Thailand backs 3.5 billion dollar Mekong River dam project
Play
Vientiane - Thailand on Tuesday threw its support behind a controversial hydropower dam on the lower Mekong River which neighbours, environmentalists and Thai communities have opposed.
"The Thai government is not opposed to the project," said Thai Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichachaikul, speaking at the sidelines of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in the capital of Laos.
"The Lao government has already conducted studies that show there would be no impact on the environment and fisheries," Surapong said.
Laos will hold a ceremony Wednesday in Xayaburi to mark the start of riverbed construction on the 3.5-billion-dollar project.
The date was chosen to commemorate the 95th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, still a significant date in communist Laos which used to be a member of the Soviet bloc, government sources said.//DPA
