Nestled amid the mountains of northern Laos, the picturesque ancient capital of Luang Prabang is under siege from a dam-building fever along the Mekong River, with a Thai developer now pushing to construct a hydroelectric dam just 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) from one of Asia’s best-loved world heritage sites. Inside the UNESCO-protected historical zone, Luang […]
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Building a huge dam just upstream from a legendary UNESCO World Heritage site in an earthquake prone region poses serious risk to the local population and the town of Luang Prabang, warns a leading Thai earthquake specialist.
Dr. Punya Churasiri, formerly the earthquake expert at Chulalungkorn University’s geology department, has considerable field research experience in northern Laos. As construction on the dam moved forward, he told The Diplomat, “We worry about what could happen and the possibility of damage to the World Heritage site.”
The main developer and builder of the dam is the Thai construction giant CH Karnchang corporation. The dam site sits precariously close to an active earthquake faultline only 8.6 kilometers away. A sharp reminder of the danger was provided on July 7, when a 4.7 strong earthquake was registered in Luang Prabang district.
Luang Prabang is facing risks, including of more severe earthquakes, as the Lao government plans to build a large dam just 25km upstream. Pongpet Mekloy
The Lao government is intent on building a dam on the Mekong just upstream of the country s old royal capital. Despite the project having undergone design work, environmental impact assessment and a prior consultation process managed by the Mekong River Commission (MRC), no impact assessment on heritage site has been carried out to date despite requests by Unesco s World Heritage Centre dating back as far as 2012 that the Lao government should do so. Ahead of next month s World Heritage Committee meeting in China, Unesco has asked that the no construction work go ahead on the dam until a full heritage assessment has been completed.