20 December 2013
Thai News Service
THAINS English
(c) 2013 Thai News Service

Section: General News - Thai villagers living on the banks of Salween river have submitted letters opposing the construction of the controversial Hat Gyi hydropower dam on the Salween River in Myanmar's Karen State.

Dozens of villagers and representatives from the Salween River Network have submitted two letters to the chief Mae Sariang District in the northern province of Mae Hong Son and a representative of the Electricity Generation Authority of Thailand (EGAT) on Thursday to express their objection to the dam.

Earlier, the Burma Rivers Network (BRN) claimed on its website that the Ministry of Electric Power of Myanmar, Thailand's EGAT and China's Sinohydro Company signed an agreement in 2006 to build the Hat Gyi dam on the Salween River in Karen State. BRN sources claim that it is estimated that the expenditure for construction of the Hat Gyi dam will cost USD $1 billion and will have a capacity of 1,200 megawatts - most of the electricity produced will be sold to Thailand.

Many groups both in Thailand and Myanmar showed their resistance to the plan because they believe the dam will turn a large number of residents on both sides of the Salween into displaced persons. Moreover, the river's ecology will be destroyed and also the way of life of people along the river.

The Salween River Network's president Nu Chamnarnkiriprai said the project was allowed, Thailand would have to shoulder a larger number of Karens who will be forced to flee their land and seek better opportunities in Thailand.