• 
• 

Published on August 13, 2007

But the families disagree on the amount of government compensation required.

Lampang's deputy governor has set tomorrow as a deadline, saying if the people cannot come to an agreement, then the government will stick to its first proposal.

Samart Loifa said yesterday that each family would receive compensation and a budget to build a new life in a new location provided by the province, the cost of which would be paid by the government and Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat).

However, villagers are split into two groups. One group, led by ex-village chiefs, wantto receive the money in a lump sum in order to build their own housing on the 1,100 rai of land provided by the government.

The second group, consisting of members of Mae Moh sufferers' network, want Egat to build new houses for them, according to the Baan Munkong project of the National Housing Authority.

"The problem was that the first group decided that they didn't want to live with the second group in the provided area," said Samart. This has delayed the plan for a year.

Egat will pay about Bt240 million in compensation.

Jirat Prasertsup

Citylife

CHIANG MAI