Probe International

(June 15, 1998) Once upon a time, a beautiful maiden forced by her parents to marry a slimy python leapt into the Mekong River. But her suicide bid failed. She was transformed into a dolphin.  Only the aging still relate this legend, and only they remember the days when thousands of these creatures with a square, human-like face and perpetual smile plied Cambodia’s waters.

(June 14, 1998) The Australian construction firm, Transfield, is confronting a dilemma familiar to many companies operating in Asia: should it weather the current economic crisis, or get out. The "out" option must be looking highly preferable for Transfield as it views the massive dam project it is involved with in central Laos.

(May 28, 1998) Canada is spending millions of tax-dollars to influence Thai schoolchildren that nuclear power is good for the cash-strapped Southeast Asian country.

(May 25, 1998) Energy shortages have forced the Government to fast-track the construction of $230 million 259MW Se San 3 Hydropower project in the south of the country.

(May 23, 1998) HA NOI-Viet Nam’s biggest hydroelectric power plant at Hoa Binh has been forced to reduce its output because water levels in its feeder reservoir have fallen below the 80m dead water mark.  This is the first time the Hoa Binh plant has had to cut its operations since it opened in 1988.

(May 1, 1998) THE Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) has decided to postpone power purchases from Laos’ six major power projects with a combined capacity of 2,963 megawatts by at least one year from the original schedule of 2006.  This follows a significant downward revision of Thailand’s power demand projections.

(May 1, 1998) Governor Kongsak Liewmanorom yesterday opposed the proposed construction of a nuclear power plant in the province and called for a public hearing before any decision is made.