Lertsak Kamkongsak said the company was trying to divide communal groups that would be affected by the potash mine.

The company, one of the country's largest contractors, denies trying to buy support for the project.

The allegation was made following a rally on Wednesday in which villagers protested against a public forum on the project.

Hundreds of protesters surrounded Udon Thani Rajabhat Institute president Charoon Thavornchak and tossed betel juice at him to express their anger at the public forum he was chairing on the project.

The forum was a public relations gimmick designed to create the impression that local residents supported the project, the protesters said.

Charoon was preparing to chair the third and last day of the controversial forum.

It had to be cancelled.

Lertsak said this helped prevent a confrontation.

"I would like to apologise to the university's president, but I couldn't prevent the situation," he said.

To avoid a confrontation, the project's opponents had agreed not to join the forum on Monday and Tuesday, but their anger boiled over on Wednesday after learning that the forum had focused on the project's benefits, he said.

Lertsak also accused an Udon Thani councillor of recruiting people "to fill" the forum.

"We can't stand these image-making efforts," he said.

"It was a farce." 

Italian-Thai coordinator Prapimphan Sudchukiat denied that the company had tried to

buy the support of local administrative organisations or local

residents. However, she hinted that previous management had engaged in such activities.

Italian-Thai last year bought the Canadian firm, Asia Pacific Resources, that holds the mining concession.

"We have been extremely cautious about our activities so as to avoid creating conflict," Prapimphan said.

She said the Charoon-chaired panel would meet today to decide how to proceed.

Italian-Thai has yet to receive a mining licence for the project, which has been heavily criticised by environmentalists and academics.

The mine will cause the ground to sink up to a metre over a 25-square kilometre area south of the provincial capital. It will also

create a massive salt-waste dump and brine pond that, environmentalists warn, could spoil some of the most prized farmland in the area as well as pollute water supplies.

Thailand's lax enforcement of environmental regulations coupled with the massive size of the project could cause another environmental disaster, they warn.

Supporters of the project say that the responsible use of technology could mitigate any potential negative impacts and that the mine will bring well-paying jobs to an area of the Kingdom that needs them most.

Potash is an ore used to make chemical fertiliser.

Sumalee Phopayak

The Nation

Udon Thani