[T]he Lao government had claimed sovereign right to proceed with the U.S. $3.5 billion hydropower megadam despite previous sharp criticism from downstream countries Cambodia and Vietnam as well as environmental groups...The 1,200 megawatt dam is being financed by companies in Thailand...and built by the Bangkok-based Ch. Karnchang in cooperation with Laos’s Xayaburi Power Co...[There is concern about] the potential cross-border impact the dam construction will have on the ecology, agriculture, and food security of the 65 million people who live downstream from the site in neighboring [Mekong River Commission] nations...“The Xayaburi Dam experiment threatens the health and productivity of the Mekong River and Delta, and could leave millions of people facing critical food insecurity,” Jian-hua Meng, WWF’s Sustainable Hydropower Specialist, said in a statement. [Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited CH. Karnchang and Xayaburi to respond. They did not respond.]