The iconic landmark at the border in Wiang Kaen was flooded in late August, renewing calls for the Pak Beng Dam to be scrapped. Credit: Piyanan Jitjang/ Rak Chiang Khong Group

Mekong advocates call on loaners of Pak Beng dam to suspend their loans

They said that the ongoing transboundary impact assessment for the Pak Beng dam set as a precondition for the planned loan settlement is being undertaken without any legal basis to support

The advocates led by Rak Chiang Khong Group, International Rivers, and the Mekong Butterfly have produced a letter this week and sent it to 18 Thai banks, calling them to suspend their consideration to provide loans to the developer of the Pak Beng dam.

They said the transboundary impact assessment being undertaken by the dam developer is just a condition agreed upon between the contract counterparts as a precondition for the loan agreement. Without any legal basis or framework to support it, the study is not lawfully acceptable, they stated as reported by Transborder News.

Pak Beng is now jointly developed by China Datang Overseas Investment Co., Ltd. holding 51% of the shares, and a Thai company, Gulf Energy Development Public Co., Ltd. holding 49% of the shares under their joint venture, Pak Beng Power Co., Ltd. (PBPC) registered in Lao PDR.

The dam is the third proposed to the Mekong River Commission (MRC) for the 6-month prior consultation process, after the Xayaburi and Don Sahong dams, and the first in the cascade of 11 hydropower projects on the lower section of the Mekong River, which makes it the closet proximity to Thailand, and therefore raises fears of adverse impacts it may cause including backwater effects. (Read: Backwater modelling for Pak Beng dam demanded following growing concerns over recent flooding in Thai-Lao border communities)

The legal validity of the latest study has emerged as a critical contesting point between the dam developer and its supporters and the communities likely to be affected by the dam as the project draws close to construction commencement. Its power purchase agreement was signed late last year, and the contract will last 29 years. As explained by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat)’s representatives at the recent meeting held by the Lower House’s environment standing committee, Egat could not disclose the conditions set under the contract.

The representatives said Egat had imposed conditions for the dam developer to follow while signing the power purchase agreement, demanding it to conduct a new transboundary environmental impact assessment study and submit it on the day the company will enter its loan agreement, which is expected to be by the end of this year.

The study must follow the laws and regulations available, and Egat will have 60 days to review the study results, they said. When asked whether the study follows any laws or is legally valid, Egat’s representatives declined to confirm, saying it needed to seek views from the experts concerned, including those from the ONWR.

The representatives from the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (Onep), supervising the undertaking of EIAs in the country, said environmental impact studies are normally conducted under the environmental quality promotion and conservation law, which covers only Thailand’s sovereignty. Mekong dams are in Laos so they may need other international mechanisms to deal with_as well as their impacts, they said.

The committee said it will ask for more information from the agencies concerned as there are still issues that need to be clarified before the committee concludes and produces its recommendations to the government.

Human rights violations?

Mekong dam projects have become a critical issue that has drawn attention from national organisations, including the House’s standing committee and the National Human Rights Commissions, in recent years. Their unsettled issues have intensified as their developments are progressing following the governments’ greenlights and approvals on power purchase agreements for some of them_ Luang Prabang, Pak Lay, and Pak Beng Dam in the upper part of the Lower Mekong, in particular.

The NHRC has been examining the issues since last year, and shortly after the power purchase agreement for the Pak Beng Dam was signed, it issued a statement to share its concerns and submit the recommendations to the PM, asking the government to review and reconsider the signing of the agreement as it was deemed to violate community rights secured under the Thai constitution, given potential social and environmental impacts it may cause. (Read: Power purchase agreement for Pak Beng dam signed: EGAT)

The organisation this week has issued a new statement and recommendations for the Mekong dams for the second time, this time for the four dams planned on the lower part of the Lower Mekong; Sanakham, Phongoy, Pakchom, and Ban Khum, citing similar impacts including the backwater effects and the possible violation of community rights.

It stressed that the government must adhere to the second NAP report and the UNGPs it has endorsed. It must instruct the ONWR to reexamine the accumulative impacts of the Mekong dams, from the first dam of Xayaburi onwards, which was first operational in late 2019.

The Energy Ministry must review its power purchase plans and power reserves, while other related agencies including Egat, SET, as well as dam developers must adhere to UNGPs by assessing risks and possible human rights violations and coming up with appropriate mitigation measures following the UNGPs, the NHRC recommended.