Locked in – Why Thailand buys electricity from Laos

The Thai National Energy Policy Committee recently decided to purchase electricity generated by three planned hydropower projects on the Mekong River in Laos. Not surprisingly it’s the low purchases prices Thailand is able to lock in that makes Laos’ hydropower a major player in Thailand’s energy market, all the while brushing aside the incalculable, and mounting, social and environmental impacts of dams and reservoirs necessary to produce it.