Vindicated Thai GM activists face gaol all the same
{{date|April 30, 2005}}
[[Image:LocationThailand.png|250px|thumb|Location map of Thailand]]
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Two activists who helped identify a vagrant [[w:Genetic engineering|Genetically Modified]] (GM) crop of papaya, which was later confirmed and destroyed by Thai officials, now face prison over their actions, says [[w:Greenpeace|Greenpeace]].

"In July of 2004, [Journalist] Pat and [Ecology PhD] Jay took this story public when they acted as spokespersons for Greenpeace activists who sealed off GE papaya in experimental fields at the Khon Kaen research station &mdash; the source of GE papaya contamination in the region," says a statement from the environmental awareness organisation.

"They were charged with theft, trespassing and destruction of property."

"Instead of getting to the bottom of who precisely was responsible for the contamination, the very department that was responsible for the contamination decided to take legal action against Pat and Jay."

== Crop discovery and destruction ==

[[Image:Papaya.jpg|200px|thumb|Papaya fruit]]
In September the government was reported as having located at least nine GM plants on farms near the research facility, in [[w:Khon Kaen|Khon Kaen]] and [[w:Ubon Ratchathani|Ubon Ratchathani]]. Entire farm crops were destroyed to prevent the GM variety from spreading further, including those at research stations.

"Ten years of research aimed at improving disease resistance in papayas was destroyed, along with the experimental crops," said Wilai Prasartsri to ''The Nation'' in Thailand when 1,000 suspected genetically modified papaya trees there were buried under 2 meters of soil.  Prasartsri is the research station chief of Muang district, Khon Kaen. 

Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Somsak Thepsuthin said at the time only GM crops were to be destroyed, out of 2,600 [[w:papaya|papaya ]] crops sampled across Northeast Thailand. Papaya on the Khon Kaen farm were destroyed, and a control zone was set up within a 450metre radius of the GM contamination to prevent possible spread.

Director of state-funded non-government organisation, Bio-diversity and Community Rights Action Thailand [http://www.biothai.org/], Withoon Lianchamroon pointed out that rather than carry out extensive testing to isolate GM crops, it would be cheaper to pay compensation to all 2,600 farmers and destroy all the papaya on their farms, because the cost of GMO testing – Bt1,600 (US$40) per sample – was prohibitive.

Two GM papaya strains are being developed in Thailand, according to Greenpeace: ''Khak Dam'' and ''Khak Nuan''. The plants being grown in Thailand were genetically altered at [[w:Cornell University|Cornell University]] in the US, but details of the agreement were kept secret by the Thai government and Cornell, Greenpeace said. The group believed though, that a royalty fee was to be charged for commercial use of the plants showing the altered genetic code, which was designed to be resistant to ringspot virus.

== Blame ==

Although the Network of Northeastern Alternative Agriculture has filed complaints of negligence against the Prime Minister and senior agriculture officials, calling on Khon Kaen police to launch a criminal investigation into how the crops had spread, Greenpeace claims that no charges have been laid against anyone except the two activists.

Mr Somsak has launched an internal investigation to determine how the GM papayas from the experimental fields leaked to taint local crops, while director-general of the Department of Agriculture (DOA), Chakan Saengraksawong, eager to begin further field trials, told ''The Nation'', "We never sold the GM papaya seeds. If any official is found to have illegally sold the seeds he will surely face punishment."

Mr Withoon alleged at the time that a cover-up of the extent of dissemination of the GM variety had occurred. Mr Somsak said that the problem was limited to the Khon Kaen farms, whereas Withoon suspected that many more seedlings had 'escaped', with the thousands of Ubon Ratchathani villagers having been given seedlings by state experimental farms.

Environmentalists pointed to the apparent lack of effectiveness of the Khon Kaen farm's strong fences and round-the-clock security in preventing escape of the GM seedlings.

== Status of GM in Thailand ==

Since 2001, Thailand has banned importation of GM organisms for commercial non-research purposes, until national regulations can be developed.

Exports to Europe were cancelled in the face of the discovery, affecting Thailand's US$1 million, 3,000 ton papaya export market. The internal market of papaya in Thailand is a hundred times as large.

According to Mr Withoon, most Thai are against GM. Bumrung Kayothabut of the Network of Northeastern Alternative Agriculture, last year said the government was in the grip of multinational companies trying to dominate Thai agriculture through the promotion of GM crops.

Senator Niran Phitakwatchara linked pro-GM moves by the government to the Thailand-United States Free Trade Agreement (FTA); in the midst of the papaya escapade, the Thai government was reviewing its policy on GM crops, and being lobbied by the US biotech monolith, Monsanto &mdash; who, with Cornell, holds patents on the world's only commercial GM papaya, ''SunUp'', farmed in Hawaii.

Prime Minister [[Thaksin Shinawatra|Thaksin]] said on delaying of a decision on overturning the ban on GM crops, that the government needed more information. "People, including some scientists, still have no clear understanding of what GM crops really are," he told ''The Nation''. He added that bio-safety legislation was needed as a first step, before examining whether or not to allow GM crops, and denied that the FTA was influencing Thai policy-making.

== Sources ==

*{{source|url=http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/free-thailand-s-papaya-activis
|title=Free Thailand's papaya activists!
|pub=Greenpeace
|author=Greenpeace
|date=April 27, 2005 }}
*{{source|url=http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.arcview.php?clid=3&id=106917&usrsess=
|title=Greenpeace 6-point GMO plan
|author=Kamol Sukin
|pub=The Nation (Thailand)
|date=October 1, 2004 }}
*{{source|url=http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.arcview.php?clid=5&id=106835&usrsess=
|title=GMO CONTAMINATION : Somsak urged to quit over papayas
|author=Suphon Thanukrit
|pub=The Nation (Thailand)
|date=September 30, 2004  }}
*{{source|url=http://www.ictsd.org/biores/04-09-23/story3.htm
|title=Bridges Trade BioRes, Volume 4, Number 17: Thai government confirms GM papaya finding
|author=International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD)
|pub=International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD)
|date=23 September 2004 }}
*{{source|url=http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.arcview.php?clid=3&id=106181&usrsess=
|title=PM cited in papaya complaint
|author=The Nation (Thailand)
|pub=The Nation (Thailand)
|date=September 18, 2004 }}
*{{source|url=http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.arcview.php?clid=3&id=106072&usrsess=
|title=1,000 ‘GM papaya trees' felled
|author=The Nation (Thailand)
|pub=The Nation (Thailand)
|date=September 16, 2004  }}
*{{source|url=http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.arcview.php?clid=3&id=106003&usrsess=
|title=GOVERNMENT ADMISSION: GM papaya confirmed in NE
|author=The Nation (Thailand)
|pub=The Nation (Thailand)
|date=September 15, 2004 }}
*{{source|url=http://www.ictsd.org/biores/04-09-10/story1.htm
|title=Bridges Trade BioRes, Volume 4, Number 16: Thailand extends GMO ban
|author=International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD)
|pub=International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD)
|date=10 September 2004 }}
*{{source|url=http://www.greenpeacesoutheastasia.org/en/seanews125.html
|title=Unfinished Business: New US Patents on GE Papaya in Thailand
|pub=Greenpeace Southeast Asia
|author=Greenpeace Southeast Asia
|date=September 9, 2004 ? }}
*{{source|url=http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.arcview.php?clid=5&id=105251&usrsess=
|title=GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROPS : Govt promises public hearings on field testing
|author=Sirinart Sirisunthorn, Worranaree Kosajan
|pub=The Nation (Thailand)
|date=September 2, 2004 }}
*{{source|url=http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.arcview.php?clid=3&id=104853&usrsess=
|title=The GMO debate: Monsanto looks for a foothold
|author=Saowalak Phumyaem,Kamol Sukin
|pub=The Nation (Thailand)
|date=August 26, 2004 }}
*{{source|url=http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.arcview.php?clid=5&id=104605&usrsess=
|title=GMO CROPS: PM's policy draws ire of activists
|author=Kamol Sukin, Prapasri Osathanond
|pub=The Nation (Thailand)
|date=August 22, 2005 }}
*{{source|url=http://www.afaa.com.au/news/news-1507.asp
|title=Thais lift ban on GMO planting,to regulate trials
|pub=Reuters
|author=Reuters
|date=August 21, 2004 }}
*{{source|url=http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.arcview.php?clid=3&id=104485&usrsess=
|title=Day of reckoning for GMO crops
|author=Sirinart Sirisunthorn
|pub=The Nation (Thailand)
|date=August 20, 2004 }}

== See also ==

* {{source|url=http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.arcview.php?clid=4&id=113654&usrsess=
|title=Poorer nations on GMO bandwagon
|author=Janjira Pongrai
|pub=The Nation (Thailand)
|date=March 25, 2005 }}
* {{source|url=http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.arcview.php?clid=26&id=107132&usrsess=
|title=The great GM quandary
|author=Kamol Sukin
|pub=The Nation (Thailand)
|date=October 5, 2004 }}
* {{source|url=http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.arcview.php?clid=2&id=106382&usrsess=
|title=Latest GM ‘threat' ... Watermelons
|author=The Nation (Thailand)
|pub=The Nation (Thailand)
|date=September 22, 2004 }}
* {{source|url=http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.arcview.php?clid=3&id=106322&usrsess=
|title=MODIFIED CROPS: GM papayas found on 8 more farms
|author=Saowalak Pumyaem, Sumalee Phopayak
|pub=The Nation (Thailand)
|date=September 21, 2004 }}
* {{source|url=http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.arcview.php?clid=3&id=105674&usrsess=
|title=Somsak disputes papaya patent claims
|author=The Nation (Thailand)
|pub=The Nation (Thailand)
|date=September 9, 2004 }}
* {{source|url=http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.arcview.php?clid=3&id=105593&usrsess=
|title=GMO DEBATE: Papaya disease ‘patented'
|author=Saowalak Pumyaem, Sumalee Phopayak
|pub=The Nation (Thailand)
|date=September 8, 2004 }}
* {{source|url=http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.arcview.php?clid=26&id=105842&usrsess=
|title=Villagers caught in GMO crossfire
|author=Dussadee Ngarmlua
|pub=The Nation (Thailand)
|date=September 8, 2004 }}
* {{source|url=http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.arcview.php?clid=5&id=105443&usrsess=
|title=IMPORT BAN: PM plays down GM food fears
|author=The Nation (Thailand)
|pub=The Nation (Thailand)
|date=September 5, 2004 }}
* {{source|url=http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.arcview.php?clid=3&id=105392&usrsess=
|title=GMO FEARS: 'Papayas are not tainted'
|author=The Nation (Thailand)
|pub=The Nation (Thailand)
|date=September 4, 2004 }}
* {{source|url=http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.arcview.php?clid=3&id=105325&usrsess=
|title=GMO CONCERNS: Europeans shun Thai papaya
|author=Kamol Sukin, Sirinart Sirisunthorn  
|pub=The Nation (Thailand)
|date=September 3, 2004 }}
* {{source|url=http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.arcview.php?clid=2&id=105206&usrsess=
|title=Govt to ‘review' GMO policy
|author=Satian Wiriyaphanphongsa, Sirinart Sirisunthorn
|pub=The Nation (Thailand)
|date=September 1, 2004 }}
* {{source|url=http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.arcview.php?clid=11&id=105071&usrsess=
|title=Preparing for a GM future
|author=Dr Nares Damrongchai  
|pub=The Nation (Thailand)
|date=August 30, 2004 }}
* {{source|url=http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.arcview.php?clid=3&id=104900&usrsess=
|title=GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROPS: Dept has seven research projects
|author=The Nation (Thailand)
|pub=The Nation (Thailand)
|date=August 27, 2004 }}
* {{source|url=http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.arcview.php?clid=3&id=103548&usrsess=
|title=Activists prompt GMO probe
|author=Sirinart Sirisunthorn, Dussadee Ngarmlua
|pub=The Nation (Thailand)
|date=August 4, 2004 }}
* {{source|url=http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.arcview.php?clid=5&id=103283&usrsess=
|title=NGOs threaten to sue over ‘GMO seeds'
|author=Sirinart Sirisunthorn, Yossawadee Hongthong
|pub=The Nation (Thailand)
|date=July 30, 2004 }}
* {{source|url=http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.arcview.php?clid=3&id=103181&usrsess=
|title=Greenpeace raids Khon Kaen lab
|author=The Nation (Thailand)
|pub=The Nation (Thailand)
|date=July 28, 2004 }}

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[[Category:Asia]]
[[Category:Thailand]]
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[[Category:Economy and business]]
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[[Category:Cornell University]]
Location map of Thailand

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Two activists who helped identify a vagrant Genetically Modified (GM) crop of papaya, which was later confirmed and destroyed by Thai officials, now face prison over their actions, says Greenpeace.

"In July of 2004, Journalist Pat and Ecology PhD Jay took this story public when they acted as spokespersons for Greenpeace activists who sealed off GE papaya in experimental fields at the Khon Kaen research station — the source of GE papaya contamination in the region," says a statement from the environmental awareness organisation.

"They were charged with theft, trespassing and destruction of property."

"Instead of getting to the bottom of who precisely was responsible for the contamination, the very department that was responsible for the contamination decided to take legal action against Pat and Jay."

"Ten years of research aimed at improving disease resistance in papayas was destroyed, along with the experimental crops," said Wilai Prasartsri to The Nation in Thailand when 1,000 suspected genetically modified papaya trees there were buried under 2 meters of soil.  Prasartsri is the research station chief of Muang district, Khon Kaen. 

Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Somsak Thepsuthin said at the time only GM crops were to be destroyed, out of 2,600 papaya  crops sampled across Northeast Thailand. Papaya on the Khon Kaen farm were destroyed, and a control zone was set up within a 450metre radius of the GM contamination to prevent possible spread.

Director of state-funded non-government organisation, Bio-diversity and Community Rights Action Thailand , Withoon Lianchamroon pointed out that rather than carry out extensive testing to isolate GM crops, it would be cheaper to pay compensation to all 2,600 farmers and destroy all the papaya on their farms, because the cost of GMO testing – Bt1,600 (US$40) per sample – was prohibitive.

Two GM papaya strains are being developed in Thailand, according to Greenpeace: Khak Dam and Khak Nuan. The plants being grown in Thailand were genetically altered at Cornell University in the US, but details of the agreement were kept secret by the Thai government and Cornell, Greenpeace said. The group believed though, that a royalty fee was to be charged for commercial use of the plants showing the altered genetic code, which was designed to be resistant to ringspot virus.

Mr Somsak has launched an internal investigation to determine how the GM papayas from the experimental fields leaked to taint local crops, while director-general of the Department of Agriculture (DOA), Chakan Saengraksawong, eager to begin further field trials, told The Nation, "We never sold the GM papaya seeds. If any official is found to have illegally sold the seeds he will surely face punishment."

Mr Withoon alleged at the time that a cover-up of the extent of dissemination of the GM variety had occurred. Mr Somsak said that the problem was limited to the Khon Kaen farms, whereas Withoon suspected that many more seedlings had 'escaped', with the thousands of Ubon Ratchathani villagers having been given seedlings by state experimental farms.

Environmentalists pointed to the apparent lack of effectiveness of the Khon Kaen farm's strong fences and round-the-clock security in preventing escape of the GM seedlings.

Exports to Europe were cancelled in the face of the discovery, affecting Thailand's US$1 million, 3,000 ton papaya export market. The internal market of papaya in Thailand is a hundred times as large.

According to Mr Withoon, most Thai are against GM. Bumrung Kayothabut of the Network of Northeastern Alternative Agriculture, last year said the government was in the grip of multinational companies trying to dominate Thai agriculture through the promotion of GM crops.

Senator Niran Phitakwatchara linked pro-GM moves by the government to the Thailand-United States Free Trade Agreement (FTA); in the midst of the papaya escapade, the Thai government was reviewing its policy on GM crops, and being lobbied by the US biotech monolith, Monsanto — who, with Cornell, holds patents on the world's only commercial GM papaya, SunUp, farmed in Hawaii.

Prime Minister Thaksin said on delaying of a decision on overturning the ban on GM crops, that the government needed more information. "People, including some scientists, still have no clear understanding of what GM crops really are," he told The Nation. He added that bio-safety legislation was needed as a first step, before examining whether or not to allow GM crops, and denied that the FTA was influencing Thai policy-making.
Asia Thailand Crime and law Economy and business Environment Thaksin Shinawatra Greenpeace Cornell University