Hydropower dams

Just over a week ago, many people in Thailand, particularly those in highrises, were thrown into panic when their buildings were swaying. They didn’t know at the time that a strong earthquake had just hit inside Lao borders near Nan’s district of Chaloem Phrakiat. The shallow ...

On a remote bend of the Mekong River in northern Laos, where its muddy waters make a hard right turn through steep verdant hills, the 330-odd residents of Houaygno village are bracing for an imminent exodus. Vietnam’s state-owned PetroVietnam Power has chosen the site for the ...

Damage to property in Hongsa and Xaysathan districts of Xayaboury province has been estimated at over 2 billion kip after at least 300 families were affected by an earthquake last week. Director of the province’s Labour and Social Welfare Department, Mr Nouphone Xaypanyachith, said two earthquakes ...

On Cambodia’s Tonle Sap, record low water levels have plunged fishing communities into crisis but with warnings of “severe drought”, there are concerns the situation will get even worse. “Every day we can only find about one or two kilogrammes (two or four pounds) of fish, ...

The building of large dams has increasingly run into opposition in established democracies but gained momentum in autocratic states, which often tout their benefits for combating droughts and water shortages. But, as the Mekong basin illustrates, giant upstream dams can contribute to river depletion and ...

River systems help sustain lives and livelihoods. But, thanks to excessive damming and drastic overuse of their water resources, some rivers are drying up before reaching the sea. Nowhere is this truer than Asia. Building large dams has increasingly run into grassroots opposition in established democracies ...

Stakeholders are concerned about the legitimacy of the multinational approval process for Laos’ Luangprabang hydropower project, after recommendations to lower the environmental impact were raised, but few were accepted during a meeting of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) last week in Vientiane. The meeting was held ...

Laos has dismissed fears that its next hydropower dam on the Mekong River would devastate downstream communities after neighboring countries and rights groups raised their doubts at a regional forum in the capital last week. The tiny landlocked country announced its intentions to go ahead with ...

For more than two decades, communities in Southeast Asia have been facing threats from the expansion of hydropower development. Dams have been justified by the governments of Southeast Asian countries as the main development agenda, which would generate large amounts of income and contribute to ...

The Mekong River Commission, member countries and relevant partners yesterday discussed procedures for a technical review of Laos’ planned Luang Prabang hydropower project. About 200 people comprising representatives of member countries Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, civil society, academics, private sector and development partners were in ...