“Normally, before we start blasting the riverbed, the Lao tradition is to ask the spirits in the area to forgive us for disturbing the river,” said Viraphonh Viravong, deputy minister of Energy and Mines, the chief technocrat behind the project.
“A Lao energy official says construction on the Pak Beng dam is pending approval from the government. Developers of the second dam proposed on the Mekong River in Laos have completed the design and impact assessment for the project and are awaiting the government green light to proceed with construction.”
XAYABURI: THE FIRST DOMINO TO FALL
On Wednesday, November 7, 2012, Rewat Suwanakitti, the Deputy Director of the Xayaburi hydroelectric dam project, announced that the ground breaking ceremony for the building of the dam has been conducted because: “The Lao authorities told us that we could begin construction.” One day prior [Tuesday Nov. 6, 2012] the Prime Minister of Laos, Thongsing Thammavong, confirmed with the Wall Street Journal that the project was suspended pending further study. (11)
Clearly, this represents a breach of faith of a prior agreement Laos entered with her neighbors of the Mekong region. On a previous occasion, Viraphonh Viravong, the Lao Vice Minister of Energy and Mines, told reporters: “It has been assessed, it has been discussed the last two years. We have addressed most of the concerns.” (10)
With the ground breaking ceremony done, the construction team will start works on the “coffer dam” in order to redirect the Mekong’s current. This phase of the project is scheduled to last until May, 2013 whereafter actual construction of the “permanent dam” will begin.
The ground breaking ceremony only formalizes the violation of the commitments the Lao Government made with the Mekong countries after the Siem Reap Meeting on 12/8/2011. Reporters at the scene noticed that besides the Lao high officials, reprentatives from Cambodia and Vietnam were also present. The attendance of those diplomats is hard to understand considering their governments’strong opposition to the Xayaburi dam project. It can only be explained that the “wind has shifted” and opposition has now turned into approbation or consent.
Xayaburi is the first to be built in the series of projected 11dams straddling the main current of the Lower Mekong. The project was quietly implemented in the face of fierce clamors from the environmentalists who are concerned about the long-term or permanent negative impacts on the ecosystem of the Mekong, the source of alluvia, fish population and fishery, as well as the main protein intake of the approximately 70 million inhabitants living along the Mekong’s banks.
The power genrerated by the Xayaburi Dam will be exported to Thailand and Lao officials expect their country to receive billions of American dollars in reveunue from the project. Observers who monitor the construction works for several months reported significant strides in the implementation of the project. The Thai company Ch. Karnchang has built roads cutting through the deep jungle to bring in the heavy equipment. In the mean time, conservationists continue to condemn the Lao Government for turning a blind eye to the devastating impacts of the dam as it proceeds with the works.
Ame Trandem, Southeast Asia Program Director for International Rivers observed: “The international community should not let the Lao government get away with such a blatant violation of international law, we are calling on donor governments and the governments of Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia to take a firm stand against Laos. The Xayaburi Dam is the first of a cascade of devastating mainstream dams that will severely undermine the region’s development efforts. The food security and jobs of millions of people in the region are now on the line.” (10)
Pianporn Deetes, Thailand Campaign Coordinator for International Rivers added: “Laos is playing roulette with the Mekong River, offering unproven solutions and opening up the Mekong as a testing ground for new technologies. When the Mekong River Commission stays quiet and tolerates one country risking the sustainability of the Mekong River and all future transboundary cooperation, something is seriously wrong,” She continued: “… This move by Laos sets a dangerous precedent for the future of the Mekong region. If Laos is allowed to proceed unhindered, then in the future all member governments will proceed unilaterally on projects on the Mekong River. The Mekong Agreement will become yet another useless piece of paper.” (10)
XAYABURI: A CONTINUITY IN IMPLEMENTATION
Many months before the ground breaking ceremony, the Xayaburi building site was already abuzz with activities from thousands of workers and tens of earth-movers working day and night to beat the completion deadline of 2018. New roads leading to the site facilitated the building of dormitories for workers, and electricity poles. A number of villagers had to be moved to relocation centers. A section of the river had to be widened and at another a dyke had to be dug deep into the river bed. The project lead engineer from the Poyry conglomerate informed the diplomatic delegation that the works on the “coffer dam” will be done by May, 2013 to pave the way for the building of the permanent dam. Very soon the main structure and shape of the Xayaburi Dam will emerge. (9)
Figure I_ Diagram of the Xayaburi Dam, 1,260 MW, project cost US$ 3.5billion, projected date of completion and operationMarch, 2018.
Diagram of dam: [1] Navigation locks, [2] Spillway, [3] Power House, [4] Fish Passage. [source: from Poyry's July 16th presentation on next steps of Xayaburi construction part 4 ]
The fast pace of construction in Laos raises considerable concern among her neighbors. The Mekong is a common natural resource and whatever happens upstream in Laos may impact her neighbor Thailand and especially Cambodia and Vietnam, the two nations downstream. According to the 1995 Agreement on the exploitation of the Mekong, the governments of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam must jointly decide on the feasibility of the Xayaburi Project. However, Laos looks the other way and takes the unitaleral decision to construct the dam in the absence of any joint consent.
It should be noted that Vietnam, a nation located at the mouth of the Mekong, has committed a strategic misstep 17 years ago (1995) at Chiang Rai, Thailand.when its Foreign Minister Mr. Nguy?n M?nh C?m signed “The Agreement on the Cooperation for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong River Basin”. A fundamental modification was adopted by the Commission: It revoked the veto power its predecessor the Mekong River Committee gave to its member countries. More than a decade ago, during a conference in Southern California, this author had ventured the observation that this Commission is only a “poor and downgraded version” of the defunct Mekong River Committee.[The 1999 Conference on the Mekong River at Risk: The Impact of Development on the River, her Delta, and her People.] (7)
The countries of Cambodia and Vietnam have requested that Laos conduct assessments on the transboundary impacts caused by the dam only to be told that no further studies are forthcoming.
CHRONOLOGY FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF XAYABURI DAM
- May, 2007: the Laotian government signed the contract with the Thai company Ch. Karnchang to build the Xayaburi Dam.
- November, 2008: the company AF Calenco of Switzerland started the feasibility study of the dam in collaboration with Thai consultants.
- February, 2010: the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was submitted to the Lao government.
- July, 2010: the Lao government officially signed the agreement to sell the power generated by the Xayaburi Dam to Thailand with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT).
- April, 2011: the Joint Committee of the Mekong River Commission (MRC/JC) issued a press release to the effect that the MRC member countries had not reached a common agreement to start the implementation of the Xayaburi Project.
- April, 2011: the governments of Cambodia and Vietnam requested Laos to conduct additional studies on the transboundary impacts of the project
- June, 2011: the Laotian government unilaterally gave the nod to the company Ch. Karnchang of Thailand to start the project.
- December, 2011: at the Siem Reap Meeting all the four member countries of the Mekong River Commission came to a common decision that it is necessary to conduct further studies on the impacts of the Xayaburi and the 10 other dams on the main current.
- August, 2012: Thai nationals who opposed the Xayaburi Project unsuccessfully filed a suit against the Thai Government to seek a court order to stop the purchase of electricity generated by this dam pending further studies.
- September, 2012: the Minister of Energy Soulivong Daravong stated that the Lao Government will resume the works on the US$ 3.5 billion Xayaburi Dam. However, two months prior, the Lao Foreign Minister announced at the ASEAN Meeting that the Xayaburi Project will be put on hold pending the results of additional studies.
- The official press corps in Laos was informed that the Lao Government has given the “green light” to Ch. Karnchang Company to proceed with their works as planned including the relocation of the inhabitants in the surrounding areas of the dam. (13)
- October, 2012: the Vietnamese Minister of Natural Resources and Environment met with the Lao Prime Minister and requested that all works on the Xayaburi Project be suspended until the necessary environmental impacts assessments of the dam on the Mekong are done.
Through its Press Release dated November 5, 2012, the International Rivers Network observed: “Laos said it would cooperate with neighboring countries, but this was never genuine. Instead, the project always continued on schedule and was never actually delayed. None of Vietnam and Cambodia’s environmental and social concerns have been taken seriously. Laos has never even collected basic information about the ways that people depend on the river, so how can it say that there will be no impacts?” (10)
Laos continues to refute the existence of any negative transboundary impacts of the dam citing its past implementation of the preventive measures recommended by the Finnish consulting firm Poyry and the French company Compagnie Nationale du Rhône / CNR eventhough those two enterprises had not conducted any transboundary impact assessment. The Cambodian and Vietnamese governments along with the scientists in the region are unanimous in their condemnation of the works done by those two concerns.
Even though the 1995 Agreement of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) has revoked the veto power of the member countries, all projects involving the Mekong must still go through these three PNPCA stages: (a) Procedures of Notification, (b) Prior Consultation, (c) Agreement.
Probably, we should pause at this point to review the conventions and time frame applied to each of the three steps in the PNCPA process as defined in the 1995 Agreement of the MRC: member countries are required to notify the Mekong River Commission of new Mekong projects in order to initiate the PNPCA process.
In the case of the Xayaburi Dam: (a) Procedures for Notification (PN) stage: the Mekong River Commission was officially notified by the Laotian government of the Xayaburi Dam Project in September of 2010. (b) The time frame allotted to the Prior Consultation stage is six months counting from the day the Notification is received. However, in case the member countries fail to reach a consensus, the Joint Committee of the Mekong River Commission is authorized to approve an extention of this six month period.
The Lao government holds to the opinion that the trans-boundary impacts of the Xayaburi Dam on the countries downstream have never been proven. Consequently, it would neither be practical nor necessary to grant an extension of the Prior Consultation stage. Moreover, even if the time for additional consultation is prolonged, it will not be possible to satisfy the concerns of all parties.
Beset with dissension and division, those “odd couples” are engulfed in a crisis of faith in their effort to reach a unified approach to conserve the Mekong’s eco-system. A question that needs to be addressed to the Secretariat of the Mekong River Commission is whether this organization has the will to exercise its function of a coordinator which is - in the author’s opinion – its very raison d’être.
IMMEDIATE AND NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF THE XAYABURI DAM
Laos argued that “preparatory work” does not fall within the PNPCA but it has not satisfactorily defined what it means by that term. As the Mekong River Commission noted in its 2011 technical review of the proposed Xayaburi Dam, “The impacts throughout the dam’s construction phase are as severe as during the operational one.” Here are just a few of the impacts we expect to see if construction works continue:
1/ The coffer dam will divert the river current and prevent migratory fish from navigating past the dam site and block alluvia flow from reaching downstream. Disturbances to the river current could negatively affect the lifecycle of plankton and microorganisms that are crucial to the stability of the river’s ecosystem.
2/ Sediments and building materials that fall into the current will change its water quality; lower its O2 content; alter the eco-system resulting in losses in fishery and reduction of fish supply as well as agricultural products; and decrease in the alluvia flow downstream.
3/ Resettlement of local communities could create disruptions in their way of life resulting in socio-economic and food security problems in the basin.
Whatever happens in Laos in the coming months will not be contained locally. The very first stage of construction has already significantly affected the countries downstream. (9)
VIRAPHONH VIRAVONG: A RISING STAR OF LAOS
Wendy Chamberlin, the former American ambassador to Laos (1996-1999), was a member of the International Volunteer Service (IVS) in the 1970’s. She speaks fluent Lao and offers this observation: “After years of isolating themselves behind the bamboo curtain, watching their neighbors develop and prosper, now they also want to join the club.” The Ambassador is referring here to the Lao leaders. They advocated a new development policy khown as “Chin Thanakaan Mai” or “New Thoughts” trusting that through it their country will be removed from the list of the 25 poorest countries in the world.
The Industry and Commerce Minister Nam Viyaketh declared: "If all sources of energy can be developed, Laos can become the battery of Southeast Asia. We can sell our energy to our neighbors. Laos can be rich." (8)
Any long time observer of the history of hydroelectric exploitation in Laos will soon discover that the real brain behind its development is neither the President, Prime minister nor Foreign Minister but the outstanding and brilliant person named Viraphonh Viravong. For more than three decades he has tirelessly and single-mindedly pursued the dream of turning Laos into the “Kuwait of hydropower of Southeast-Asia”.
According to World Economic Forum, Viraphonh Viravong has a very impressive C.V. in the field of energy: Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Footscray Institute of Technology, Victoria University, Australia (1976); Higher Diploma in Politics and Public Administration, National Academy of Politics and Public Administration, Lao PDR. (2009); Expert with Electricité du Laos (EdL) (1978-1995); General Manager, EdL (1995-2006); Member, Lao National Committee for Energy (LNCE) (1995-2006,); Board of Directors, Theun Hinboun Power Co.( 1995-2012,);, Board of Directors, Nam Theun-2 Power Co. (2001-2005); Member, Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (2002-2005); Director General, DEPD, Ministry of Energy and Mines (2006-07); Director General, DOE, Ministry of Energy and Mines (2007-Nov. 2011); Vice-Minister of Energy and Mines of Laos (Nov. 2011- until now). http://www.weforum.org/contributors/viraphonh-viravong [ Figure II]
Figure II_ Viraphonp Viravong, Vice-Minister of Energy and Mines of Laos,
the chief technocrat, intellectual figure behind all the hydropower projects in Lao PDR.
Viraphonp Viravong frequently goes on trips to the Mekong in search of good locations to build hydropower dams in order to bring prosperity to Laos. He also spends time to persuade the local inhabitants to relocate with the promise that the revenue from the future dams will bring them boundless benefits: year-round electricity, new roads, hospitals, schools and so on. Armed with his past experience with the dams built on the large tributaries like Theun Hinboun, Nam Theun-2…and now with Xayaburi, the first dam to be built on the Mekong main current, more than ever Viraphonp Viravong is determined to forge ahead with the project mindless of attacks and criticisms. If necessary, he will adapt, compromise but will not relent.
At the close of the Siem Reap Meeting on 12/08/2011, the four countries of the Mekong jointly decided to put a halt to the construction of the Xayaburi Dam while Laos abstained from issuing any formal commitments.
As head of the Lao delegation, Mr. Viraphonh Viravong, simply stated: “We appreciate all comments, but we will consider to accommodate all concerns”.
And Laos promised to observe all the preliminary construction guidances of the Mekong River Commission Secretariat as well as meet all international criteria in order to minimize the impacts on all fronts i.e. waterway transportation, fish migration, alluvia flow, water quality, water eco-system, and also the dam safety at acceptable levels.
In the aftermath of the Siem Reap Meeting, press reports revealed that construction works on the infrastructures at the dam site still went on unabated in blatant violation of the agreement. A reporter with the Bangkok Post revisited the site and found that the construction of a major road leading to the dam site is 90% finished. Viraphonh Viravong offered this reassurance: “It goes without saying that the road will only be used after the Xayaburi project is given the go ahead again. Failing that, all facilities will revert to the use of the local authorities providing its officials with easy access to the remote villages.” (2)
Besides being professionally competent, Viraphonh Viravong also has a good command of foreign languages and a force of persuasion that helps him keep the Western press under his sway.
In an email sent to the The Times, Vivaphonh wrote: “It would be very sad and not very fair to Laos not to develop the Xayaburi project since this is a very rare opportunity for Laos to attract foreign investment. We would not be very proud of ourselves to continue begging for development assistance.” He also expressed his indignation: “If it is necessary to obtain a special authorization for us to do something then nothing will be done. Whether this is good or bad – I don’t know. But we will not have development”.
Confronted with grave accusations that the 2011 study done by the company Poyry was inadequate, Laos immediately hired the French consulting firm Compagnie Nationale du Rhône (CNR) to perform new studies and rewrite the dam project. During an on-air interview, Viraponh Viravong told Radio Free Asia (RFA): “First, we hired … Poyry to do the impact study, but people were not satisfied with that. And now we have hired a French company. This study … confirms that the Lao government wants to let the dam be redesigned, there will be no impact on the environment.” The redesigned Xayaburi dam is expected to allow a steady flow of allluvia downsteam thus allaying all environmental concerns. (17)
Figure III_ Oct 15, 2012 Lao Deputy Minister reviews AIT testing of Xayaburi Hydroelectric Power Project. Mr. Viraphonh said: “There is no question of Lao PDR not developing its hydropower potential. The only question is how to do it sustainably.” (14)
The issue of alluvia flow may have been resolved with the redesigned dam project but, like in the case of Poyry, the Compagnie Nationale du Rhône also failed to address the problem of fish source conservation. Nevertheless, a self-assured Laos went ahead with the official ground-breaking ceremony of the Xayaburi Dam on 11/07/2012.
One day prior to the ceremony, Viraphonh Viravong confided into a group of correspondents: “It has been assessed, it has been discussed the last two years. We have addressed most of the concerns.” Soon afterward, works on the “coffer dam” began in order to divert the Mekong River current to clear the way for the construction of the “permanent dam”. The completion date for the “coffer dam” was scheduled for May of 2013. If everything goes according to plan, the Xayaburi Dam itself will be completed and begin operation in March of 2018. (10)
PAK BENG - THE SECOND DAM AWAITING THE NOD
The Pak Beng Dam, the second mainstream dam on the Lower Mekong, is designed by the Chinese company Datang Overseas Investment Co., Ltd.. The dam’s developers have completed the environmental impact assessment for the project and are only awaiting the green light from the government to proceed with its construction. (13)
The Pak Beng Dam lies to the north of the ancient capital Luang Prabang in the Oudomxay Province, northern Laos. According to an agreement signed between Laos and China in August, 2007, the design of the dam is entrusted to the Chinese firm Datang Overseas Investment Co., Ltd.. At a cost of US$ 1.88 billion, this 1,300 MW dam is scheduled to begin operation in 2018. [Author’s note: the same year the Xayaburi Dam is to be completed]
The Mekong River Commission has issued a recommendation to enforce a “temporary 10-year suspension of all mainstream dams on the Lower Mekong” pending completion of more exhaustive studies on the environmental and socio-economic impacts of the dams. Nonetheless, it seems as if this recommendation has fallen on the deaf ears of the Lao government.
It would be noteworthy to list here the 11 mainstream dams projected to be built on the Lower Mekong. For the next two decades, they appear to be heavy “crosses” for the river to bear – especially Vietnam and the Mekong Delta. [Figure IV]
DAMS ON THE LOWER MEKONG MAINSTREAM
Beginning in 2006; companies from Malaysia, Thailand, and China were given the green light to carry out feasibility studies for the “run-of-river” dams on the Lower Mekong. Below is the listing of the eleven mainstream dams in geographical order from north to south:
1/ Pak Beng Dam, Laos 1,320 MW; project sponsors: Chinese company Datang International Power Generation Co. and Laotian government.
2/ Luang Prabang Dam, Laos 1,410 MW; project sponsors: Vietnamese company Petrovietnam Power Co. and Laotian government.
3/ Xayaburi Dam, Laos, 1.260 MW, Xayaburi Province, Laos; project sponsors: Thai company Ch. Karnchang and Laotian government.
4/ Pak Lay Dam, Laos, 1,320 MW Xayaburi Province, Laos; project sponsor: Chinese company Sinohydro Co. June, 2007 to carry out the feasibility studies.
5/ Xanakham Dam, Laos, 1,000MW; project sponsor: Chinese company Datang International Power Generation Co.
6/ Pak Cho Dam, Lao-Thai borders, 1,079 MW
7/ Ban Koum Dam, Lao-Thai borders, 2,230 MW, Ubon Ratchathani Province; project sponsors: Italian-Thai Development Co., Ltd and Asia Corp Holdings Ltd. and Laotian government.
8/ Lat Sua Dam, Laos, 800 MW; project sponsors: Thai companies Charoen Energy and Water Asia Co. Ltd., and Laotian government.
9/ Don Sahong Dam, 360 MW, Champasak Provimce, Laos; project sponsor: Malaysian company Mega First Berhad Co.
10/ Stung Treng Dam, Cambodia, 980 MW; project sponsor: Russian government.
11/ Sambor Dam, Cambodia; project sponsor: Chinese company China Southern Power Grid Co. (CSPG).
Figure 4_ The Dams on mainstream of the Mekong. Source: Stimson, Mekong Tipping Point, April 07, 2010
China is now the owner of 14 dams on the series of the Mekong Cascades in Yunnan, on the Upper Mekong. While the countries in the Lower Mekong waste their time bickering with and fighting each other, Beijing quietly goes its separate way to build the giant Nuozhadu 5,800 MW, the tallest dam, upstream. An overall view shows that China is in full control of the northern half of the Mekong’s current and the nefarious impacts caused by its dams appear to be irreversible. Now, this country has a free hand to construct four additional hydroelectric dams on the Lower Mekong.
A few days prior to the Xayaburi breaking ground ceremony, another breaking news came from Phnom Penh [Nov 6, 2012]: According to a government statement, Cambodia has approved the construction of the Lower Sesan 2 hydroelectric plant 400 MW. This US$ 781 million dam will be built along the Sesan River in the northeastern province of Stung Treng. The Cambodian official added that Lower Sesan 2 will be built by a Chinese-Vietnamese joint venture but did not name the companies involved in the deal. (17)
To serve her short-term benefits, Vietnam, though located at the mouth of the Mekong, still decided to finance the construction of the Luang Prabang Dam 1,410 MW which is larger than the Xayaburi one. Now this country inexplicably enters into a joint venture with China in the building of Lower Sesan 2.
IN LIEU OF CONCLUSION
-- Xayaburi, the first domino has fallen. The immediate result is the upcoming construction of Pak Beng, the second mainstream dam on the Mekong. The floodgate is now wide open for other 11 dam projects downstream to follow suit.
-- How devastating would be the impacts they will cause on the eco-system of the Mekong and the Mekong Delta is anybody’s guess. As Richard P. Cronin, director of the S.E. Asia Program at the Stimson Center, remarked: “But if they build all of these dams, that will be the coup de grâce for the Mekong Delta.” (16)
-- No nations, not Vietnam for sure, would like to see the disturbing series of events pertaining to the Xayaburi Experience to repeat itself with the construction of the remaining 10 mainstream dams in the near future.
-- In the crucial “Environment War’ of the Mekong, Xayaburi must be looked at as the first critical strategic base to be so rapidly and disappointingly overrun. It marks a new era full of challenges for regional cooperation and an uncertain future for the Mekong Delta.
-- There is an immediate need for the posting of charge d’affaire and special envoys for the Environment at Vietnamese diplomatic sites to monitor closely the developments of dam building projects like the Xayaburi. A passive reliance on the gathering of inaccurate information or misinformation like at the present time is not acceptable.
-- The Mekong River Committee and its sister organizations need to take a resolute stand in observance of the “Spirit of the Mekong” in order to speak with a unified and persistent voice not only before the Mekong River Commission Secretariat but also in international forums.
-- At a governmental level, the Hanoi government can convoke the Lao Embassador to a meeting at the Foreign Affairs Ministry for an official account about the unkept promise “to suspend the construction of the Xayaburi Dam” given by the Lao Prime Minister.
-- Article 7 of the 1995 Mekong Agreement, Mekong River Commission calls on the member countries to “make every effort to avoid, minimize and mitigate harmful effects that might occur to the environment … from the development and use of the Mekong River Basin water resources.” (7) The governments of the Mekong countries are still duty-bound to observe the spirit of this article.
NGÔ THẾ VINH, M.D.
California 12 – 02 – 2012
REFERENCES:
- Illegal Construction on the Xayaburi Forges Ahead; Ame Trandem, International Rivers 08-04- 2011; http://khampoua.wordpress.com/2011/08/04/illegal-construction-on-the-xayaburi-dam-forges-ahead/
- No Stopping Flow of Construction at Suspended Dam; Bangkok Post Sunday, 09-18-2011; http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/257084/no-stopping-flow-of-construction-at-uspended-dam
- Petition to Cancel the Xayaburi Dam. Ame Trandem, Southeast Asia Program Director, International Rivers, 11- 09- 2011 http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2486/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8547
- Laos Uses New Report to Greenwash the Xayaburi Dam; Press Release International Rivers, 09- 11- 2011 http://www.internationalrivers.org/en/2011-11-8/laos-uses-new-report-greenwash-xayaburi-dam
- US Senate Hearing Recognizes Mainstream Dam Threat to Mekong River; International Press Release 09- 24- 2010 http://www.internationalrivers.org/en/2010-9-23/us-senate-congressional-hearing-recognizes-mainstream-dam-threat-mekong-river
- Lower Mekong Countries Take Prior Consultation on Xayaburi Project to Ministerial Level. MRC Vientiane Lao PDR, 04- 19- 2011, http://www.mrcmekong.org/news-and-events/news/lower-mekong-countries-take-prior-consultation-on-xayaburi-project-to-ministerial-level/
- Agreement on the Cooperation for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong River Basin, Chiang Rai, Thailand, 04- 05- 1995; http://www.mrcmekong.org/assets/Publications/agreements/agreement-Apr95.pdf
- Laos Turns to HydroPower to be Asia’s Battery; Jared Ferrie, The Christian Science Monitor, July 2, 2010; http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2010/0702/Laos-turns-to-hydropower-to-be-Asia-s-battery
- How the Next 12 Months of Xayaburi Dam Construction Will Affect the Mekong River; Kirk Herbertson; International Rivers Network; Thu, 07/26/2012, http://www.internationalrivers.org/blogs/267/how-the-next-12-months-of-xayaburi-dam-construction-will-affect-the-mekong-river
- Laos Evades Responsibility and Plows Ahead with Xayaburi Dam, Ame Trandem; Monday, November 5, 2012 http://www.internationalrivers.org/resources/laos-evades-responsibility-and-plows-ahead-with-xayaburi-dam-7714
- Laos Breaks Ground for Controversial Mekong Dam, Thomas Fuller; November 7, 2012; http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/08/world/asia/laos-breaks-ground-for-controversial-mekong-dam.html?ref=thomasfuller&_r=0
- The Siem Reap Meeting A Fragile Agreement [12-08-2011] for the Free Flowing of the Mekong’s Mainstream, Ngô Thế Vinh http://www.vietecology.org/Article.aspx/Article/78
- Second Mekong Dam Awaits Nod. Indochina Energy, 10/ 18/ 2012; Reported by RFA’s Lao service. http://indochinapower.wordpress.com/2012/10/18/second-mekong-dam-awaits-nod/
- Lao Deputy Minister reviews AIT testing of Xayaburi Hydroelectric Power Project; Asian Institute of Technology Oct 25, 2012 http://203.159.12.32:8082/AIT/news-and-events/2012/news/lao-deputy-minister-reviews-ait-testing-of-xayaburi-hydroelectric-power-project/
- Laos Begins Work on a Second Mekong River Dam; IRN Press Release, Sunday, September 2, 2012; http://www.internationalrivers.org/resources/laos-begins-work-on-a-second-mekong-river-dam-7663
- Laos to begin building hotly debated Xayaburi dam this week; Los Angeles Times World; November 6, 2012 http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/11/laos-to-begin-building-hotly-debated-dam-this-week.html
- 400-MW Lower Sesan 2 hydroelectric plant gets Cambodian approval; Phom Penh, Cambodia 11/06/2012; http://www.hydroworld.com/articles/2012/11/400-mw-lower-sesan-2-hydroelectric-plant-gets-cambodian-approval.html
