Laos’ thirst for Mekong River dams imperils fishing, farming
Dismissing its neighbors’ pleas, impoverished Laos is rapidly building a Mekong River dam that threatens fisheries crucial to millions of Southeast Asia’s poorest people. Landlocked Laos is Southeast Asia’s poorest state, and all its neighbors far exceed its population of 7 million. But by virtue of geography and burgeoning Chinese influence, its secretive authoritarian leaders wield huge, unaccountable power over a 4,800-kilometer-long river that begins in Tibet and winds through six countries before emptying into the South China Sea. The rest of Southeast Asia is powerless to stop Laos. Its neighbors’ positions are also complicated by commercial ties. Thai, Chinese and Malaysian companies are building dams in Laos and power companies in Thailand and Vietnam plan to buy the electricity.
