Environment and natural resources
Water resources
Pak Lay and Luang Prabang dam Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs): Who benefits?
As media attention focused on the dissolution of the parliament to prepare for the upcoming national election, news that a Power Purchase Agreement with Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) was signed for the Pak Lay dam slipped by without making much of a ripple. ...
Pianporn Deetes
Lao villagers worry that compensation for Pak Beng Dam will be too low
Local authorities in Laos last week met with villagers who will be affected by the Pak Beng Dam project to discuss compensation, but the villagers worry that the government’s offer will be too low, sources in the country. The dam, located in northwestern Laos’ Bokeo ...
RFA Lao
Lao dam lawsuit failure shows need to revise cross-border deals
On 17 August, the Thai Supreme Administrative Court ruled to dismiss a lawsuit, filed by 37 Thai villagers against five Thai state agencies for their role in approving the Xayaburi hydropower dam’s Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).Filed 10 years ago, the Xayaburi lawsuit was the first community-filed ...
Phairin Sohsai
Nam Ngum 1 Dam Begins Operating New Extension
The existing dam has been extended to the side, and a new power plant extension with an installed capacity of 40 megawatts was constructed. The electrical and mechanical equipment now has a total installed capacity of 275 megawatts.The ceremony beginning the operation of the new ...
Manyphone Vongphachanh
Overall Mekong River flow patterns do not change: report finding
Two hydropower projects along Southeast Asia’s most important river have had measurable, but moderate, impact on water flow, sediment and fisheries, according to preliminary findings of a report by the Mekong River Commission (MRC) released last week.With roughly one year of monitoring data, the MRC ...
Overflow alert issued for Mekong communities
Xayaboury province is advising people living alongside the Mekong River to prepare for possible flooding, while neighbouring Thailand has warned its seven north-eastern provinces to brace for sudden overflows along the river until Thursday. The Lao province issued the alert following heavy rainfall in recent ...
Times Reporters
Nam Theun 1 Hydropower Board confirmed that the leakage of the dam does not affect the dam and is still 100% safe.
Recently, the society is paying attention to the Nam Theun 1 hydroelectric dam and there is concern about the subsequent problems regarding the various dam breaks because there is news that people have found that Nam Theun 1 dam has seeped water. In response to ...
Mekong dams must release less water in dry season to preserve habitats, experts say
Abnormally high-water levels in the Mekong River at the end of May indicate that dams on the river must release less water during the dry season to protect the ecosystem, experts said at an online panel Monday. Rain levels during the dry season this year have ...
Eugene Whong
A Splash of Good News for Mekong River Communities
The first four months of 2022 were some of the wettest in several years, the result of increased rainfall and China releasing more water from its upstream dams, according to monitoring data of the Mekong River Commission (MRC).These two factors combine to unleash greater flows ...
Laotian Times
Fifth Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge over 30 percent complete
Construction of the fifth Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge linking Borikhamxay province to Bueng Kan province in Thailand across the Mekong River is now 32 percent complete. The project consists of two components: the first concerns the construction of the bridge across the Mekong River and the ...
Times Reporters