Pak Mun

We visited Ubon Ratchathani in eastern Thailand. The university there did key research on the Pak Mun dam. The Mun River flows through Ubon and is the biggest tributary to the lower Mekong. The Pak Mun dam was built near the confluence of the Mun and the Mekong. It is a prime example, “a good example of a bad example” to quote Professor Apisom Intralawan of Mae Fah Luang University in Chiang Rai. Teerapong Pomun, Director of Living River Siam used the same words.

 

The dam is so close to the Mekong it is an example of likely biological impacts of main stem dams. It was equipped with fish ladders. But fish ladders were invented for salmon in NW rivers of the United States where they work marginally. Many Mekong fish do not use them. Several dozen species disappeared from the Mun when the dam gates closed. After much protest the government agreed to open the dam gates for study. Fish stocks recovered a great deal, but some species did not return. A university study and a Living River Siam study both recommended leaving the gates open. The government agreed to leave them open – but only several months a year. Subsequent international evaluation suggests the dam should never have been built.

 

As many as 25,000 people were displaced to build the dam and reservoir. Most of them also lost their jobs, their source of income which was tied to river ecology. Some are still fighting. They did receive some compensation after lengthy protest. But they are still deprived of their means to make a living. Several told us they don’t want a manual labor job in Bangkok several hundred miles distant. They want to continue living in their communities, fishing, growing gardens, trading and selling fish, and working for themselves.

 

How governments and societies choose to manage Commons like rivers and oceans is a worldwide issue. Watch for more pages offering information about these topics and asking questions about your local river.