Activists push for Mae Wong Dam to be scrapped

[webfact]

DAM
Activists push for Mae Wong Dam to be scrapped
Wasu Vipoosanapat
The Nation



BANGKOK: -- ACTIVISTS called yesterday for the Mae Wong Dam to be scrapped, ahead of the final decision today on the project's Environmental Health Impact Assessment (EHIA) report.

Sasin Chalermlarp, chief of the Seub Nakhasathien Foundation, who has been camping outside the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning, said his group would continue pushing for an alternative water-management system regardless of the outcome of the EHIA.

"This proposal would be a better option for effective water management, because the dam, if built, would not cater to local communities' needs or preserve wildlife," Sasin said.

The activist led a long march last year against the Mae Wong Dam plan.

The foundation proposed that ponds in the lower Mae Wong area be deepened further or new ones be dug so farmers have water to grow rice twice a year, instead of just once a year as would happen if the dam was built.

Besides, digging ponds in the Sakea Krang River basin's agricultural zones would boost the area's water storage capacity by 205.6 million cubic metres and cost less than Bt2 billion, he said, pointing out that Mae Wong Dam's storage capacity would be just 200-250 million cubic metres and cost Bt13 billion.

Other activists, including Thai-Water Partnership's chairman Hannarong Yaowalers and Srisuwan Janya from the Stop Global Warming Association, also showed up yesterday morning to back Sasin's move against the project.

Hannarong said if the EHIA was approved and the project went ahead, it would open the door for the government to propose more dam projects in national park zones, which would be detrimental to the environment. He said the foundation's proposal of digging ponds was far better as it would respond to the more to the needs of local communities than the Mae Wong Dam, which he said would mostly focus on supplying water for industry.

Water Resources Department chief Jatuporn Buruphat said the alternative proposal was similar to the department's plan to help local people have access to water. He said he would review the proposal and consider it if it appears to benefit water management and locals.

The Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning, meanwhile, will submit the EHIA report to the Independent Commission on Environment and Health today for consideration.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Activists-push-for-Mae-Wong-Dam-to-be-scrapped-30248097.html


-- The Nation 2014-11-19

[DeepInTheForest]

Here's hoping that people will rally behind the activists to defeat the Mae Wong dam. There is a growing mountain of evidence that large dams can have disastrous knock-on effects. (One little-known effect: pollution, including pesticide and fertilizer runoff, becomes trapped in reservoirs because the river no longer can flush itself. The pollutants can then percolate down to the water table, which is often used for our drinking water.) The dam and financial industries and the World Bank are a juggernaut lobby worldwide, however, which is why dam-building is expanding far beyond the point it makes sense.

For an unfortunate example, we have only to look to the giant neighbor to the north, ever-hungry to grow its economy and thirsty for electrical power:

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/nov/04/china-dam-hydropower-boom-rivers

http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=14-P13-00046&segmentID=5

Edited November 19, 2014 by DeepInTheForest

[Chris Lawrence]

Proposed in 1984, the dam has been delayed for many years as the project's environmental impact study had failed to get approval from the National Environment Board. http://www.student-weekly.com/learning/230412-terry.html

http://www.pattayamail.com/news/cabinet-approves-mae-wong-dam-construction-11831

Thailand's national tiger action plan aims to increase the country's tiger population by more than 50% by the Year of the Tiger in 2022. Mae Wong National Park and Khlong Lan National Park located in Khamphaeng...
Please credit and share this article with others using this link:http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/361957/mae-wong-dam-poses-grim-threat-to-endangered-tigers. View our policies at http://goo.gl/9HgTd and http://goo.gl/ou6Ip. © Post Publishing PCL. All rights reserved.

Just reading some of these articles, this has been going on for some years. The threat is to wildlife in the area and its inherent value for a tiger population.

Have they looked at alternative sites?

Dams are also needed in Thailand. What is the compromise?

Mae Wong dam is part of the Sakaekrang Basin development project which is included in the Fifth National Economic and Social Development Plan (1982-1986). The construction, which is expected to take eight years, will be undertaken by the Irrigation Department. - See more at: http://www.pattayamail.com/news/cabinet-approves-mae-wong-dam-construction-11831#sthash.9laXStnA.dpuf

Edited November 19, 2014 by Chris Lawrence

[webfact]

Police stop Kasetsart students from protesting against Mae Wong project



BANGKOK: -- Police on Tuesday late afternoon stopped a group of Kasetsart University students from staging a protest march against the Mae Wong dam project.

The students from the forest faculty of Kasetsart University gathered in front of the campus and started distributing leaflets explaining their opposition to the dam project.

But before they could start the march through Paholyothin road to Major Ratchayothin mall, a police detachment arrived at the campus with three detention buses.

The police seized all the leaflets and suggested the students to send their representatives to submit their protest note to the Government House instead of staging a protest march which is against the martial law. The police also asked the students to disperse.

The student refused to budge and instead staged a sit-in protest on the campus.

Police later announced that they would make the arrest if the students refused to disperse peacefully.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/police-stop-kasetsart-students-protesting-mae-wong-project


-- Thai PBS 2014-11-19

[RustBucket]

Police stop Kasetsart students from protesting against Mae Wong project

Stifling the people's right to voice their concerns publicly is going to backfire in the end.

It will make more groups even more determined to make their point.

You will drive it underground and that is where it is much more difficult to control.

Eventually a massive protest will be organised and the people will NOT disperse.

What then?.... the world can sit back and watch while police and soldiers beat, arrest and shoot protesters?

The more you oppress the people, the more they will revolt. Messing with protesting students is not the best thing to do. These types are seldom afraid of threats to arrest.

This time ALL the media will be behind the protesters.

Edited November 19, 2014 by RustBucket

[wilcopops]

I started tis thread a few days back..........http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/777366-mae-wong-dam-protest/#entry8686504

Couple of comments by myself before it was closed.

[wilcopops]

Proposed in 1984, the dam has been delayed for many years as the project's environmental impact study had failed to get approval from the National Environment Board. http://www.student-weekly.com/learning/230412-terry.html

http://www.pattayamail.com/news/cabinet-approves-mae-wong-dam-construction-11831

Thailand's national tiger action plan aims to increase the country's tiger population by more than 50% by the Year of the Tiger in 2022. Mae Wong National Park and Khlong Lan National Park located in Khamphaeng...

Please credit and share this article with others using this link:http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/361957/mae-wong-dam-poses-grim-threat-to-endangered-tigers. View our policies at http://goo.gl/9HgTd and http://goo.gl/ou6Ip. © Post Publishing PCL. All rights reserved.

Just reading some of these articles, this has been going on for some years. The threat is to wildlife in the area and its inherent value for a tiger population.

Have they looked at alternative sites?

Dams are also needed in Thailand. What is the compromise?

Mae Wong dam is part of the Sakaekrang Basin development project which is included in the Fifth National Economic and Social Development Plan (1982-1986). The construction, which is expected to take eight years, will be undertaken by the Irrigation Department. - See more at: http://www.pattayamail.com/news/cabinet-approves-mae-wong-dam-construction-11831#sthash.9laXStnA.dpuf

Apart form having dubious merit in helping either irrigation or flooding the dam poses a serious threat to the survival of Thailand's meagre and endangered Tiger population. The dam has been knocked back several times over the last couple of decades, the idea for the dam - originally intended for irrigation purposes - was revived after the serious flooding in Bangkok in the last few years.

[wilcopops]

Here is a WWF site that explains the threat to the tiger population posed by the dam.

http://www.worldwild...by-proposed-dam

at present Thailand is heading straight of a new "hub"- that of tiger extinction.

[billd766]

Whilst I can appreciate the thought of saving the tigers this dam will take up only 2% or 18sq/km of the 894 sq/km national park leaving 876 sq/km for the 9 or 10 tigers that nobody has seen in the flesh for many years.

If the dam is built it will take about 8 years and during that time ALL the animals including the tigers will move further and deeper into the park and still nobody will actually see them.

Very few of the enviornmentalists and protesters live anywhere near Mae Wong and will never be affected but the local villagers who actually do live there are affected for at least 3 years out of every 5 by the floods.

If you wonder where I live? Well on the other side of my back fence is the Mae Wong national park so I do have a bit of an idea what it is all about.

[halloween]

Ignoring all the unsubstantiated claims, would irrigation water be better supplied by the pressure from the dam, or pumped out of a hole in the ground?

As our green friends continue to tell us to reduce the burning of fossil fuels, a dam with hydro capacity would assist in that aim while pumping would only increase energy demand. But it seems greens only have limited fields of interest about which they are usually badly informed.

[wilcopops]

Whilst I can appreciate the thought of saving the tigers this dam will take up only 2% or 18sq/km of the 894 sq/km national park leaving 876 sq/km for the 9 or 10 tigers that nobody has seen in the flesh for many years.

If the dam is built it will take about 8 years and during that time ALL the animals including the tigers will move further and deeper into the park and still nobody will actually see them.

Very few of the enviornmentalists and protesters live anywhere near Mae Wong and will never be affected but the local villagers who actually do live there are affected for at least 3 years out of every 5 by the floods.

If you wonder where I live? Well on the other side of my back fence is the Mae Wong national park so I do have a bit of an idea what it is all about.

you completely miss the entire point of what the conservationists intend - its got absolutely nothing to do with looking at tigers - it's to do with preserving an entire eco-system and increasing the tiger population.

The effects of the dam are way more far-reaching than the boundaries.

The other side is that the dam was originally intended for irrigation not food control and it has been argued that in both respects it is ineffective and costly. Other systems that are less damaging to th environment have been put forward that can be effective at a fraction of the cost.

There is a lobby in the Thai hierarchy thatt is obsessed with the idea of dam-building regardless of modern scientific thinking on the matter and is determined to build in spite of the overwhelming body of opinion being to the contrary.

[billd766]

Whilst I can appreciate the thought of saving the tigers this dam will take up only 2% or 18sq/km of the 894 sq/km national park leaving 876 sq/km for the 9 or 10 tigers that nobody has seen in the flesh for many years.

If the dam is built it will take about 8 years and during that time ALL the animals including the tigers will move further and deeper into the park and still nobody will actually see them.

Very few of the enviornmentalists and protesters live anywhere near Mae Wong and will never be affected but the local villagers who actually do live there are affected for at least 3 years out of every 5 by the floods.

If you wonder where I live? Well on the other side of my back fence is the Mae Wong national park so I do have a bit of an idea what it is all about.

you completely miss the entire point of what the conservationists intend - its got absolutely nothing to do with looking at tigers - it's to do with preserving an entire eco-system and increasing the tiger population.

The effects of the dam are way more far-reaching than the boundaries.

The other side is that the dam was originally intended for irrigation not food control and it has been argued that in both respects it is ineffective and costly. Other systems that are less damaging to th environment have been put forward that can be effective at a fraction of the cost.

There is a lobby in the Thai hierarchy thatt is obsessed with the idea of dam-building regardless of modern scientific thinking on the matter and is determined to build in spite of the overwhelming body of opinion being to the contrary.

Abolutely correct except that if the dam is not built then the locals who live downstream will continue to be flooded out 3 years out of 5.

Irrigation actually helps food controll for without water you can't grow food and in times of flooding the crops are lost and peoples livelihoods are ruined yet again.

quote "Other systems that are less damaging to the environment have been put forward that can be effective at a fraction of the cost."

Can you please tell me what they are, how effective they are and how big a fraction of the cost they are?

Edited November 21, 2014 by billd766

[wilcopops]

Whilst I can appreciate the thought of saving the tigers this dam will take up only 2% or 18sq/km of the 894 sq/km national park leaving 876 sq/km for the 9 or 10 tigers that nobody has seen in the flesh for many years.

If the dam is built it will take about 8 years and during that time ALL the animals including the tigers will move further and deeper into the park and still nobody will actually see them.

Very few of the enviornmentalists and protesters live anywhere near Mae Wong and will never be affected but the local villagers who actually do live there are affected for at least 3 years out of every 5 by the floods.

If you wonder where I live? Well on the other side of my back fence is the Mae Wong national park so I do have a bit of an idea what it is all about.

you completely miss the entire point of what the conservationists intend - its got absolutely nothing to do with looking at tigers - it's to do with preserving an entire eco-system and increasing the tiger population.

The effects of the dam are way more far-reaching than the boundaries.

The other side is that the dam was originally intended for irrigation not food control and it has been argued that in both respects it is ineffective and costly. Other systems that are less damaging to th environment have been put forward that can be effective at a fraction of the cost.

There is a lobby in the Thai hierarchy thatt is obsessed with the idea of dam-building regardless of modern scientific thinking on the matter and is determined to build in spite of the overwhelming body of opinion being to the contrary.

Abolutely correct except that if the dam is not built then the locals who live downstream will continue to be flooded out 3 years out of 5.

Irrigation actually helps food controll for without water you can't grow food and in times of flooding the crops are lost and peoples livelihoods are ruined yet again.

quote "Other systems that are less damaging to the environment have been put forward that can be effective at a fraction of the cost."

Can you please tell me what they are, how effective they are and how big a fraction of the cost they are?

"Absolutely correct except that if the dam is not built then the locals who live downstream will continue to be flooded out 3 years out of 5." - this is not a realistic assessment - the area has been flood prone for centuries - if you build on a food plain etc, you will get flooded.

flooding is of course an integral part of rice growing - it is interests vested in other aspects that really want to "control nature" at the cost of the environment.

​The environment is not just a pretty thing to look at - it is a natural resource of great value to Thailand - it means clean water supplies, affects the weather and flooding - trees are a major protection against floods - much of Thailand's flooding is caused by the indiscriminate logging of the 70s and 80s. it is also a highly sellable commodity - especially to this "quality tourists" the government is looking for.

​K. Sasin has put forward a system whereby floods can be mitigated by local "sumps" - this system is estimated to cost about 2 billion instead on 13 billion baht and will avoid the disastrous impact on the environment.

The dam is a stab in the heart of eco -conservation in Thailand.........

​In fact there are several other reasons why thew dam is undesirable - as pointed out above - it is arguable whether a dam is needed at all in that area.

The opposition BTW is highly suspect - it appears organised by the pro-dam authorities who have recruited these people and imply that their small number is representative of local opinion.

The impact is not just the water management

​it is the building of the dam the subsequent development and encroach resulting after the dam is established and the encroachment and access for poachers etc that would be able to get easy access to more remote areas thanks to the roads built.

The tiger sanctuary (Huai Kha Khaeng) which borders onto this area is very fragile already, but any Tiger or wildly sanctuary requires "buffer zones" around it - animals don't know if they are inside or out side a sanctuary.

​

The maintenance and proposed creation of an increased Tiger population (supported at least in words by the government) requires creating a massive environment where not just tigers can survive, but a whole eco-system - this requires linking National Parks, buffer zones, sanctuaries etc etc - it is a huge international project that the Thai government has agreed (on paper at least) to be involved in - whilst doing so on one hand, they are on the other creating a significant wound to the heart of conservation in the Western Forest Complex.

This peopled dam has been knocked back several times, both as an irrigation project and now as a flood control project. the basic tenets are shown to be flawed in all circumstances.

both the EHIA - environmental and health impacts authority - and the DNP are opposed to this project.

Why does this project and others repeatedly keep coming back? - the answer to this is probably not permitted on this web site.

Edited November 21, 2014 by wilcopops

[wilcopops]

From a worldwide perspective it is unusual to find a "people's movement" that campaigns against a green protest. the opposition is usually big companies or government. so one has to be somewhat surprised to see this "grass roots - albeit local group - campaigning for the dam. Why? Well, I for one wouldn't be at all surprised to find a connection between the pro-dam demonstrators and a Village Scouts type organisation.

Edited November 21, 2014 by wilcopops

[billd766]

Whilst I can appreciate the thought of saving the tigers this dam will take up only 2% or 18sq/km of the 894 sq/km national park leaving 876 sq/km for the 9 or 10 tigers that nobody has seen in the flesh for many years.

If the dam is built it will take about 8 years and during that time ALL the animals including the tigers will move further and deeper into the park and still nobody will actually see them.

Very few of the enviornmentalists and protesters live anywhere near Mae Wong and will never be affected but the local villagers who actually do live there are affected for at least 3 years out of every 5 by the floods.

If you wonder where I live? Well on the other side of my back fence is the Mae Wong national park so I do have a bit of an idea what it is all about.

you completely miss the entire point of what the conservationists intend - its got absolutely nothing to do with looking at tigers - it's to do with preserving an entire eco-system and increasing the tiger population.

The effects of the dam are way more far-reaching than the boundaries.

The other side is that the dam was originally intended for irrigation not food control and it has been argued that in both respects it is ineffective and costly. Other systems that are less damaging to th environment have been put forward that can be effective at a fraction of the cost.

There is a lobby in the Thai hierarchy thatt is obsessed with the idea of dam-building regardless of modern scientific thinking on the matter and is determined to build in spite of the overwhelming body of opinion being to the contrary.

Abolutely correct except that if the dam is not built then the locals who live downstream will continue to be flooded out 3 years out of 5.

Irrigation actually helps food controll for without water you can't grow food and in times of flooding the crops are lost and peoples livelihoods are ruined yet again.

quote "Other systems that are less damaging to the environment have been put forward that can be effective at a fraction of the cost."

Can you please tell me what they are, how effective they are and how big a fraction of the cost they are?

"Absolutely correct except that if the dam is not built then the locals who live downstream will continue to be flooded out 3 years out of 5." - this is not a realistic assessment - the area has been flood prone for centuries - if you build on a food plain etc, you will get flooded.

flooding is of course an integral part of rice growing - it is interests vested in other aspects that really want to "control nature" at the cost of the environment.

​The environment is not just a pretty thing to look at - it is a natural resource of great value to Thailand - it means clean water supplies, affects the weather and flooding - trees are a major protection against floods - much of Thailand's flooding is caused by the indiscriminate logging of the 70s and 80s. it is also a highly sellable commodity - especially to this "quality tourists" the government is looking for.

​K. Sasin has put forward a system whereby floods can be mitigated by local "sumps" - this system is estimated to cost about 2 billion instead on 13 billion baht and will avoid the disastrous impact on the environment.

The dam is a stab in the heart of eco -conservation in Thailand.........

​In fact there are several other reasons why thew dam is undesirable - as pointed out above - it is arguable whether a dam is needed at all in that area.

The opposition BTW is highly suspect - it appears organised by the pro-dam authorities who have recruited these people and imply that their small number is representative of local opinion.

The impact is not just the water management

​it is the building of the dam the subsequent development and encroach resulting after the dam is established and the encroachment and access for poachers etc that would be able to get easy access to more remote areas thanks to the roads built.

The tiger sanctuary (Huai Kha Khaeng) which borders onto this area is very fragile already, but any Tiger or wildly sanctuary requires "buffer zones" around it - animals don't know if they are inside or out side a sanctuary.

​

The maintenance and proposed creation of an increased Tiger population (supported at least in words by the government) requires creating a massive environment where not just tigers can survive, but a whole eco-system - this requires linking National Parks, buffer zones, sanctuaries etc etc - it is a huge international project that the Thai government has agreed (on paper at least) to be involved in - whilst doing so on one hand, they are on the other creating a significant wound to the heart of conservation in the Western Forest Complex.

This peopled dam has been knocked back several times, both as an irrigation project and now as a flood control project. the basic tenets are shown to be flawed in all circumstances.

both the EHIA - environmental and health impacts authority - and the DNP are opposed to this project.

Why does this project and others repeatedly keep coming back? - the answer to this is probably not permitted on this web site.

Have you ever actually been to the Mae Wong national park?

I live right next to it and I visit both sides on a regular basis. If you come in from the northeastern side where I live you can drive as far as Cong Yen on the only road in that side of the park.

At Chong Yen you are only about 40km from Umphang but only if you want to walkthere. By road you go back to Khampaeng Phet and almost up to Tak and then turn left to Mae Sot. Turn left again and keep on going and by road Chong Yen is over 350km from Umphang.

Go to Google Earth and follow the road from Mae Wong on th 1072 to the crossroads at Kao Chon kan and go straight across and follow the signs to the Mae Wong national park perhaps 20 km along some terrible roads and when you get there pay your money and go inside. That is where the roads stop apart from the odd forestry track. There are few roads inside the Mae Wong national park.

As an example a Thai Army helicopter was found there last year over 20 years after it crashed and it was only found by accident.

On my side of the park they want to build a small reservoir and dam outside the park for flood control and irrigation which I think is a great plan even though we will lose my wifes land and shop. Why do I think it is a great plan? In the 10 years I have lived here we get our government water from the klong Klung and in 9 of those 10 years there was no water available AT ALL from the klong for 1 or 2 or one time 3 months for the villages around here. Under the dirt where we live perhaps 1/2 metres down on the slopes is granite and the cost to build a borehole would be in excess of a million baht and yes we did think about that when we first came here.

You and I will never agree on this subject as we are coming from different directions. You from the tigers and wildlife and me from people.

We can agree to disagree.

Have a great weekend.

[wilcopops]

build -

OK - You don’t actually reply to a single point I’ve made - instead you just spout off another few ideas based on false arguments or unsubstantiated assumptions in the hope that something may be accurate in fact nothing could be more to the contrary.

Your assumptions help to make your lack of knowledge on these issues more and more apparent.

Firstly yes I have visited Mae Wong and Huai Kha Khaeng and many other parts of the WFC on several occasions, I’ have accessed parts that clearly you haven’t, I’m in regular contact with some of the rangers who act as my guides and have taken several treks even trying the old trail across the top which is actually only 10 km from the Tak side of the park.

What you fail to understand is the impact activities like the dam have on the interior of the park and how much space an apex predator like a tiger (especially male) needs to roam. This space when safe and undisturbed enables a population to “thrive”.

In reality it has been calculated that their is in Thailand about enough suitable habitat for 2000 tigers in Thailand....this is impaired by various human activities - poaching, logging hunting etc. etc. and of course dam building - these activities are facilitated by any form of work and the area infected radiates away form this to varying degrees - for instance tigers and their prey need water - tigers need prey, prey need food etc. Water needs to be in the form of running streams - they do NOT like large bodies of water as they act as barriers to their roaming.

You also might want to find out how many square kilometres a male and female tiger require for sustainable existence... it’ll help to put perspective on the issues. they also meticulously avoid humans - tigers are solitary animals coming together only for short periods to mate. I'm sure they were aware of the presence of that helicopter - which has of course little or no relevance to the argument....apart from showing you don't really understand the amount of space needed and the appropriate size of a buffer zone.

Are you aware of trophic cascade theory? - This is increasingly accepted as essential to a bio system - and gives great importance to having a sustainable population of apex predators within an eco-system - it has been shown that this will affect the system even to the extant of affecting the courses of rivers which are crucial - artificial interference with water supplies can devastate local flora and fauna - the imbalance then created spreads to neighbouring regions and then impacts on the tigers which then exacerbates the whole system.

You then seem to have ignored the plan i mentioned to improve the river capacity by creating sumps for villages.

You also make an assumption that the dam will help either irrigation or flooding in you local - it is NOT aimed at that and has never been shown to have any benefits there.

Furthermore the main thing you ignore is that either as an irrigation project or as flood prevention it has been shown time and again over 20 years that the dam - in whatever form - has no real value

As for “people” - the whole point of a functioning environment is to have somewhere where people can make a sustainable living - if we destroy the local environment there will be no clean water, even more flooding and a general degradation of farmland in the area.....the local environment has taken millions of years to develop, if you think man can “improve” it with one dam - you are seriously deluding yourself.

Edited November 22, 2014 by wilcopops

[Local Drunk]

I'm opposed to the dam... but it's tricky. Thailand is a water thirsty country due to it's agrarian economy. Rice needs water to grow.

Edited November 22, 2014 by Local Drunk

[wilcopops]

PS - my interest and involvement with the WFC especially around Mae Wong dates back to the 1980s

Edited November 22, 2014 by wilcopops

[wilcopops]

I'm opposed to the dam... but it's tricky. Thailand is a water thirsty country do to it's agrarian economy. Rice needs water to grow.

It has repeatedly been shown that this dam is not an effective tool for irrigation - that was achieved over 20 years ago...it is no being put forward a s flood control - again to no real benefit.

Thailand's economy ids no longer predominantly agrarian either....the REAL thirst for water is with INDUSTRY.

Thailand has plenty of water - the problem is water management - when you consider that 30% or MORE of all water piped is lost through leaks and wastage, you can see that there are many other solutions apart from Dams - damns are now regarded by most as an archaic method for water resource management.

a lot of rain in Thailand is lost through de-forestation - in the 1970s and especially in the 80s a massive amount of logging and dam-work deforested huge areas of the country (quite a lot of this was carried out by the army). Forests trap water and regulate the flow - so although the rain continued it washed away too quickly to be of use.

One of the core reasons for Thailand's very existence is fooding - flooding has always been an essential factor in growing rice, which traditionally is transplanted in water - Thailand has have areas of flat plains particularly suited to this.........over farming, deforestation and encroachment on unsuitable land has led to certain areas being unpredictable for farmers - their instinct in turn is to fight nature and take what seems the most logical answer - make dams to save water - however it doesn't work like that - building dams always has a knock-on affect to some degree or another. More modern approaches now enable people to accurately format the effects of dams - their construction, their water use and their benefits can all be assessed before building commences - the one thing about Mae Wong is that in virtually EVERY successive survey the result has been negative....the only report to support it actually ignored massive amounts of data about the regional impact.

dams in thailand have long been resisted by environmentalists and other groups - but they also have some powerful supporters - some just misguided others wo relish the opportunity to make BIG money from government contracts subsequent tourist development and property speculation.

[wilcopops]

It looks now as if even the RID is beginning to back down........ Not a done deal though...their sole aim in life is to build dams, so if knocked back it challenges their very raison d'etre!

It has to be born in mind too that a lot of wealthy and high-ranking people stand to make a lot of money if this project goes ahead....the logging alone is worth billions....

Edited November 23, 2014 by wilcopops

[wiki12]

Very interesting Wilcopops thanks. I live in Mae Wong and would like to explore the WFC more, i have a young family and it would be good for them to take an interest one day. Can I just turn up and ask for a tour?

A local expat farmer 20 years in the region told me that a member of the infamous Thai clan was visiting the area and showing big interest in the logging rights if the dam went ahead.

[wilcopops]

Very interesting Wilcopops thanks. I live in Mae Wong and would like to explore the WFC more, i have a young family and it would be good for them to take an interest one day. Can I just turn up and ask for a tour?

A local expat farmer 20 years in the region told me that a member of the infamous Thai clan was visiting the area and showing big interest in the logging rights if the dam went ahead.

there is camping at these places and there are cabins near to the ranger stations - I suggest you make you way up there and ask around. I have had some great guides take me around and explain what I'm looking at.....officially they don't even charge!

on the Nakhon Sawan side of Mae Wong there are 3 campsites - one a the ranger station with lots of facilities and two further up which have toilet blocks etc. To go further into the park I would thoroughly recommend a guide - it's not the kind of place to wander around on your own.

There are of course other parks all the way down to Kaeng Krachan, the largest NP in Thailand.

but really what you get out of it is largely up to how you relate to the staff at these places - very few speak much English BTW.

PS - it helps to have a good 4WD at times.

[wilcopops]

This seems to be developing into a test of wills between the The Department of Water Resources and the royal Irrigation Dept. The latter seen determined to build dams wherever possible regardless of the science.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Survey-to-seek-better-water-access-alternatives-to-30248556.html