The Pak Moon Dam is located in Northeastern Thailand (a region known as Isaan), which has long been one of the poorest in the Kingdom. The Dam came about in part because of a report commissioned by the World Bank which concluded that its potential contribution to energy production both for Thailand and across the border in Laos would make it a valuable contribution to the economy of the country. The Isaan region had for some years been the centre of a regional policy known as Greening Isaan which was aimed at improving the physical capacity of a region which remains reliant on agriculture.
While the ostensible aims of the Greening Isaan policy were laudable, cynics noted that important members of the then government had constituencies in the region and asked pointed questions about who actually was benefiting from the measures. More recently, the idea of greening through physical change to the environment has come under increased scrutiny as the unanticipated degradation of environmental change has become more apparent. In particular, the use of dams at all has become increasingly contested.
The financial crisis in 1997 significantly reduced growth prospects in Thailand and throughout Southeast Asia. As a consequence, the need for additional electrical power vanished to the extent that further capacity is not required at the beginning of 2003 nor for the foreseeable future. Indeed, the likelihood of needing additional power is currently so slim as to raised questions as to the methodology of the original research.
Creating a dam almost inevitably requires the eviction of people who had been living alongside the river as their houses become submerged as well as considerable changes to the local environment and wildlife. Most obviously, a dam stops the river from flowing, in whole or part and, therefore, fish are prevented from movement and those people aiming to make a living from catching a fish will lose their livelihoods. This has been one of the most notable outcomes of the creation of the Dam - people have not just been required to move away from their homes but their traditional lifestyle has been removed from them. As a result, the dispossessed have initiated a campaign of complaints and demonstrations against the government and against the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), which is the controlling body in Thailand.
This campaign has reached new heights in recent months as a response in part to the populist nature of the current government under Prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. If, people are saying to the Prime Minister, the name of your party is Thais Help Thais (Thai Rak Thai), then why is no one helping us? This has led to a number of violent confrontations. Confusion has increased as a result of the seemingly contradictory nature of some research findings from Thai academics and others which have failed to present a conclusive case either way - this seems to result from lack of clarity and consistency in putting across a message by those authors concerned rather than any difficulty with the data obtained.
As things stand, the Prime Minister is yet to make a decision as to whether the dam sluice gates should be opened on a permanent or temporary basis. In the meantime, plans have been announced by EGAT for a joint venture with the government of Myanmar for yet another dam on the Thai-Myanmar border.
I was commissioned by the Global Development Net, part of the World Bank, to write a short case study on Pak Moon Dam under the theme of "Bridging Research and Policy." It is available here.
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