BANGKOK, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Environmental advocacy group Greenpeace said 10,000 people took to the streets in Thailand to protest plans to build a coal-fired power plant.

Greenpeace said it joined the thousands of protesters in Thailand making demands for a clean energy community. The advocacy group said many residents are demanding the Thai government prioritize renewable energy development.


Thai protesters are complaining that coal companies are promising them economic rewards in order to build more coal-fired plants.

"The coal industry is telling us that they will bring development to our community but this can't be true as right now we are already rich," the advocacy group quoted the protesters as saying.

Greenpeace said the Mae Moh coal-fired plant in Thailand is one of the worst of its kind in Asia.

Lersak Kumkongsak, a coordinator for the Campaign of Public Policy on Mineral Resources of Thailand, was quoted recently by the Bangkok Post as saying the government is to blame for the country's pollution.

"It is our duty to make a change to protect our basic right to live in a good environment," he said.