Sounds of Solidarity

The sun was just rising behind the traditional Buddhist wat, when the Internet connection finally came through. I couldn’t help but grin when I heard the familiar twang of Eastern Kentucky voices. The skype call between villagers of Na Nong Bong in Northeast Thailand and community organizers of Kentuckians for the Commonwealth had officially begun. Each community has experienced similar struggles; a gold mine was built in Na Nong Bong 6 years ago, and the consequences of Appalachia coal mining have continued for over a 100 years in Floyd County, KY. Both communities have been organizing around their respective mining issues for years, but now they have decided to make a connection in order to share stories, support, and strategies.

I found the situation to be pretty surreal. I didn’t realize people in Thailand had even heard of Kentucky when I arrived 3 months ago, and I didn’t expect the two areas to have anything in common. They each talked about how the mine had made their water unfit for human consumption, destroyed their landscape, and broken old friendships. Ecological degradation, human rights violations, and hope for the future have created a relationship between the mountain communities.

The relationship between Na Nong Bong and Kentuckians for the Commonwealth is still very young. The conversation was largely focused on background stories. I hope that in the future community members can exchange organizing strategies and that they come to realize how they can assist each other. Despite their similarities, differences remain. Much of Kentucky’s energy depends on coal, where as gold is a commodity to be bought and sold. Kentuckians have been fighting mines for decades, whereas Na Nong Bong is new to the struggle. However, under a common language of human rights these communities can find solidarity.

As I listened to the conversation that spanned 3,000 miles, I thought about the power of solidarity. What if people from rural Thailand no longer thought of Hollywood and our other cultural exports when they thought of the United States, and instead thought of friends with a common struggle in the hollers of Appalachia? What if people in Eastern Kentucky realized that they have more in common with people in Isaan than their policy makers in Washington D.C.? There is immense power in making these types of connections across cultural and political boundaries that have otherwise separated us. Hearing each group say, “Our problems are the same,” and “We have friends across the world,” sent chills up my spine.

Members of our group often lament that our work we do in Thailand is much needed in the United States, and that we should be building relationships with communities at home instead of here. When it comes to mining, the struggle is the same. Some students from past semesters in Thailand were there in Kentucky, talking to their former host families in Na Nong Bong via skype. There need not be a separation between struggling for the recognition of human rights and the preservation of livelihoods in Thailand or the United States. It is the same struggle and the more aware we become of this connectedness, the more powerful our movement will be.

Written by Rebecca Goncharoff, current study abroad student with CIEE Thailand in Khon Kaen, Thailand. Rebecca is originally from Paris, KY and is studying at Transylvania University.