The Thai government started 2017 announcing another major commitment to transportation expansion: US$25 billion to finance futuristic high-speed trains, super highways and expanded sea and airports. Far less glitzy but immediately controversial, however, was one of its final transportation acts of 2016: preparing to restart, after 13 years, rapid blasting and river channelization to clear the Mekong River for navigation just below its arrival from Myanmar.
Category: Laos
Striking a balance between conservation and development at the heart of Mekong struggle
DEPENDING on who you speak to, there are naturally differing perspectives in regard to the future of the Mekong River, as most people living along the river look for a sustainable future through conservation of the existing ecosystem, while governments seek balanced resource usage and benefit-sharing arrived at via diplomacy and negotiation.
The soul of the Mekong is in serious trouble
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha last week asked reporters why non-governmental organisations (NGOs), environmental activists and academics continue to protest against the planned blasting of rapids in the Mekong River.
He said many of these protesters are outsiders, meaning people who do not live by the riverside, do not fish its waters or make a living from the river and do not, in fact, have any stake in the river at all.
New study shows significant impact of Chinese dams on Mekong
Large dams on the Mekong River in China’s Yunnan Province have considerable impacts on downstream river flows, new research by myself and colleagues at Aalto University in Finland and published recently in the Journal of Hydropower has shown.
Drowning out traditions
The smiles that once brightened faces in Luangtong, a small community in Laos’ northwest Oudomxay province, have disappeared. These days the residents appear defeated, stunned by the knowledge that before long the land that has sustained them for generations will be submerged under the waters behind Pak Beng Dam.
Pak Beng Hydropower project looks set to move forward
The construction of the Pak Beng Hydropower Project is expected to begin at the end of this year after reaching agreement among Lower Mekong countries.
Mekong diplomacy: a bridge that has failed
The Mekong River Commission (MRC) bears an enormous weight on its shoulders, overseeing both the development and the protection of a channel on whom millions of people depend. But the commission has proved powerless in the latter mission, failing to protect or involve communities in hydropower projects that threaten their livelihoods.
Progress made on SEZ in Luang Prabang
The developer of a US$1.2 billion special economic zone (SEZ) in Luang Prabang province is in the process of demarcating the project site and building an access road.
Thailand Backing Controversial Survey to Clear Mekong Islets
The Thai government is backing a plan by China to demolish islets and rocky outcrops on the Mekong River as part of a decade long project to boost shipping navigation from China’s Yunnan province to Luang Prabang in Laos.
The project, known as the Development Plan for International Navigation on the Lancang-Mekong River (2015-2025) is set in three phases, with an initial survey, design, and environmental and social assessments.
Experts ‘greatly disappointed’ by yet another Mekong hydropower dam
International environment experts are urging Vietnam and its Mekong River neighbors to cancel another hydropower project amid concerns that the project is flawed and needs to be fixed.
At a meeting held by the Mekong River Commission (MRC) last Friday, officials from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam agreed to set December 20 as the start date for a six-month consultation process for the Pak Beng Dam, the third on the lower Mekong mainstream following Xayaburi and Don Sahong.