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Selected environmental stories from media outlets in the Mekong region and beyond.

Officials committed to Dawei

By Nantiya Tangwisutijit

Thai officials and their Myanmar counterparts remain committed to the long-awaited Dawei megaproject, with the Myanmar-Thailand Joint High-Level Committee (JHC) and the Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC) to be set up soon to foster development.

Porametee Vimolsiri, secretary-general to the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB), said the recent joint ministerial meeting held on Aug 15-16 in Myanmar agreed to revitalise the role of the JHC and the JCC to rev up the multibillion-dollar project.

New sets of the two committees, which stalled before Myanmar held a general election on Nov 8 last year, are to be established soon.

The Thanlwin River – a victim of misdirected electric power

By Nantiya Tangwisutijit

The Myanmar government is trying to focus on generating electricity from cost-effective water resources to meet local demand for electricity.

The public does not accept the Myitsone dam project as a way to generate hydroelectric power from the Ayeyawady River, nor does it accept coal-fired power projects. When it comes to gas-fired power projects, gas from the existing projects is not enough for domestic consumption as it is being excessively produced for export purposes. Besides, natural gas has a high production cost.

The Thanlwin River, also called the Salween River, is set to become the next victim. But the public does not accept this either.

Gigawatts for Mega-spenders: Infographic shows Bangkok’s luxury malls use more energy than some provinces

By Nantiya Tangwisutijit

Thailand may be a middle income country, but enter one of the capital’s many new, opulent shopping complexes and you’ll think you’ve been transported to New York or Singapore. EmQuartier, Bangkok’s latest retail destination for the well-healed houses such brands as Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Prada, Dior, Tiffany and Cartier as do half a dozen of its predecessors along a six kilometers retail corridor in the city’s downtown.

Recharging Asia’s Battery

By Nantiya Tangwisutijit

Next week, Barack Obama will be the first sitting U.S. president to visit Laos, a poor, landlocked country whose large-scale efforts to dam the Mekong River threaten to destabilize the region. This concerns the United States because Southeast Asia is one of the country’s largest trading partners and a key security ally that can counterbalance China’s growing regional influence. Obama should seize this opportunity to help Laos make energy choices that, over the long term, can unify the region and preserve the Mekong.

Indian Mining Firm Prepares to Dig Deep in Ratanakkiri

By Nantiya Tangwisutijit

The Ministry of Mines and Energy is set to issue the country’s first commercial underground mining license to Indian company Mesco Gold in two weeks, despite opposition by residents of two villages concerned about compensation and environmental damage.

The company plans to break ground on its concession in Ratanakkiri province’s O’yadaw district in about six weeks, said Harsh Sharma, operations director for Mesco Gold, a Cambodia-based subsidiary of New Delhi-based Mesco Steel.

Endangered lives of local people and their protest against a Thai water project

By Paritta Wangkiat

Ban Klang village in Chiang Khan District, Loei province, Thailand is located next to the Mekong River near the border between Laos and Thailand. Living there are more than 300 households, in a village that will disappear if Thailand builds the planned Khong-Loei-Chi-Mun water diversion project. Local people are concerned about the risks the project will cause for their lives such as: homes flooded, fish populations and crops declining, and village resettlement.

Get your face masks out for ‘coal tourism’

By Nantiya Tangwisutijit

My trip to Songkhla in the south of Thailand earlier this week was not a typical sightseeing jaunt, but it was certainly worthwhile.

My destination was not Muang district which is famous for its old-town quarters or Hat Yai, the well-known shopping district of the southern region, but a pristine beach in Thepa’s tambon Pak Bang which is the designated site for a controversial coal-fired power plant.

Draft Regional Guidelines for Public Participation in EIA Released for Public Comment

By Paritta Wangkiat

USAID-funded Mekong Partnership for the Environment (MPE) has invited public comment on the draft Regional Guidelines on Public Participation in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), via mekongcitizen.org/EIA. These regional EIA guidelines have been developed by the Regional Technical Working Group (RTWG) on EIA in response to the shared concern for how to increase meaningful public participation in development planning, particularly in the context of rising levels of investment for development projects across the Mekong region.