2016 will be a decisive year for hydropower projects on the mainstream Mekong. Southeast-Asia based journalist, Tom Fawthrop, looks at the notion of ‘nice dams’ that supposedly don’t inflict too much damage on their surrounding environments and their opposite reality: the hidden costs of hydropower and the irreversible destruction of unique ecosystems.
(August 13, 2012) Thai opponents of the proposed Xayaburi dam for the Mekong River in Laos are taking their case to court. A group of Thai villages have filed a lawsuit to block a state-run company from buying electricity generated by the dam in a bid to halt the project, opposed by downstream nations, altogether and set a precedent for future cross-border projects.
(May 6, 2011) The Save the Mekong coalition and its alliances have called for the halt of construction activity at the dam site and for the Government of Thailand to cancel its plans to purchase the dam’s electricity. Many groups from around the Mekong region have also called for cancellation of the Xayaburi Dam as it would jeopardize the livelihoods and food security of millions of people in the region.
(March 9, 2011) The first in a new series of 11 dams planned across the Mekong, Southeast Asia’s largest river, could break a special bond between two communist-ruled countries.
(March 3, 2011) The World Wildlife Fund reports that the Government of Thailand is considering de-commissioning the failed Mun River dam, while blasting ahead with another dam in the Mekong region. Have the lessons of the Mun been forgotten?
(February 25, 2011) Recent news coverage about the proposed Xayaburi dam in Laos is summarized below.
(February 25, 2011) Vientiane, Laos – An earthquake in Xayaboury, central Laos, raised further questions about government plans to build a hydropower dam in the province, media reports and observers said Friday.
Patricia Adams
Dai Qing
Fan Xiao
Lawrence Solomon
Mu Lan
Probe International
Lisa Peryman
Probe Media
Other News Sources
Probe International 