Impacts of Mekong River Dams

[reader]

From International Rivers

Site of the proposed Sanakham Dam (October 2023). Credit: International Rivers

By Rin Sohsai

In early October, the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRC) sent a letter to Thailand’s Prime Minister expressing serious concerns about the plans for four more hydropower projects to be built on the mainstream of the Mekong River near the Thai-Lao territorial border— namely, the Sanakham, Pak Chom, Ban Kum and Phu Ngoy dams, all of which will be constructed in Laos but are expected to export electricity to Thailand.

The NHRC letter to the Prime Minister comes in the midst of several high profile incidents of flooding of communities residing along the Mekong riverbanks and its tributaries. It is particularly timely, as the Thai government has been updating the country’s Power Development Plan (PDP) using assumptions based on outdated data and a process which has bypassed meaningful public participation. Meanwhile, government authorities have also failed to provide any assurance that adequate assessment of transboundary impacts have been done prior to moving forward with plans for this massive build-out of hydropower dams. On these matters, crucially, the NHRC findings and recommendations provided to the government echo critical concerns raised persistently by civil society and community based groups in Thailand as well as across the Mekong region. 

The NHRC letter to the Prime Minister is the result of an investigation by the NHRC undertaken in response to a  joint complaint filed in June 2023 by ETOs Watch Coalition — a network of civil society groups, including International Rivers, which together monitors the human rights and environmental impacts of Thailand’s outbound investments  — and the Thai Mekong People’s Network. Commissioners and their staff took the time to not only review documents at hand, but also heard testimonies directly from members of the communities along the Mekong who will be affected by the development of these dams, engaged with civil society groups and academics, held dialogues with local and national government bodies, and undertook site visits to areas within Thailand that stand to be affected by the Sanakham and Phu Ngoy Dam sites.

Continues at

https://www.internationalrivers.org/news/thailands-national-human-rights-commission-raises-serious-concerns-about-impacts-of-mekong-river-dams/

[Keithambrose]

7 hours ago, reader said:

From International Rivers

Site of the proposed Sanakham Dam (October 2023). Credit: International Rivers

By Rin Sohsai

In early October, the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRC) sent a letter to Thailand’s Prime Minister expressing serious concerns about the plans for four more hydropower projects to be built on the mainstream of the Mekong River near the Thai-Lao territorial border— namely, the Sanakham, Pak Chom, Ban Kum and Phu Ngoy dams, all of which will be constructed in Laos but are expected to export electricity to Thailand.

The NHRC letter to the Prime Minister comes in the midst of several high profile incidents of flooding of communities residing along the Mekong riverbanks and its tributaries. It is particularly timely, as the Thai government has been updating the country’s Power Development Plan (PDP) using assumptions based on outdated data and a process which has bypassed meaningful public participation. Meanwhile, government authorities have also failed to provide any assurance that adequate assessment of transboundary impacts have been done prior to moving forward with plans for this massive build-out of hydropower dams. On these matters, crucially, the NHRC findings and recommendations provided to the government echo critical concerns raised persistently by civil society and community based groups in Thailand as well as across the Mekong region. 

The NHRC letter to the Prime Minister is the result of an investigation by the NHRC undertaken in response to a  joint complaint filed in June 2023 by ETOs Watch Coalition — a network of civil society groups, including International Rivers, which together monitors the human rights and environmental impacts of Thailand’s outbound investments  — and the Thai Mekong People’s Network. Commissioners and their staff took the time to not only review documents at hand, but also heard testimonies directly from members of the communities along the Mekong who will be affected by the development of these dams, engaged with civil society groups and academics, held dialogues with local and national government bodies, and undertook site visits to areas within Thailand that stand to be affected by the Sanakham and Phu Ngoy Dam sites.

Continues at

https://www.internationalrivers.org/news/thailands-national-human-rights-commission-raises-serious-concerns-about-impacts-of-mekong-river-dams/

It seems that Tonle Sap, which in rainy season used to be largest lake in SE Asia, is slowly, but surely, dying as a result  of the Mekong dams. 2m people or so set to suffer.