Sai Silp, The Irrawaddy
October 18, 2006

Piyasvasti Amranand, Thailand’s energy minister, is considering a move to refocus the country’s hydropower projects from Burma to Laos, according to a source close to the minister.

“The projects in Burma, including the Tasang dam, are just plans at the moment that need more time for discussion by the cabinet, not only by the ministry, the source said.

These projects are being cited as the reason for record foreign investment in Burma, which stands at more than US $6 billion for the 2005-2006 fiscal year, according to a recent Associated Press report.

Thailand invested $6.03 billion in energy sector projects-mainly for the 7,100-megawatt Tasang hydropower plant on Burma’s Salween River in southern Shan State.

Thailand has also invested in the 3,000-megawatt Namtoen 2 power plant in Laos, which is expected to be online by the end of 2006 and provide electricity to Thailand over a 25-year period.

The Namtoen 2 plant will soon be operational, and therefore may constitute a better focus for Thailand’s energy efforts, according to the ministry source.

Environmental and human rights activists called on the Thai government in September to withdraw their support for the Salween project, claiming the work would displace thousands of households and permanently damage the local environment.

An agreement on the Salween project was reached last April between Thailand’s MDX construction company and the Ministry of Energy’s department of hydroelectric power, under deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s cabinet.

But activists are still concerned that the project will go forward even if the Thailand’s interim government revokes its investment. Sai Sai, a coordinator of Salween Watch, said the environmental activist group has discussed a new campaign against the project in November, but that they are waiting to see how the interim government will proceed.

The Salween project is expected to take 15 years to complete, at a cost of $6 billion.