ລາວໂຮມລາວ ເພື່ອປະຊາທິປະໄຕ

Re: "Illegal dam construction on the Mekong must be halted", Opinion August 27.

The news from International Rivers that work is continuing on land clearance and infrastructure development at the site of the planned Xayaburi dam comes as more of a disappointment than a real surprise. At best, the Lao government only undertook to suspend construction of the dam itself, a far cry fom scrapping the project altogether.

What the writers from the International Rivers organisation omit to mention is that this dam is very much a joint Thai-Lao commercial venture, with the bulk of the financial and technical input emanating from banks and companies based on this side of the border, Ch Karnchang in particular.

This complicates the mekong River Commission's notification, consultation and agreement process considerably, since the negative environmental effects facing Vietnam and Cambodia in the delta region risk being trumped by the power generating gains for Thailand and Laos.

The postponement of the MRC meeting suggests that discussions among the four lower mekong countries have reached a stalemate.