"State agencies face legal dispute over Pak Beng Dam", 09 June 2017
Citizens from eight Thai provinces along the Mekong River are suing state agencies because they claim there was inadequate public participation in planning for the Pak Beng hydropower dam, which is being built by Laos.
The Thai Network of Eight Mekong Provinces filed a lawsuit in the Administrative Court...against the Water Resources Department and its director-general and the Thai National Mekong Committee.They maintain that the Pak Beng Dam, planned for construction in Oudomxay province in northern Laos, could have severe negative impacts on people in Thailand due to its location 92 kilometres downstream from Wiang Kaen district in Chiang Rai. Jirasak Inthayot, a representative of the network from Chiang Rai, said they were concerned about the poor quality of public participation, which is legally required in the planning process.
The network was suing the Thai agencies involved to force them to "properly" perform their duty and safeguard citizens against the dam's potential negative impacts...
Jirasak said people...were worried about “unclear” plans for the dam and the possibility that flooding caused by the river backed up from the dam reservoir would force many households to relocate and inundate fertile farmland adjacent to the river. China’s Datang Corp will build the Pak Beng Dam, but 90 per cent of the power from the project will be sold to Thailand...