Hydropower dams

Last year, we were saddened by the hazards related to dam failures in the Mekong River basin after one of the saddle dams on the Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy hydro-electric project in Laos collapsed and the large amounts of impounded water then gushed downstream, causing massive ...

Representatives of the Lao government and the builder of the Xayaburi dam have dismissed allegations that water retention at the dam, for the trial run of electricity generators, is one of the reasons for the sharp lowering of the water level in the downstream stretches ...

Civic groups on Sunday lodged a petition calling for governments of countries along the Mekong River to review upcoming dam projects.The petition was on Sunday submitted to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) by the Mekong Conservation Network in the North during a forum held ...

Thailand has asked the Lao government to suspend the test run of the Xayaburi dam, in order to curb the worsening drought that has hit provinces along the Mekong River.The Office of the National Water Resources (ONWR) yesterday revealed that it submitted an official letter ...

A Thailand-Vietnam joint venture is going ahead with the construction of what will be Laos’ fifth hydropower dam on the mainstream Mekong River in Luang Phrabang province, with hundreds of families likely to be affected.Keep reading ...

Villagers living near the Mekong River in Thailand and Laos are finding it difficult to cope with sudden releases of water from dams upstream in China.More than 200 famililes living in Laos’ Bokeo province have suffered because of sudden increases in the height of the ...

The Mekong River Commission (MRC) has raised concerns with Laos over the Pak Lay hydropower dam on the Mekong River.While Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam have accepted a prior agreement on the proposed 770 megawatt hydropower project in Laos’ Xayaboury Province, they have jointly released the ...

Usually at this time of year during the dry season in northern Thailand, the Mekong River recedes, and sand and pebble beaches appear. Covering the pebbles, through the clear and shallow water, one can see the pale green kai, a river weed of the Mekong. ...

The debate over Laos’ strategy to become the “Battery of Asia” continues months after the deadly disaster at the Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy hydropower dam, even as the Lao government keeps building more dams. Despite the previous government’s decision to suspend new dam projects and academics’ ...

China’s hurry to revive the Myitsone dam projects has renewed concerns among ethnic Kachin and Myanmar’s people. Last week thousands of people in Kachin state protested, calling once again for a permanent stop to the projects.Keep reading ...