Sasin walked over 300 kilometres from the park. He was cheered by passers-by and those who shared the same ideology until he reached the centre of Bangkok.

That rally campaign a few years ago drew a huge amount of support especially from Bangkokians, who at first hardly knew anything about the dam. The campaign was acclaimed for being hugely successful in the conservation field as it managed to bring an issue far from public awareness to people’s hearts.

As a journalist who covered this issue, I know that Sasin and his team at the Seub Nakhasathien Foundation, where for a time he was secretary, never stopped working during the campaign.

Sasin and his team had seriously explored alternative water management ideas to tackle the same challenge of drought and flooding in the area that the Royal Irrigation Department kept referring to in a push for the dam’s construction.

And they actually came up with one, preparing a thick report presented to the public to support their proposal.

To see what the alternative option was, I once travelled more than 100 kilometres from the planned dam construction site to the villages that either stood to lose or gain benefits from the dam. It was during this time that I saw that option emerge.

Existing small reservoirs behind the villages were connected to networks of natural canals that if improved, would be no less effective than the dam and its irrigation infrastructure in helping restore, distribute and even divert water if efforts were made to properly manage and maintain them.

The villagers just needed support, and several were ready to take action and join the chorus to say “No dam”.

What I also saw was the strength of local power and their readiness to stand up and say something about an issue of importance to their lives, and if necessary, take action.

Perhaps like Sasin, I don’t know whether to define this as a public participation exercise, a decentralisation of power endeavour, or direct democracy in action, and I think we have hardly had a thought about that when dealing with the issue.

In fact, almost all environmental issues are about struggles in resource sharing, which politics plays a significant role in, and there is no need to differentiate the issues as they are one and the same.

So, I was very surprised to read several posts attacking Sasin for not coming out at a time when the military is ruling the country. Some have suggested he may fear the military, which I view as hilarious.

For environmental issues in this country, those fighting them face a difficult enough time. So, it’s such a waste of time and energy to politicise the issues while undermining efforts made by conservationists. They deserve more morale support from us as they have been fighting in the political battleground.

The Mea Wong dam has been pushed back and forth between the department and the conservationists for nearly 30 years. It’s a hard battle to win even when the latter has evidence supporting an alternative option to the dam.

Instead of being critical and undertaking action carelessly in the name of pro-democracy, we should look into the issue seriously and offer creative options.

For me, I fully support Sasin and other conservationists, and I know that they have been fighting really hard – no matter whether it is in the name of democracy or not.