Electricity production
Hydropower dams
Local fishers still reporting catches at Don Sahong
Local fishers around Don Sahong Hydropower Project area in Khong district, Champassak province said their fish catches have only decreased slightly this year as the project has improved fish passage for upstream and downstream migration. One fisherman in Don Sahong village, Mr Viengxay explained that recently ...
Damming the Nam Tha in Northern Laos
The Nam Tha, or Tha River, begins in northern Laos near the Lao-China border and runs southwest to join the Mekong just south of Huay Xay on the Lao-Thai border. In October 2014, I traveled by motorcycle and longtail boat up the Nam Tha, starting ...
No authority to prevent new Mekong River projects: MRC
The Mekong River Commission does not have the authority to stop projects even if they have trans-boundary effects, delegates to the fourth Green Mekong Forum said on 13 June, while the Thai Irrigation Department presented a water diversion project to fight poverty. If the MRC member states – ...
B Grimm sets Bt24 bn to replace power plants in 2 industrial estates
B GRIMM, one of Thailand’s oldest business conglomerates, on 13 June announced its plan to spend Bt24 billion to replace its power plants in two industrial estates, Amata Nakorn Industrial Estate and Laem Chabang Industrial Estate in Chon Buri. The investment plan was set up after ...
Value of dam-affected homes being assessed
Officials have started to assess properties in Oddar Meanchey that will be flooded by an under construction dam, though the affected villagers remain in the dark about possible compensation. Eight officers from the Ministry of Finance and the province’s water resources department were in Chongkal district’s ...
Dozens in Myitkyina township protest Myitsone dam meeting
Some 40 residents of Kachin State’s Myitkyina Township staged a protest on on 4 June against a meeting between Chinese Ambassador Hong Liang, Chinese investor China Power Investment and president of the Kachin State Democracy Party Tu Ja over attempts to renegotiate the Chinese-funded Myitsone dam.Keep ...
Mekong dam projects ‘could destroy livelihoods, ecology’
The ecology of the Mekong River could be destroyed within 10 years if dam projects along the river are allowed to continue, Thai and Cambodian non-government organisations have warned. They have also warned that it will be very difficult for people to claim compensation for ...
Dam firm hasn’t made good on pledge: locals
Some 100 people from five villages in Oddar Meanchey’s Chongkal district, Cambodia protested over the weekend against a hydropower dam project built by Chinese firm Sinohydro, claiming they have yet to be compensated for their eventual displacement when the flood gates close in the next ...
Locals on polluted Ba riverside thirsty for clean water
Since the day the An Khe – Ka Nak hydropower plant was put into operation, it has been taking away water to generate electricity, depleting and polluting the lower course of the Ba River. Things got worse recently when the river section which runs across Krong ...
Pak Mun Dam: 25 years after World Bank’s loan, problems remains
The Pak Mun Dam was constructed on the Mun River, a tributary of the Mekong River, in Ubon Ratchathani Province, Thailand. Preliminary construction of the dam began in mid-1990. The dam was met by intense opposition not only by the local communities but also international ...