VZCZCXRO0362
PP RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHCHI #0051 0750500
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 160500Z MAR 06
FM AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0161
INFO RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK PRIORITY 0443
RUEHGO/AMEMBASSY RANGOON PRIORITY 0008
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 0019
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU PRIORITY 0023
RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 0012
RUESLE/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 0014
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 0013
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 0012
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 0191

UNCLAS CHIANG MAI 000051 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM SENV PREF PREL TH BM
SUBJECT: SALWEEN DAM PROPOSALS GENERATE ALARM 
 
REF: BANGKOK 00113 
 
Summary:  The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand 
(EGAT)'s December contract with the Government of Burma to 
conduct a feasibility study for a dam on the Salween River in 
Burma brought into focus the whole issue of constructing dams on 
this 2,800-kilometer river.  The environmental impact of the 
dams in both Thailand and Burma and the likelihood of human 
rights violations are major concerns.  End Summary. 
 
The last undammed river in Southeast Asia, the Salween River 
flows from its headwaters in the UNESCO World 
Heritage-designated "Three Parallel Rivers Region" in China 
south through Burma, with one 156-kilometer section forming the 
Thai-Burma border near Mae Sariang in Thailand's Mae Hong Son 
province.  Thailand's participation in damming the river is not 
new; the Royal Thai Government (RTG) signed a Memorandum of 
Agreement (MOA) with Burma in 1997 to build the Ta Sang dam in 
Burma's Shan State.  If completed according to schedule in 2010, 
Thailand's MDX Company-constructed Ta Sang dam will be the 
largest in Southeast Asia.  Thailand has plans with Burma for 
five Salween dam projects. 
 
During a March 3 conference organized by the Southeast Asia 
Rivers Network (SEARIN) in the border town of Mae Hong Son, 
participants expressed strong concern about the human rights 
impact of damming the Salween, saying the Ta Sang project sets a 
bad precedent.  According to a representative from environmental 
NGO Salween Watch, the Burmese Army has already forced thousands 
of Shan out of their homes, even before construction of the 
actual dam has begun.  Notorious for using forced labor, the 
Burmese Army's incursions into territories inhabited by ethnic 
minorities to clear them out of dam sites has produced 
widespread violations of human rights, according to NGO workers. 
 
 
Thai officials are also worried about human rights issues.  Mae 
Hong Son Mayor Suthep Nutsrueng told conference participants 
that the influx of refugees from projects already underway is 
overloading the border province's limited arable land. 
According to a report by the Karenni Development Research Group, 
the Wei Gyi dam project alone will flood 1000 square kilometers 
of land, affecting over 30,000 villagers.  Suthep also predicted 
flood problems, saying more dams would have to be built inside 
Mae Hong Son province to control water release from the larger 
Burmese dams. 
 
Opponents to damming the Salween railed at the conference 
against the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand 
(EGAT)'s plans to build a new dam at Hat Gyi, located in the 
Karen State of Burma across from the Mae Sariang district of 
Thailand's Mae Hong Son province (Reftel).  Thai media have also 
reported on these issues and criticized EGAT's refusal to answer 
Parliamentary questions about the December 2005 MOA.  EGAT 
Environmental Division Vice President Rewat Suwanakitti defended 
the plans by saying that imports from the Burma dams are 
critical to Thailand's energy security. 
 
None of the proposals for dams inside Burma includes an 
environmental impact assessment, said Dr. Chavalit Vidthayanon, 
Head of Marine and Freshwater Unit of the World Wildlife Fund 
International's Thailand Program.  The high elevation and deep 
gorges of the Salween make the ecosystem in the region 
particularly fragile, he said, and, once damaged, almost 
impossible to restore.  The potential impacts on biodiversity 
from dam construction include a decreased river flow while dams 
first fill up as well as changes to seasonal flow patterns 
afterwards, stressing aquatic life downstream.  The river's 
diverse fish and turtle fauna will be endangered by disruption 
of migratory patterns and habitat destruction.  National 
Environmental Committee geologist Dr. Prinya Nutalai joined in 
the calls for an environmental assessment, adding the fact that 
the dams are to be built on two active fault lines. 
 
Comment:  Although the first MOA on damming the Salween was 
signed in 1997, so far not a single dam has been built. 
Meanwhile, resistance to the proposed dam projects is building 
among not just NGO activists but government officials as well. 
The Ta Sang project provides a cautionary example for Salween 
dams, showing that even pre-build site preparation can lead to 
environmental damage and human rights violations. 
 
CAMP