The spectre is more scary still, since the minister proposed using the coup leader’s absolute power under Article 44 to shorten otherwise lengthy environmental and health assessment processes that have been an obstacle to the project’s progress.

The Maewong Dam has been on and off the table for nearly 30 years since it was first proposed in the early 1990s by the Irrigation Department. Preventing implementation are serious concerns over potentially serious environmental impacts on Maewong National Park in Nakhon Sawan.

Those concerns grew recently when scientists found evidence that endangered species like tigers have spread into Maewong from the adjacent Huai Kha Khaeng, a world heritage wildlife sanctuary.

Besides the ecological argument, environmentalists have also challenged official claims about economic benefits the dam would bring. Environmentalists say that alternative water management provisions in the target areas downstream could match the storage capacity of a dam – 200-250 million cubic metres – and slash state spending from Bt15 billion to about Bt2 billion.

Critically, the state has failed to justify its own claim for the need to build a dam in the national park, which is located outside the country’s main water regulation system of the Chao Phraya basin. Given its relatively remote location, the proposed barrier would have only localised benefits for certain rice-growing, drought-plagued districts of the province, a fact which contradicts the state’s claim of wider benefits.

Apparently stymied by the stronger arguments offered by opponents of the dam, the state has now decided to resort to the absolute power of Article 44. But this has broader and more dangerous implications than impacts from building the dam.

By overriding checks and balances on development through the use of Article 44, the state is now implicitly eroding the spirit of democracy it aims to revive following the August 7 referendum.

Public participation is fundamental to the health of a democracy, of which development projects and public policy are core ingredients. By using Article 44, the state is itself undermining the democracy it wishes to cultivate.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha began this illogical process a few months by invoking Article 44 to pave the way for mega-development projects to run in parallel with environmental and health impact assessments, rather than waiting for the green light. That act was seen as overruling the rule of law under the prime environmental law. So far, no one knows which projects have gone ahead under this order, escaping thorough public scrutiny.

The use of Article 44 to force through development projects and public policy must stop. If the government wants to prove it is sincere about returning democracy to the country, the Maewong Dam project would be a good place to start.

pypostbox@yahoo.com