Phuket Protest: Dammed if They Do, But Undammed if They Don't

Mekong dam objectors deliver a protest letter on Phuket today (Photo by phuketwan.com)

Tuesday, May 1, 2012
By Sert Tongdee
Phuket Wan (Thailand)

PHUKET: The Mekong River rises on the Tibetan Plateau and after flowing through China forms the border at various points between neighbors Burma, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia.

Phuket doesn't have a river of any kind but today it did have a Mekong River protest, which only goes to show how important some issue are, even when people think they so far away that they're not going to be affected.

Protesters from eight northern Thai provinces travelled to Phuket to make their feelings known today when representatives of the Mekong River Commission joined the International Conference on Transboundary River Basin Management at Movenpick Resort and Spa in Karon, on Phuket's west coast.

The protesters, about 30 in number, were demonstrating against the Xayaburi dam project, which they argue will have a devastating impact on those who live and work downstream.

The officials say it will do no such thing, but the dam will benefit thousands by containing water that would otherwise flow to the sea. The protest and the meetings involving the Mekong River Commission are likely to continue until Thursday on Phuket.

Thai company Chor Karnchang has signed a 51-billion baht contract with a Laotian company, Xayaburi Power to build the dam.

Whether a dammed Mekong will produce more food, water and energy or whether the dam will merely cause pain to those downstream may not be resolved, with so many principles and so much money at stake, between now and Thursday.

The protesters are, it seems, not going to be put off simply because the Mekong River Commission chooses to join international meetings a long way downstream.

The next meeting of the International Conference on Transboundary River Basin Management is, we believe, in Rio.