"Thailand agrees to buy electricity from Laos, ignoring NGOs’ concerns", 10 November 2021

Thai power authorities have agreed after a long delay to buy electricity from three hydropower projects in Laos, pushing aside objections from Thai NGOs who say the dams’ operations will harm the ecosystem along the Mekong River.

The Nov. 5 decision by the Thai National Energy Policy Committee opens the way for the country to buy power from the Nam Gneum 3 Dam and from the China-backed Pak Beng Dam and Pak Lay Dam, both located 60-80 km (35-50 miles) from the Thai border.

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All dams including those built along the Mekong have “serious impacts” on the environment and on people living nearby, a social and environmental expert from the National University of Laos said, also asking for anonymity in order to speak freely.

“The Lao government sees only the financial benefit, but not the social and environmental impact,” he said, adding, “Dams don’t benefit the locals very much.”

“It’s impossible to stop the Lao government from building dams, but the government should better manage and control their impact and pay fair compensation” to those displaced by their construction, he said.

The Pak Beng Dam is expected to displace around 6,700 people living in 25 villages in the Pak Beng district of Oudomxay province in northern Laos, while the Pak Lay Dam—located in the Pak Lay district of northern Laos’ Xayaburi province in northwestern Laos—will force the relocation of more than 1,000 residents of 20 villages, sources told RFA in earlier reports.