งานวิจัยและบทความ

A sweeping set of proposals for maisstr tream dems on the Middle and Lower Mekong River (Laos, Thailand, and Carobodia) has just been issued by the Mekong Secretaniat (MEKONG SECRETARIAT, 1995), The Main Report is accompanied by an Executive Summary and two Annexes. A study of the implications of these project for Mekong fisheries and fisherfolk was done by an independent consuling firm (HILL & HiLl, 1994). 

The documents referred to describe all of the proposed darns as "tun-of the-river." A more apt description might be "ruin-of-the-river." The projects are no mo ore run-of-the-river than is Pak Mun Dam. True run-of-the river projects are not discussed by MEKONG SECRETARIAT (1995). Predictable negative impacts include, but are by no means limited to, extirpation or extinction of many fish species, including stronely migratory species that are the main basis for Mekong wildcapture fisheries.

Development based on true run-of-the-river Mekong hydropower is suggested as a more people-fiendly and more environumentally-friendly alternative to these mainstream dams.