After the unusual change of color of the Mekong River last year, environmental expert Santiparp Siriwattanaphaiboon warned that manmade changes “will eventually bring an end to the civilization of those living on the banks of the Mekong.”
Six decades of dam building, from the dawn of the Cold War to the tenure of the latest military junta are proof of the failure of water management in Isaan. It’s time to dismantle the dams and turn to sustainable approaches, writes environmental expert Chainarong Setthachua.
Isaan’s last free-flowing river and one of the country’s most ecologically diverse areas is under attack. The government’s water management plans call for dams and watergates to be built on the Songkhram River. If they go ahead, this area will see the same ecological and environmental destruction that other dams in the region have already caused.
The rising demand for electricity is often touted as a reason for building dams. But the proponents of dams conveniently overlook the impact on those living on the river banks and the destruction of ecosystems.
Local people’s demands for development in Mukdahan’s Don Tan district are at odds with the development of a special economic zone in the province.
The push for industrial farming, biomass power plants, and the extraction of minerals, gas and oil in the Northeast may carry a high price tag for the environment and local communities, warned speakers at a public forum in Ubon Ratchathani this month.
Locked in a legal battle with a government bent on building a Special Economic Zone over their homes, a community is split over how to secure their land rights.
The junta’s “Thailand 4.0” policy might turn out to be a poisoned arrow for the people in the Northeast.
Mentioning the term ‘ethnicity’ in the Twelfth National Economic and Social Development Plan for the first time is a major step forward for the Thai state.
