Formation
The Assembly of the Poor grew out of this unrest, beginning with villagers angry about local impact of the Pak Mun dam. One of the co-founders of the group, Vanida Tantiwittayapitak had become involved in Pak Mun after her relocation to the country following the Thammasat University massacre. While it started as a rural assembly, city workers were also welcomed.
The grass-roots organization became official on International Human Rights Day, 10 December, in 1995, becoming the first rural political voice after the 1975 suppression of the Peasants' Federation. This took place on the opening day of their first conference, "Assembly of the Poor: The consequences of Large-Scale Development Projects", held at Thammasat University of Bangkok and intended to coincide with the ASEAN Summit scheduled in Bangkok on 14–15 December.
Conference attendees spent several days developing the "Mun River Declaration", which both announced their existence and cricitized the prioritization of industrial development at the expense of local communities. It also fired a warning shot against the bow of government, forming a petition detailing their grievances to the government, punctuated by a march through Bangkok of hundreds of AOP members and sympathizers.
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