"Globalization is killing poor people!"
That was one of the many protest banners in English held at the anti-Asian Development Bank rally in Chiang Mai, Thailand last weekend, though the use of Thai writing and Thai slogans apparently irritated some foreign dignitaries.
On May 7, about 4,000 protesters representing nongovernmental organizations and poor Thai villagers marched to the venue where ADB officials were meeting. Although there was pushing and shoving at police blockades, the protests were peaceful. Key topics included a call to drop irrigation taxes that will break the back of poor farmers, to stop supporting privatization of health and education that favors the rich, and to halt environmentally harmful dams and water-treatment projects.