Once Through Cooling Water System’, using
seawater as a coolant. This will require 9 million cubic metres of seawater daily
brought into the plant through two planned waterways each measuring 2.5-metre
wide and 500-metre long. Their depth will be 3.55 metres from the mouth of the
water pipe to the pumping station.