On September 13, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, or EGAT, signed a Power Purchase Agreement for the controversial Pak Beng Dam on the main stem of the Mekong River. Located in northern Lao PDR, Pak Beng would be built on the Lower Mekong mainstream and is expected to displace people in over 25 villages….
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The Future of Thailand’s Rivers is in the Hands of its Prime Minister
Originally published in the Bangkok Post by Pai Deetes, “Future of rivers in PM’s hands” In a speech to Parliament on 11 September, the new Thai Prime Minister, Srettha Thavisn, outlined policies, commitments and actions his government will take over the next four years for the “benefit and happiness of all Thai people.” While limited…
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องค์กรประชาสังคมออกแถลงการณ์เรียกร้องการเยียวยาที่มีประสิทธิภาพแก่ผู้ประสบภัยเขื่อนลาวแตก
6 องค์กรภาคประชาสังคมประกอบด้วย KTNC Watch, Manushya Foundation, Inclusive Development International, International Rivers, Community Resource Centre (CRC), Thailand, ETOs Watch Coalition ,Fair Finance Thailand, Mekong Watch ได้ออกแถลงการณ์ครบรอบ 5 ปีเหตุการณ์เขื่อนเซเปียน เซน้ำน้อยที่แขวงอัตตะปือแตก เมื่อวันที่ 23 กรกฎาคม 2018 โดยเขื่อนเสริม (Saddle D) ของโครงการไฟฟ้าพลังน้ำเซเปียน-เซน้ำน้อยในลาวพังทลายคร่าชีวิตผู้คน 71 คน ไร้ที่อยู่อาศัยนับพัน น้ำท่วมบ้านเรือนและหมู่บ้าน ห้าปีหลังจากเหตุการณ์อันน่าสลดใจนี้ ผู้รอดชีวิตยังคงไม่ได้รับการชดเชยหรือการเยียวยาที่เพียงพอ และยังคงต้องทนทุกข์ทรมานจากผลกระทบของภัยพิบัติ องค์กรภาคประชาสังคมกำลังเรียกร้องให้บริษัทและรัฐบาลที่เกี่ยวข้อง รวมถึงบริษัทก่อสร้างคือ SK Ecoplant และผู้พัฒนาและบริหารบริษัทเซเปียนเซน้ำน้อยพาวเวอร์( Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy Power Company (PNPC)) ตลอดจนรัฐบาลลาวและสาธารณรัฐเกาหลี ซึ่งเป็นผู้ให้ทุนสนับสนุนความช่วยเหลือด้านการพัฒนาที่เป็นทางการ(Official…
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PRESS RELEASE | Joint Statement: Lao Dam Disaster – NGOs decry lack of effective remedy for survivors five years on
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contacts: Yujung Shin (+82 010 8452 0108, yjshin@jihyanglaw.com) Pillkyu Hwang (hopenvision@naver.com) or Youngah Park (mashil049@gmail.com) Emilie Pradichit (emilie@manushyafoundation.org) Joint statement in Thai On July 23, 2018, the auxiliary dam (Saddle D) of the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydroelectric power project in Laos collapsed, killing 71 people, displacing thousands, and flooding homes and villages….
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PRESS RELEASE | UN Working Group Finds Imprisonment of Vietnamese Climate Leader, Dang Dinh Bach, Arbitrary and Calls for His “Immediate and Unconditional Release”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 19, 2023 MEDIA CONTACT: v4climateleaders@gmail.com International Coalition of Climate Justice and Human Rights Organizations to Launch Peaceful, Solidarity Hunger Strike Campaign with Bach May 24 – June 24 and Echo Call for Immediate Release from Prison The UN Human Rights Council Working Group on Arbitrary Detention just released an opinion regarding the…
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Pak Lay and Luang Prabang dam Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs): Who benefits?
By Pianporn Deetes and Gary Lee 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. Gulf Energy, a Thai…
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Free-flowing Salween River needs protection
Originally posted in the Bangkok Post By Pianporn (Pai) Deetes, Thailand and Myanmar Campaigns Director of International Rivers This morning at Sob Moei — the confluence of the Moei and the Salween rivers on the Thailand-Myanmar border — indigenous peoples and their supporters are attending a spiritual ceremony to express their collective stance to protect…
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BCG Economy and Apec: Just empty rhetoric?
Originally published in the Bangkok Post By Pai Deetes The Apec Leaders’ Summit in Bangkok this week includes an agreement to work toward the “Bangkok Goals” on Bio-economy, Circular Economy and Green (BCG) Economy beyond national borders. Many have raised have raised the question of whether the Thai government, as host to the summit, genuinely…
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Geopolitics are not accounting for local communities
Originally published in Centre on Asia and Globalisation Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy’s newsletter Guest Column by Pianporn Deetes is Regional Campaigns Director, Southeast Asia Program at International Rivers Whatever the geopolitics of hydropower brings to the Mekong River, the people living alongside it must have a greater say in its future development….
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Court dismissal of Xayaburi dam lawsuit highlights the need to strengthen accountability of cross-border investments
By Phairin Sohsai and Gary Lee 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 lawsuit related…
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Mekong environmental leader Niwat Roykaew wins prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize
By Pai Deetes, Regional Campaigns and Communications Director, Southeast Asia Program Today, Niwat Roykaew of Chiang Khong Conservation Group is a recipient of the Goldman Environmental Prize, for a momentous win for the Mekong River where the Thai Cabinet formally called for the cancellation of the Lancang-Mekong Navigation Channel Improvement Project, known as the Mekong…
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