Grandma Hai: Champion of 32-Year Fight for Justice

Previously obtaining only primary education, Grandma Hai said it took her 32 years to earn her Master’s. Her long battle against a government irrigation project which intruded on her land fnally came to an end last year when she won her case.

“I was fighting legally with my rights. If I had no rights, I wouldn’t have fought for it,” said Grandma Hai.

Back in 1977, Huai La Ha Dam was built during the Gen Prem Tinsulanonda administration, which did not seek the consent of local residents, causing the Grandma to lose over 60 rai (24 acres) of her cultivated farmland as part of the project, while after the construction ended, the land was immediately fooded.

Ramkhamhaeng University granted Grandma Hai the degree, for she was fghting peacefully for her rights according to the principles of political science.The grandmother's long yet peaceful battle made her statement to the society on how government policies, if not implemented properly and correctly, could have negative effects on the locals.As said by dean of the university’s Political Science Faculty, the life of Grandma Hai was taken as a living curriculum.

“We considered her as a milestone in the history of Thailand’s human rights. It’d be useful for people in the marginalised society to wake up and fght for their own rights, while the government in return has to respect the rights of the people,” said Asst Prof Wutisak Lapcharoensap, the dean.

Grandma Hai regained her felds in 2004 when  the Thaksin Shinawatra government demanded state agencies to investigate her case. Finally  in 2009,  the Cabinet approved 4.9 million baht (US$0.14 million) to support her and her family members suffering from the dam construction, while Grandma Hai was handed over a 1.2 million baht cheque by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva himself as compensation for the land she lost.

Grandma Hai had earlier earned an honourary Ph.D. degree  in Law from Vongchavalitkul University in the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima.