News
Troubles on the Mekong
On October 29, Laos unveiled a new dam in the country’s north. The 1.3-gigawatt Xayaburi dam sits on the Mekong River, which flows the length of the country. Laos plans to build nearly a hundred like it by 2020—many with direct funding and support from ...
Sam Geall
China’s Mekong ambitions cause concern for Thai locals (Video)
The Mekong River is possibly the most important waterway in Southeast Asia. It feeds 60 million people in six countries and there have been long-standing concerns that China is trying to control it. China recently halted plans in March to blast rapids along the river ...
Yuki Tsang
Xayaburi Dam Opens in Laos Sparking Protests in Thailand
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 ...
CTN News
Are Cambodia’s hydropower plans risky?
Along with most Southeast Asian countries, Cambodia’s electricity consumption over the past decade has skyrocketed. In a report by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), electricity consumption in Cambodia has been growing rapidly, averaging 20 percent growth per annum since 2010. This rate continues to accelerate ...
The Dammed Don: Lao hydropower project pushes ahead despite alarm from scientists
Snaking down the length of the Mekong River the beautifully detailed map looks strikingly like those marking the distribution of unexploded ordnance in Laos. The red dots that pockmark the course of the river, from its origins in the highlands of China to its outlet ...
The hydropower paradox: is this energy as clean as it seems?
In July, UN Secretary Ban Ki-Moon highlighted the role of hydropower in boosting the use of renewable energy globally, when he visited a nonprofit institute in China that helps emerging nations develop and build hydropower plants. Many countries consider hydroelectricity a clean source of power ...
President inspects Biluchaung Hydro-power Plant 2 in Kayah State
President U Htin Kyaw, together with Union Ministers U Than Myint, U Thein Swe and U Pe Zin Tun and Deputy Minister Maj-Gen Than Htut, visited Loikaw in Kayah State on November 3 and met with local officials, entrepreneurs, farmers and residents in Linphonlay Village. The ...
Cambodian Deputy PM observes fish passage improvements at Don Sahong dam
A high-ranking delegation from Cambodia led by Foreign Affairs Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Mr Hor Namhong visited the Don Sahong hydropower project in Champassak province on October 29 to observe progress of the project, especially fish passage improvements. Mr Hor Namhong and his delegation are ...
Locals want a disruptive dam project in Northern Myanmar terminated once and for all
It has now been five years since the Myitsone Dam project in Northern Myanmar was suspended, but a local ethnic Kachin man, Mung Ra, is still not satisfied. He wishes that the project had been entirely terminated. He frequently laments the loss of his farm and ...
Southeast Asia’s last major undammed river in crisis
China has suspended dams upstream of the Salween but the Myanmar government is pushing ahead with Chinese backed dams downstream, despite environmental costs and cheaper alternatives. From the snow-capped mountains of Tibet, the Salween rushes through steep gorges in Yunnan Province and flows through four of ...
