Chiang Rai News
Mekong Region Must Act Now to Prevent More Damage From Dams
Protests against the Xayaburi Dam
CHIANG RAI – The rich Mekong River is home to vast natural resources and provides food to secure the livelihoods of millions of people. Since the beginning of time, it has served as our mother earth, interweaving and connecting intricate riparian cultures.
For nearly two decades, the onslaught of the Mekong’s development by capitalists has spread its destructive wings with dozens of dams being planned on the lower and upper Mekong River mainstream.
The Mekong’s transformation has begun to take its toll, beginning with the completion of the first mainstream dam in China’s Yunnan province in 1996. Free for millions of years, the river is now blocked. Dams in the upper Mekong have interfered with the river’s ecology causing damage to aquatic and plant life. Fishing communities have found their catches decimated and riparian people and their farms are now vulnerable to unnatural water fluctuations.
Problems have multiplied with rapid blasting to pave the way for the navigation of commercial ships, as spelled out in the agreement made by the four upper riparian countries. The installation of six more dams in China, and more to come, shall wreak ecological havoc on the upper Mekong, with far-reaching consequences for the basin.
Despite the enormous impact on the region’s people, problems with the Mekong’s development have been ignored. No attempts have been sufficiently made by the Thai government and other regional governments to address or prevent these problems.
Sheer energy demand still functions as the main impetus for these dams. The cascade of 12 hydropower projects in the lower Mekong has been pushed forward, in spite of strong opposition from the people already affected by China’s dams, who will bear the brunt of the dams’ negative effects.
Construction of the Xayaburi Dam in Laos still continues
The Xayaburi dam’s construction in Laos is evidence of how the procedures spelled out in the 1995 Mekong Agreement have been flouted by the four member countries. Such procedures have simply become ceremonial — a means to justify the righteousness of the project at the expense of our natural resources.
The Xayaburi dam’s development process is characterised by unilateral decision-making and back-room negotiations. With no transboundary environmental impact assessment, the dam’s construction has ploughed forward. The commencement ceremony for the second phase of dam construction already took place yesterday. For the first time, the lower Mekong will be directly altered.
Don Sahong is the second dam in the pipeline in the lower Mekong. It will block the Hou Sahong channel in southern Laos, bordering Cambodia. Experts from various institutions insist that the Don Sahong dam will adversely affect Mekong fish migrations, from the Delta in Vietnam to Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake. It will interfere with the reproduction, spawning and growth of migratory fish through the great archipelago.
Mekong River Commission outlines course of action for 2015
Since October, the Mekong River Commission and representatives from the four member countries have participated in Don Sahong dam’s “prior consultation process”, simply to justify the terms set forth in the Mekong Agreement.
During the first two hearings in Thailand, none of the residents living by the river were invited to participate in the five meetings, which were not characterised as “consultations” by the Thai government, but rather “information sharing” and still failed to cover our whole Mekong Basin. In addition, there was no translation of necessary documents, to enable effective participation and ensure that the consultations would rest on a foundation of information and research.
Additionally, the different dams have been sliced into pieces and discussed separately in different forums, making it difficult to comprehend the overall basin-wide picture of hydropower development.
The Network of Thai People in Eight Mekong Provinces and academics stand firm in its staunch opposition to the construction of the Don Sahong and other mainstream dams. We demand that adequate and comprehensive studies be undertaken to explore the dams’ impact on the whole basin. Sufficient information must be found to enable those in power to realise what we are going to lose by damming the mighty Mekong. How can we trade our globally recognised Mekong with its complex ecology of hundreds of fish species, and rich food production for the very meagre amount of electricity which can be obtained by other means?
What can we do to ensure sustainable, fair and balanced management of the Mekong? The question has lingered in the hearts and minds of the people of the Mekong for the entire time that they have been affected by the impact of these projects. Such losses have prompted them to speak up and demand participation in the decision-making process regarding the Mekong’s development. The Mekong’s fate can’t be left in the hands of a few influential people and big corporations who want to prey on the lucrative gains from Southeast Asia’s resources.
If the government continues to ignore the Mekong’s problems, the dams will block the main vein of the region without any justice done. Today, the Mekong River Commission Joint Committee will hold a session to conclude on Don Sahong dam. Thailand must demand Don Sahong and other mainstream dams be cancelled.
Niwat Roykaew is chairman of the Chiang Khong Conservation Group and plaintiff in a case involving the Xayaburi dam power purchase agreement, now before the Thai Administrative Court.- By Niwat Roykaew
Police in Wiang Kaen District of Chiang Rai Province have arrested a 50 year old man after the threatened to rape a 20 year-old woman and the proceeded to murder her 2 and half month old baby.
Police with doctors from Wiang Kaen Hospital and the Chao Luang Wiang Kaen Welfare Association were summoned to the scene of the incident to a 2-story cement house, Village No. 2, Tha Kham Subdistrict, Wiang Kaen District of Chiang Rai
On arrival they found Ms. Chanikarn, age 20, in a state of distress crying uncontrollably beside her 2 and a half month baby girl (Linlada) that was dead on the floor.
After calming Ms. Chanikarn, the child’s mother, said that at approximately 2:30 p.m she was out to collect diapers that had been dried in front of the house, while her 2 and a half month old daughter was sleep on the ground floor of the house.
She said she was suddenly approached by a Mr. Lee, about 40 years old, who lived on the opposite side of the road. He came towards her and grabbed her arm and threatened her saying if she didn’t sleeping with him he will go and kill his daughter.
Miss Chanikan refused and ran away, then Mr. Lee then walked into the house and grabbed Ms. Linlada’s leg, smashing the child’s head against the cement floor of the house. The infant died immediately.
Mr. Lee then just walked away and returned to his own home, leaving Miss Chanikan and her dead baby.
When police went to Mr. Lee’s home he immediately confessed killing the infant and was taken to Wiang Kaen Police Station for further questioning. Under caution he told police that he was sexually attracted to Miss Chanikan‘s and when her husband leave for work he took the opportunity to approach her.
He said when he saw her husband leave he crossed that road and found Miss Chanikan in the yard alone, he then threatened her to sleep with him, saying he would kill her child if she didn’t have sex with him. However when she refused he flew into a fit of rage walked into her home and murdered he baby. He said he was out of control with rage.
After killing the infant he walk across the street to his home and waited for the police to arrive. The police have charged him with premeditated murder and attempted rape. He is being held without bail at the local remand center.
Meanwhile, Miss Chanikan and her family were preparing a religious burial ceremony for the child.
Other Chiang Rai News:
Machete Wielding Man Shot an Killed by Police in Chiang Rai
https://www.chiangraitimes.com/chiangrai-news/machete-wielding-man-shot-an-killed-by-police-in-chiang-rai/
CHIANG RAI: Prime Minister Settha Thavisin has authorized the establishment of an emergency cyber center operated by the Royal Thai Police to combat transnational crimes committed by call center gangs along the Thai border in Chiang Rai province.
On July 19, Prime Minister Settha Thavisin directed the Center to combat information technology crimes. The Royal Thai Police (Royal Thai Police) will crack down on call center gangs in Myanmar, Laos, and along the border.
His directive comes as call center gangs ratchet up their scams to defraud people of their money, causing concern among Thais and jeopardizing the country’s economic and social stability.
Pol. Gen. Kittirat Panphet, Deputy Commander and Director of the Police Crime Suppression Division, Assigned Pol. Lt. Gen. Thatchai Pitanilabut, Assistant Commander-in-Chief of the Police/Deputy Director of the Police Crime Suppression Division, has launched the operation ‘Bombing the Thieves’ Bridge’ in collaboration with the CAT Office, G., mobile phone network operators AIS DTAC TRUE NT, and local security agencies to cut the mobile phone signal and WiFi internet that criminals illegally use to deceive Thai citizens.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Thatchai stated that they will begin pressing the first action of the ‘Explosion of Thieves’ Bridge’ in Chiang Rai Province toward the thieves’ base of operations in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone.
The territory surrounding King Roman in Laos. King Roman is now a full-service entertainment destination with an airport that welcomes travelers from Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar, he explained.
According to Pol. Lt. Gen. Thatchai, this operation will have no influence on honest people along the Thai border, and it will only target cyber criminals.
They will also increase the arrest and prosecution of unlawful service towers, such as SIM booths, which allow gangs register SIM cards to swindle the people. Dealing with criminal organizations of foreigners and Thais who band together to deceive and damage Thais.
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) suspended more than three million SIM cards on July 16 because the holders had not verified their identities with their mobile phone operators by the deadline, in accordance with the NBTC’s measures to combat alleged fraudsters’ mule accounts.
The names of the holders of 80 million mobile phone numbers used for mobile banking transactions did not match the names associated with the mobile banking accounts.
The NBTC would require mobile phone companies to authenticate SIM card holders and the names of their mobile banking accounts. The verification procedure is expected to be completed by the end of September this year.
In addition, the NBTC and Royal Thai Police have collaborated to combat illegal telecom towers throughout the country’s borders, disconnecting signals at 465 places, altering antenna direction at 470 towers, and dismantling antennas at 179 locations.
They are certain that the move will disrupt contact center gangs and other types of technology-based crime.
Other Chiang Rai News:
Machete Wielding Man Shot an Killed by Police in Chiang Rai
https://www.chiangraitimes.com/chiangrai-news/machete-wielding-man-shot-an-killed-by-police-in-chiang-rai/
Police in Mae Chan, Chiang Rai, shot and killed a 28-year-old man who allegedly attacked a police officer with a machete. The officer was slashed in the right leg with the machete.
According to police, the culprit, known only as Mr. Toon, had been harassing local villagers in Mae Chan district, Chiang Rai, threatening them with a knife and using violet insults.
The village headman arrived on the scene to try to calm Mr. Toon, but he was shouting hysterically and taking swipes at him with the machete, so he contacted the police.
When the responding officer arrived at the site about 9 p.m., he attempted to calm the man, but he instead assaulted the officer, slashing his right leg with the machete. In self-defense, the cop had to fire his gun at Mr. Toon, striking him in the chest.
Mr. Toon and the policeman were taken to Mae Chan Hospital, where Mr. Toon died of a gunshot wound. Pol Sgt. Sutthikiat Phanomphraisakul was released from the hospital after receiving numerous stitches for his injuries.
Local police received a tip around 9.30 p.m. yesterday that a guy was causing mayhem in the village. When authorities arrived, they discovered 28-year-old Toon strolling along a public road, holding a large knife and threatening people. Mae Chan district officials attempted to contain the incident.
During a search of Mr. Toon’s home, authorities discovered methamphetamine consumption equipment. Locals told authorities that the man was addicted to Yaba (Methamphetamine) and an alcoholic.
The authorities are conducting an inquiry to determine Toon’s motivations and whether any underlying issues contributed to his violent outburst.
Other related news:
Chiang Mai Police Offer Cash Reward After Officer Killed
https://www.chiangraitimes.com/crime/chiang-mai-police-offer-reward/
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