The two-day training workshop on energy and Mekong dams on 22-23 June 2023 for 18 young and senior activists from Ubon Rachathani Province to provide knowledge and analysis on how the energy trade works and how it has affected the Mekong people’s lives from both the electricity bills and the destruction of the natural resources. The two-day meeting was joined by local leaders, university students, NGO staff, and academics, mainly from Ubon Rachathani Province, the province that the Mekong flows through and thus a direct victim of the flood water if Ban Koum and Phou Ngoy Dam are built.

Co-organized by LDIM, the Mekong Energy and Ecological Network (MEENet), and Climate Justice for All, the training workshop on November 30,2021 via Zoom webinar was joined by 35 participants who are activists, academics, and independent consumer organizations from all over the country—the large group also the local leaders from the areas along the Mekong River in Northeastern Thailand.  

Watch the video from the workshop (in Thai only)

https://fb.watch/aAwihpiBuF/ 

Resource persons

Santi Chokchaichamnankit, Energy Watch Thailand Sopitsuda Tongsopit, Solar and Energy Storage Specialist in California (formerly a researcher at the Energy Research Institute, Chulalongkorn University, and a Senior Energy Policy and Planning Analyst at EPPO) Chuenchom S. Greacen, An independent energy researcher

Commentators

Saree Ongsomwang, secretary-general of Thailand Consumers Council Sarinee Achavanuntakul, co-founded, Sal Forest, Thailand

Moderator and commentator

Witoon Permpongsacharoen, Director, MEENet 

Watch the video from the panel 

https://youtu.be/YmCUDOp_tvE

https://youtu.be/QsQ4zXU8Ij4

And a separate presentation by Santi Chokchaichamnankit, Energy Watch Thailand (in Thai only) https://youtu.be/AJXLdDSyt74 

The exchange, co-organized by LDIM and Mekong Energy and Ecology Network (MEENet), took place in August 2019 in Nakhon Ratchasima Province. The discussion was related to the overall picture of the region’s energy development and connections, the solar cell system and development, the technical system of electricity, energy engineering, the political ecology of energy, and the politics of hydropower dams.

The team has also got a chance to visit the Lam Tha Khong pumped-storage/Hydropower Plant.

20-23 June 2019, Chiang Khong District, Chiang Rai Province, Northern Thailand

 15 community leaders and activists from Southeast Asia countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, The Philippines, and Myanmar, joined MAEW events on 18-19 June and then departed Bangkok on 20 June for the field trip to one of the critical areas of the Mekong river in Thailand and meet with Rak Chiang Khong Group (Chiang Khong Conservation Group) that has been fiercely fought the Chinese dams on the Mekong mainstream, rapid blasting and presently the Chinese dam in Lao PDR.

After the team arrived at Chiang Khong, they traveled by boat along the river to visit the fisherman Villages and observe the situation of the Mekong River. After that, they visited the Rak Chiang Khong group's home office to discuss with the well-known group leader, Mr. Niwat Roykeaw. The welcoming dinner and music have been organized at the office for them. The next day, the team visited Boonrueng Village, the village affected by Chiang Rai’s Special Economic Zone. After a good discussion with the group of village people, the team walked around with them to see the natural forest area that remains around the village.

The workshop “Hydropower Dams: Role and Responsibility of Governments, investors and Regional Platform in ASEAN” was organized on 3 November 2018 at the ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ASEAN Peoples’ Forum (ACSC/APF) in Singapore Polytechnic Graduate’s Guide, Singapore. 

Co-organizer: Laos Dam Investment Monitor (LDIM), PanNature, Vietnam and Fishery Action Coalition Team (FACT), Cambodia

Participants: around 45 people (mostly the participants of ACSC/APF)

Speakers

Premrudee Daoroung, Coordinator, Laos Dam Investment Monitor (LDIM)- Program Introduction

Trinh Le Nguyen, Director, PanNature, Vietnam and Save the Mekong Coalition (StM) on "A Snapshot of Mekong Dams and Impacts’. Nguyen was representing the Save the Mekong Coalition (StM) 

Khampin Aksorn, a Representative of Ta-mui Learning Center, Ubon Rachathani Province, Northeastern Thailand, and a citizen journalist of the Thai Broadcast Public Service (Thai PBS) on "the situation of Mekong and impacts from dams" (with the video)

Senglong Youk, Deputy Director of Fishery Coalition Action Plan (FACT).
 and the coordination committee member of Save the Mekong Coalition on "The value of Mekong in Cambodia, and the impacts of hydropower dams in Tonle Sap (the Great Lake). 

Premrudee Daoroung, Coordinator, LDIM, Premrudee talked about the work and observation related to the XP-XNN dam incident. 

Video from the live stream of the workshop 

https://fb.watch/2-LW1IpJfh/

https://fb.watch/2-LK_Ndv5y/

The full ACSC/APF 2018’ statement can be found at; 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1O4rCVphDRvuBbkBLymCI3PkTGI8MEY5o/view  

Venue: Subaltern Meeting Room,

RCSD The Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University

Southeast Asian states deregulate their borders to welcome a broad range of foreign investments and establish laws and regulations to facilitate them. In particular, hydropower has increased foreign investment and foreign development aid to support the construction of dams. 

This has led to community “counter-movements” in areas affected by hydropower dams, as seen in Xe Pian Xe Namnoy dam in 2018, the collapse of the Yali dam in 2004, the resettlement and compensation of Lower Sesan 2, and more. Local communities are calling for protection and sustainable livelihoods, and local NGOs have vocalized their demands.

In this event, we will examine the future of civic engagement in decision-making processes regarding hydropower regimes in Southeast Asia. Ms. Premrudee Daoroung from Project SEVANA South-East Asia/Laos Dam Investment Monitor will provide insights into the relevant stakeholders and their roles in hydropower investment in Southeast Asia. 

Dr. Ta-Wei Chu, a lecturer at the Department of Social Science and Development at Chiang Mai University, and Mr. Sipha Chanthavong, a Ph.D. Candidate at Chiang Mai University will share their views on the roles of academics in dam issues and civic engagement in dam projects. 

Prof. Philip Hirsch discusses the social, environmental, and legal implications of hydropower dams in Southeast Asia. 

Venue: Subaltern Meeting Room,

RCSD The Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University

Southeast Asian states deregulate their borders to welcome a broad range of foreign investments and establish laws and regulations to facilitate them. In particular, hydropower has increased foreign investment and foreign development aid to support the construction of dams. 

This has led to community “counter-movements” in areas affected by hydropower dams, as seen in Xe Pian Xe Namnoy dam in 2018, the collapse of the Yali dam in 2004, the resettlement and compensation of Lower Sesan 2, and more. Local communities are calling for protection and sustainable livelihoods, and local NGOs have vocalized their demands.

In this event, we will examine the future of civic engagement in decision-making processes regarding hydropower regimes in Southeast Asia. Ms. Premrudee Daoroung from Project SEVANA South-East Asia/Laos Dam Investment Monitor will provide insights into the relevant stakeholders and their roles in hydropower investment in Southeast Asia. 

Dr. Ta-Wei Chu, a lecturer at the Department of Social Science and Development at Chiang Mai University, and Mr. Sipha Chanthavong, a Ph.D. Candidate at Chiang Mai University will share their views on the roles of academics in dam issues and civic engagement in dam projects. 

Prof. Philip Hirsch discusses the social, environmental, and legal implications of hydropower dams in Southeast Asia.