Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, an EC member said that if the government called for a plebiscite “we have the Referendum Act to deal with this issue”.

“If we do a referendum on this project, we can do it to gather public opinion to help judge the project or we can use the referendum result to directly determine the fate of the project,” Somchai added.

While the EC has the ability to stage the plebiscite on the question of whether to build the southern power plant it is up to the government to decide to choose the method to settle the prolonged argument over the project.

Somchai said different types of referenda require different arrangements. A poll to authorise the project or cancel it would entail a specific population breakdown and clear rules.

‘Intensify the conflict’

A public opinion survey would be easier to do and would not need strict rules on the population and vote count.

“No matter what the government chooses, the EC is ready to put on a referendum within three months.

“But counting at least six months to educate the public, it will take only nine months to prepare the referendum within the cost of Bt20 million,” he said.

However, Hannarong Yaowalers, a member of the National Human Rights Commission’s communal rights committee, said a referendum was not the answer to end the conflict over the plant and it was not a good way to consider the project.

“Something like this will have to be considered based on fact. That’s why we have to do the Environmental and Health Impact Assessment [EHIA],” he said. “This is because the EHIA provides information and an impact assessment of the project to let us debate whether it should go ahead and what is the best option for the area, unlike the referendum, which only has two choices.”

He said a referendum, in which both sides will have to mobilise supporters to vote on their side, would only intensify the conflict.

A referendum should not be an option to solve the dilemma over the Krabi plant, he said.