Ubon Ratchathani locals air worries at hearing on Laos Mekong dam

At the third hearing, residents voice concerns over impacts like flooding, riverbank erosion and disruption to local ecosystems

The Office of the National Water Resources (ONWR) held its third public hearing on Tuesday in Ubon Ratchathani to gather stakeholders' opinions on Laos' proposed hydropower project. 

The hearing, held at Sunee Grand Hotel in Ubon Ratchathani’s Muang district, was chaired by ONWR secretary-general Surasee Kittimonthon.

The meeting was attended by representatives from concerned government agencies, civil groups and local residents from Ubon Ratchathani and Amnat Charoen, both areas that could be impacted by the proposed dam project on the Mekong River. 
Sivannakone Malivarn, deputy director general of the Laos National Mekong Committee, was also present. 

Surasee explained that the ONWR, as the secretariat for the Thai National Mekong Committee-Information System (TNMC-IS), is responsible for coordinating between the Mekong River Commission and stakeholders regarding projects along the Mekong River. 

The Sanakham hydropower project, proposed for the Mekong mainstream between Xayaburi and Vientiane provinces in Laos, is the sixth proposed project and fifth in the cascade of run-of-river projects on the Mekong. 

The project site is located about 25 kilometres upstream of Vientiane’s Sanakham district, roughly 155km from Vientiane and 84km downstream of the Pak Lay project. It is also about 2km upstream from the Thai-Lao border in Loei province and about 1,737km from the sea. 

Surasee said the ONWR is responsible for conducting four public hearings on the project, which began in December 2024 and will continue through February this year. 

The first two hearings took place in Loei on December 24 and in Nakhon Phanom on December 26, while the final hearing is scheduled for Bueng Kan on February 14. 

During the first two hearings, he said, locals expressed concerns about the potential impact of the dam. These included fears of severe flooding, disruptions to normal river tides and worries that the dam might not be strong enough to withstand flood season pressures. 

Local fishermen also expressed concerns that the dam could affect native fish populations, lead to riverbank erosion and disrupt the local ecosystem. 

Surasee assured that these concerns would be communicated to the TNMC-IS, which will relay them to the Mekong River Commission. He said that Laos is required, under the agreement among Mekong Basin nations, to conduct prior consultations with other nations before proceeding with the construction of any dam on the river. 

Laos initially proposed the Sanakham project to the Mekong River Commission’s Secretariat on September 9, 2019, to begin the prior consultation process. However, the project was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

(2025/01/22-00:00)