By: the Network of Thai People in 8 Mekong Province Thursday, 08 September 2011 00:00

The Network of Thai People in 8 Mekong Provinces, working with communities along the Mekong River in Thailand, joins the call of people in Burma and Aung San Suu Kyi to save the Irrawaddy from dam projects. Seven mega dam projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributaries, especially the Myitsone Dam in Kachin State, northern Burma, are destroying one of the most important rivers in Asia. Since the first dam was built on the Upper Mekong in China, communities along the Mekong River have faced a changing river ecosystem with unpredictable water fluctuations and unusual shortages and floods which has damaged our livelihoods. We have depended on the Mekong River for many generations. The water fluctuations have changed the fish migration patterns and affected the fish ecosystem, decreasing fish species, and impacting fisheries. Womens groups are now unable to collect algae from the river to earn an income like before. Unusual water levels have caused erosion of river banks, preventing farmers from cultivating river bank gardens. The Mekong River is now totally under the control of dams upstream. Dam projects on the Irrawaddy River are now being implemented without concern for the civil war going on in Kachin State and ignoring the safety of local people living around the project, including impacts on human rights and the environment. Our network of people living in the Mekong Basin in Thailand strongly supports the protection of the Irrawaddy River. We dont want to see the same damage that we are now facing on the Mekong. Contact: Ittipol Kamsuk (+66877740397) Teerapong Phorman 66-81447-7969) Phairin Sawsai(+66-873631-807)