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The newly-built Xayaburi dam has raised some key concerns about Lao PDR’s hydropower strategy. While hydropower is one of the country’s main exports, Lao PDR still has to import electricity. And although the government says the Xayaburi dam will improve access to electricity for its citizens, ...

LOEI, Thailand: The once-mighty Mekong river has been reduced to a thin, grubby neck of water in stretches of northern Thailand – record lows blamed on drought and a recently completed dam far upstream. The US$4.47 billion Thai-owned Xayaburi hydro-electric power plant went into operation this ...

Xayaburi Dam has been nine years in the making and the 135-billion-baht project. It was built and financed by Thai companies and banks, has been controversial since inception. The first hydro-power dam on the lower Mekong River began commercial operations in Laos on Tuesday. The opening ...

The first hydropower dam on the lower Mekong River began commercial operations in Laos on Tuesday amid protests from Thai villagers who say the Xayaburi Dam and several others in the works will destroy their livelihoods. The 1,285-megawatt Xayaburi Dam’s debut coincides with parts of the ...

Mekong residents demand transboundary impacts addressed. The first dam built on the Lower Mekong, Xayaburi, has commenced its commercial operation today with a big splash of advertising on almost every newspaper’s wraps in Thailand, convincing the public that it is in harmony with the nature. Its executive, ...

In five days, the Xayaburi Hydropower Project on the Mekong River in northern Laos will formally begin operations. As the first dam on the lower Mekong mainstream, this marks a turning point for the Mekong River. The Mekong River is 4,350 kilometers (2,703 miles) long, ranked ...

The first two of five planned large-scale Lao dams on the Mekong river are set to go online before the end of this year, amid controversy over their impact on the environment and people’s livelihoods. The Xayaburi dam in northern Laos will start operations on October ...

The Thai government must suspend plans to buy electricity from a dam in Laos, conservationists said on Friday (Jul 26), as water levels along the kingdom’s section of Mekong river plummet to near-record lows. The Thai-built Xayaburi dam, a few hours from the northern Laos town ...

Arthayudh Srisamoot, the Foreign Ministry’s deputy permanent secretary, had spoken to Chinese Ambassador Lyu Jian and Laos Ambassador Seng Soukhathivong on Tuesday following a media outcry about farmers suffering and the Mekong River running dry.  “This severe drought is a natural problem because we have had ...

Thai overseas investors have been urged to respect human rights wherever they are doing business and work closely with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Human rights were highlighted as a critical issue, as the NHRC has received 12 complaints about Thai investments in Myanmar, Laos, ...