Letter of concern to Thai Prime Minister from International NGOs

By Other News Sources on May 22, 2000 • ( Leave a comment )

May 22, 2000

NGOs express concern about plans between the Royal Thai Government and Burma’s State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) to develop a dam project on the Salween River in Burma.

Dear Hon. Prime Minister:

We respectfully write to you to express our deep concern about plans between the Royal Thai Government and Burma’s State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) to develop a dam project on the Salween River in Burma. As representatives of non-governmental organizations working on behalf of the environment, health, and, human rights, we believe that there are many dire consequences to the people of Thailand and Burma that will result from the development and implementation of the proposed Ta Sang dam on the mainstream of the Salween River. We are very heartened to know about your interest in the Salween River, and share your sentiment that it is a “most magnificent river, snaking through beautiful mountains.” In the pursuit of sustainable development, we hope that you will work to preserve this beauty for future generations to enjoy in all its unspoiled splendor.

The Salween River, the only major free flowing river remaining in Southeast Asia, forms a natural border between Thailand and Burma. Its watershed is shared between the two countries. A large proportion of the Ta Sang dam’s negative effects will occur in downstream communities and ecosystems in Burma. However, Thailand’s forests, rivers, people and economy will also be directly affected by the dam development, impacted by potential tragic events in Burma, and by the cumulative effects of changes throughout the river basin. We present the following concerns for your reconsideration of Thailand’s involvement in this risky dam project, and urge you to seek alternatives to Thailand’s energy and water needs that will be more cost effective and will not result in serious and irreparable damage to both Thailand’s natural environment and the communities potentially affected by the dam.

1. Negative Environmental and Economic Impacts

The planned Ta Sang dam will be near the Ta Sang crossing between Murng Pan and Murng Ton in southern Shan State, 80 kilometers from the Thai border. The dam will be 188 meters high and would create a reservoir 230 kilometers long, flooding an area of at least 640 sq. km, storing approximately one-third of the Salween’s average annual flow. The cost of building the dam will be at least US$3 billion. The project will precipitate severe changes to the ecology of the middle, lower and estuarine areas of the river, which will in turn have negative economic impacts, these impacts include:

* Changes to the natural ecological cycle of the river ecosystem downstream of the dam. River flows downstream of the dam in Burma and Thailand will be unpredictable as a result of releases from the dam, and water flows will be higher during the dry season and lower during the wet season. The dam will trap nutrient-rich sediment behind it, which is vital to the ecological integrity of the downstream riverine ecosystem. These changes will severely impact small-scale irrigation systems of agricultural communities and restrict cultivation of crops on exposed alluvial deposits along the sides of the river. In addition, the dam will block seasonal fish migrations and affect reproduction cycles, resulting in a decrease in aquatic diversity both downstream and upstream of the dam.

* Decreased flow in the Salween Delta could also result in salt water intrusion thereby destroying rice paddy fields, affecting freshwater supplies for local communities, and severely altering the fragile aquatic balance needed for healthy fish and other aquatic fauna populations.

* The dam’s enormous reservoir will submerge forests and fertile lands used by local communities to sustain themselves. Roads built for dam construction will also open the area to logging, thereby endangering biological diversity and the health of delicate ecosystems.

* The large reservoir and the enormous weight of the water could increase the threat of earthquakes along the Salween river basin which has geologic faults. The Salween River Basin’s last recorded earthquake of 5+ on the Richter scale was in 1992, and the largest earthquake recorded on the Taunggyi fault near Shan State registered 7.9 on the Richter scale (May 23, 1912). If an earthquake were to occur in the Ta Sang dam area and the dam broke, millions of people living downstream would be at serious risk.

2. Forced Relocation in Burma Resulting in Refugee Influx in Thailand

The proposed Ta Sang dam site and the lower area of the reservoir are located in southern Shan State, 80 kilometers from the Thai border. In the last four years, Burmese troops have intensified their military operations in the area, resulting in the forced relocation of more than 300,000 people. The dam’s impact on local communities poses some grave concerns including:

* In Burma, especially in the Shan State, Human Rights Watch reports an intensification of civilian forced relocation and the subsequent human rights abuses inflicted by the SPDC military from 1996 to 1999. These current abuses such as forced labor, forced portering, forced relocation and extrajudicial killings have in the last four years dramatically increased throughout the Shan State of northern Burma.

* Forced displacement is occurring in precisely the same areas that dam site surveyors began feasibility studies on the proposed dam site. From 1997, the SPDC military extended its relocation program in Shan state to include both sides on the Salween river, as well as the Nam Parng tributary upstream from the planned dam, and including Murng Pan township, which forms the western side of the Ta Sang dam site.

* If the dam is to proceed, the number of Shan seeking refuge in Thailand in order to escape SPDC’s forced relocation program and its subsequent human rights abuses will increase substantially. A 1998 Amnesty International report estimates that at least 80,000 Shan have taken refuge in Thailand as a result of SPDC’s forcible relocation program of Shan civilians. The current estimate of refugees from Burma in Thailand number over 100,000. Thailand’s capacity to deal with these refugees is already pushed to its outer limit.

* On the Thai side of the border, there are many Thai communities who have lived in the watershed for generations and depend on the Salween River’s resources for their livelihoods. Few of these people have legal title or even identification papers, therefore making compensation for the loss of land and livelihood extremely unlikely, if not impossible. They too will put added stress on Thailand’s ability to provide shelter, food, clean water and medical aid to people whose land and livelihood are expropriated.

3. Potential Health Problems Associated with the Dam

The dam could negate Thailand’s progress in combating life-threatening diseases. These potential health impacts include: * Stagnant water from the reservoir provides ideal breeding habitats for many water-borne diseases and insect vectors. Insect vectors include mosquito species that spread both falciparum and vivax malaria, dengue hemorraghic fever, and fly species that spread filarial parasites, including the agent of elephantiasis.

* According to the Thai Ministry of Public Health 1998-1999 Reports, multi-drug resistant falciparum malaria is increasingly found along the Salween and Moei river basins among refugee and migrant populations from Burma, as well as Thai communities adjacent to them. Even though elephantiasis had been eradicated in Thailand until 1997, the Thai MOPH, Division of Disease Control has found numerous cases among Burmese refugees in Kayin State. An outcome of the proposed dam could be the resurgence of elephantiasis due to both population movements and increased fly habitats, thereby negating Thailand’s progress and investment in combating this disease.

4. SPDC use of Forced Labor in Dam Construction

According to the 1998 International Labor Organization (ILO) report on forced labor in Burma there is abundant evidence that the SPDC military pervasively uses forced civilian labor for the construction and maintenance of military camps and other infrastructure. A 1998 Human Rights Watch Burma Report states that the use of forced labor has not abated but appears to have increased with the collapse of the economy. Forced labor involving thousands of workers has been used on previous major dam projects, including the Nam Wok dam in Shan state completed in 1994. There are compelling reasons to believe that the Ta Sang dam development will also involve the SPDC’s use of forced labor, such as:

* In the January 1999 report submitted to the UN Commission on Human Rights, Special Rapporteur, Mr. Rajsoomer Lallah, received reports of villagers from Murng Pan, Larng Khur, Murng Ton and Nam Zarng being forced to work by the SPDC army for periods of up to two weeks splitting rocks near the Salween River crossing of Ta Sang.

* SPDC’s widespread practice of using forced labor for construction of infrastructure projects is well documented and publicized. The Yadana gas pipeline project brought worldwide attention to such inhumane practices. As such, the world community will view Thailand’s continued benefit from such inhumane practices as unconscionable.

5. SPDC’s Land Mine Use

Given the Burmese military’s widespread use of mines, it is likely that the SPDC military will increase the use of land mines to cordon an area around the dam site for the following reasons:

* According to a 1999 Landmine Monitor Report, mine use in Burma is increasing. It is common practice for the SPDC to mine around roadways, dams, and other infrastructure projects. The SPDC has recently used land mines in the central Shan State as a means to prevent forcibly relocated civilians from returning to their villages.

* The UN Special Rapporteur to Burma has confirmed that the military uses landmines to keep displaced people from their paddy fields and the Thai border. Land mines have also been used on the Burma/Thai border in both the Shan and Karenni States.

6. Thailand’s Energy Needs

Thailand is currently facing an energy surplus due to existing supply commitments and a sharp decrease in demand since the economic crisis of July 1997. Based on the current official demand forecast, the reserve margin would reach a high of 53% in 2002, and would not come down to the 25% limit, a level set by the Thai government, until 2006. A commitment to unnecessarily purchase power from the Ta Sang dam will only increase costs to Thailand and Thai consumers. Furthermore, there are more cost effective and less destructive ways of meeting Thailand’s energy needs. EGAT’s demand side management (DSM) program has already resulted in impressive savings, and there is room for more. Investment in DSM is cheaper and faster than investment in new capacity, and further savings of at least 800 MW are considered technically feasible. In addition, Thailand has a potential of at least 3,000 MW for biomass cogeneration from rice straw and sugar cane, and a technical potential for micro-hydropower of 8,000 MW or more. These alternatives could be implemented for the same price or cheaper than importing power from the Ta Sang dam in Burma.

We have brought to your attention the specific detrimental impacts that the Ta Sang dam would have on Thailand’s people, resources and economy. Such impacts are not uncommon and are being experienced worldwide. Indeed, such problems are the basis of the growing worldwide opposition to large dams. International outcry and long-term struggles from dam-affected peoples has raised the profile of large dam impacts to such a high level that the World Bank and the World Conservation Union – IUCN were compelled to establish a new, independent body – the World Commission on Dams (WCD)- which is comprised of both proponents and opponents of dams. The WCD’s mandate is to evaluate the effectiveness of dams worldwide, to develop a framework for assessing all options, and to recommend internationally-acceptable criteria and guidelines for the design, planning, management, operation, and decommissioning of dams. The final report will be released later this year, and is likely to show that dams have failed to produce their expected benefits and have caused far greater social and environmental impacts than predicted. Even the World Bank has dramatically decreased its financing of large dams due to the vast array of environmental and social impacts, as well as the poor economic performance and cost overruns associated with large dams.

Thailand has shown progressive leadership in furthering democratic ideals of good governance. As host of this year’s ASEAN meetings, Thailand will be afforded the opportunity to exemplify to the region and the international community your commitment to sustainable environments, human rights and democracy. We believe that the Royal Thai Government’s promotion of hydro-projects with the SPDC in the Salween watershed contravenes this kind of leadership.

Considering the aforementioned impacts of this proposed dam, we urge you to cancel any plans to develop the Ta Sang or any other Salween water projects. For future energy needs, we ask that you pursue alternatives that are less destructive and more cost effective. Thank you for your consideration of this important matter.

Respectfully submitted,

Aviva Imhof
South-East Asia Campaigner
International Rivers Network

Endorsed by:

James Arvanitakis, Campaign Director AID/WATCH Australia

Miriam A. Young, Executive Director, Asia Pacific Center for Justice and Peace, US

Peter Boshard, Berne Declaration, Switzerland

Wiert Wiertsema, Both ENDS, Netherlands

Russell Mittermeier, President, Conservation International, US

Bruce Rich, Director, International Program Environmental Defense, US

Ben Lefetey, President Program Coordinator, Friends of the Earth, France

Ilkuko Matsumoto, Aid Reform, Friends of the Earth, Japan

Simon Taylor, Director, Global Witness, UK