CHINESE experts who insist that hydropower projects on the Mekong River will benefit all stakeholders met opposition yesterday when a Thai academic argued that locals lose more than they gain since dams impact heavily on every aspect of their lives.

A survey of 2,175 university students found that most respondents believed the military coup did not solve the country’s problems, and the performance of the General Prayut Chan-o-cha-led government during the past four years was “bad or very bad”, according to the poll by the Thai Academic Network for Civil Rights.