VietNamNet Bridge – The co-director of a Thai NGO, TERRA (Towards Ecological Recovery & Regional Alliance), Premrudee Daoroung, talked with Tuoi Tre Daily about dams on the Mekong River. TERRA is a lead organizer in the campaign to collect signatures for the “Save the Mekong” petition.

TERRA’s co-director Premrudee Daoroung.

What’s the impact on Thailand of damming the main channel of the Mekong River?

After three Chinese dams (Manwan, Daichaoshan and Jinghong) were built, we saw many problems caused by changes in the flow of the Mekong River in northern Thailand, specifically in our most northern province.

The water level didn’t rise or fall as far as in the past, affecting the life of local people and natural resources. For example, river-bank erosion increased, making the river water muddy, impacting fish volume and fish species. The river section from northern Thailand to Luang Prabang in Laos previous had natural fresh water, from tributaries with natural stream flows, but those days are over.

It is clear that dams will prevent the migration of fish. The Mekong River Commission (MRC) and other organization have research that shows there is no technology that can mitigate the impacts from dams on the migration of fish on the Mekong River.

We think, moreover, that the fish stocks are impacted not only by the construction of dams but also from the use of explosives to break up rocks in the river. For example, the use of explosives harms the reproductive process of the giant catfish species because it lays eggs on rocks.

The governments of China, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar want to make a channel for 500 ton ships to navigate the river from upstream in China to Luang Prabang. After this idea was raised, it was implemented very quickly.

However, this wasn’t done in Thailand because the people didn’t allow it happen. At present, China’s big vessels cannot pass the section of Mekong River that runs through Thailand.

Last year northern Thailand suffered a big flood and the people said that it was caused by China’s opening of its dams. Certainly, there is no clear answer from China for this matter.

All of these things make the people worry about dams.

So, the “Save the Mekong” campaign is to protest the construction of hydro-power dams?

The Mekong River.

That’s true. We call for governments to give up construction of hydro-power plants on the main stream of the Mekong River. This is the first time the people in the affected countries have collectively raised their voice. The number of people who signed in the “Save the Mekong” petition so far (16,000) may not be so great but it is important that they have spoken out.

We want to say that the worries are real. If the people have sufficient information, they will support this campaign and join in signing the petition. But this is only a part of the campaign. We are sending the petition to the regional governments because we believe that this is not the problem of a single country or a single dam.

We have performed our responsibility. I hope that the subsequent responsibility will be assumed by governments and regional forums like the MRC to save the Mekong River and the sources of subsistence of millions of people in the region.

VietNamNet/TT