Smaller dams better than Kaeng Sua Ten, say locals

Suriyan Panyawai

The Nation on Sunday

A network of environmental groups in the North reads its statement at a Buddhist temple in Phrae

BANGKOK: --Locals and non-governmental organisations have urged the government to develop small and medium-sized dams instead of pushing for the Bt350-billion Kaeng Sua Ten dam, which they believe will not help prevent floods or drought, and instead destroy valuable teak forests and ecological systems.

The Thai Water Partnership, the Sueb Nakasatien Foundation, the Network of Takonyom River Basin and other NGO groups yesterday held a seminar about the government's plan to construct the dam.

Nikomo Putta, a former Wildlife Fund Thailand official, said the Kaeng Sua Ten Dam construction would destroy the country's largest teak forest. He said that because floods and droughts were caused by deforestation, to solve both problems afforestation is needed, not the construction of a large dam.

Chainarong Setchua, an academic of Maha Sarakham University, said state officials and politicians at different times cited different reasons to justify the construction of Kaeng Sua Ten Dam depending on public sentiment, be it for irrigation, or the multi-purpose solving of floods or droughts.

"The World Bank is behind the dam construction. The government loves dam construction, believing it is a symbol of development. Other developed countries now want to demolish their dams in order to restore salmon stocks, but we are replacing our teak forest and ecological system with this large dam,'' he said.

He suggested alternatives to building large dams for the purpose of preventing floods and drought, such as developing wetlands, and water-retention areas such as monkey cheek projects.

Sasin Chalermlap, secretary-general of the Sueb Nakasatian Found-ation, said if the government wanted to prevent flooding in Sukhothai and Phrae, it need not build the Kaeng Sua Ten Dam but only build floodwalls and open more channels for water to be released from the Yom to the Nan and Chao Phraya rivers faster.

He said last year's flood was caused not only by an unusually high amount of rains, but also by local political interference in water management. "Locals said the Irrigation Department refused to release water from the Chao Phraya Dam because local politicians wanted farmers to have enough water for rice plantation,'' he said.

Weerawat Jiraprasart, chairman of Thai Environment Network, hailed locals' efforts in teaming up to oppose the government's push for a large dam. He cited eight studies that show the Kaeng Sua Ten Dam would not help prevent floods and droughts but would destroy Bt10 billion worth of teak forests spanning 24,000 rai.

Local leader Somming Muanglong said the Yom River was 735 kilometres long. He questioned how, if the dam is to be constructed at kilometre 115, the dam is going to prevent droughts or floods when it rains below the dam.

He said the dam construction would destroy 30,000 mixed-deciduous trees and that 1,000 families from four villages would have to be relocated from 10,000 rai of land. "We urge the government to rethink and opt for small- to medium-sized dams and reforestation programmes. First of all, it should solve existing problems caused by other large dams,'' he said.

-- The Nation 2012-10-07

Where there is money involved and ability to steal from the construction contracts, no amount of logic, anti-corruption body or green group is going to get in the way of this money being 'filtered'. Especially with the World Bank behind it.

Here are the consequences.

1. we are replacing our teak forest and ecological system with this large dam,

2. destroy 30,000 mixed-deciduous trees

3. relocate 1,000 families from four villages

4. would destroy Bt10 billion worth of teak forests spanning 24,000 Rai

And finally ... eight studies show the Kaeng Sua Ten Dam would not help prevent floods and droughts.

So why would the Government proceed with a failed project costing billions? Simple, the percentage of money to be stolen and with no care for the collateral damage.

More and smaller dams along the course of the river would be of much more use to farmers as it will offer water for irrigation in many more places.

I don't know details, but every indication appears to show that the locals are right. I trust large dam building consortiums as far as I can toss them. Maybe Thaksin is behind this bad idea as he's similarly behind other big spending bad ideas in the land he no longer resides in.

I don't know details, but every indication appears to show that the locals are right. I trust large dam building consortiums as far as I can toss them. Maybe Thaksin is behind this bad idea as he's similarly behind other big spending bad ideas in the land he no longer resides in.

The locals are always right! Vote Thaksin!

-mel.

More power to them. The short term fixes never transcend to success. Many more open minded studies are needed and with the people affected by this involved from the get go.!

It's always about the money.

While it's a respectable gesture from the local communities, it's gonna be a tough fight against corrupt government officials opposition who would go over dead bodies in order to GET what they want.

More power to them. The short term fixes never transcend to success. Many more open minded studies are needed and with the people affected by this involved from the get go.!

Good point. The problem being who is going to do the studies.

The article said

"Chainarong Setchua, an academic of Maha Sarakham University, said state officials and politicians at different times cited different reasons to justify the construction of Kaeng Sua Ten Dam depending on public sentiment, be it for irrigation, or the multi-purpose solving of floods or droughts."

Chainarong Setchua, an academic of Maha Sarakham University, said state officials and politicians.

Three loosers are they the ones to do the study. Bring in the Israeli's or the Dutch they know about water managment. When it comes to irrigation the Israeli's are far and away superior to the Thai's.

How can Thailand have academic's when they haven't got there pad yet?

In Chiang Rai, where I've resided for 14 years, there's an 11 gate irrigation dam on the Mae Kok river, a few Km east of downtown. It's a sizable river, 150 meters wide at places, but the small dam has rendered a 7 Km stretch of it a stagnant lake. Its purpose: to irrigate a relatively small area of farms, so they can get a 2nd crop of rice each year. In my view, the advantages don't match the drawbacks. Plus, it renders that stretch of river un-navigable by long tail boats. Also, the dam can't be used as a traffic bridge. Altogether: BAD PLANNING, and waste of money.

This dam has been fought by locals for decades. It is still a bad idea for many reasons, not least that its purported purpose, to help stop flooding, is absolutely not going to happen since the Yom river contributes only 8 percent of the Chao Phraya's volume at Nakhon Sawan.

http://www.mekonginf...dam-controversy

From a 2006 piece on mekinginfo.org:

The stakes over the Kaeng Sua Ten dam are high. For politicians and dam proponents, the Kaeng Sua Ten dam would provide a fresh boost of life to the government dam-building programme, stalled for nearly a decade by village protests, bungled resettlement efforts, compensation demands, and bureaucratic corruption.

Numerous highly lucrative engineering and consulting contracts are up for grabs. Logging companies are eyeing the 35 square kilometers of golden teak worth an estimated 1.691 million baht (US $67 million) within the dam reservoir area. A planned industrial estate in Phrea, about 20 km from the reservoir, as well as dozens of tourist resorts, hotels and golf courses want access to cheap water from the Kaeng Sua Ten reservoir.

Successive governments have wagered their political fortunes on building the dam through a variety of means: preventing villagers from voicing their concerns about the project; falsifying scientific data to exaggerate the dam’s irrigation and flood control benefits while understating its impacts; circumventing legal processes for assessing the dam’s impacts; staging “public hearings” by recruiting villagers from other provinces to “support” the dam; and threatening and coercing villagers to move from the area including the buying of village lands.

http://www.mekonginf...dam-controversy

One hopes that local resistance will again beat back an attempt by the big money to jam this bloated fraud down the throats of the locals. Call me romantic, but I for one would like to see the last remaining stand of golden teak in the country preserved, for generations that may be wiser than the one I live among.