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 IRN’s Nam Theun–Hinboun Campaign

"We can only get about half as many fish as before the dam closed."
Fishermen living along the Theun–Hinboun headpond, 1998.

"We are not greedy or picky people. We only want to be compensated for the difficulties we have had to deal with since the dam was built."
Ban Vang Khong village leader, 1999.

When the Nam Theun–Hinboun Hydropower Project in Laos was completed in 1998, the Asian Development Bank declared it a "winner" with "little for the environment lobby to criticize." The joint venture project, partially financed by the ADB and the Norwegian government, was considered a model for hydropower development in Laos. The 210–MW project was promoted to export power to Thailand and generate foreign currency for Laos.

However, studies have revealed that the project has had significant impacts on people’s livelihoods. As a result of pressure from NGOs, the ADB now admits that thousands have suffered losses to their livelihoods because of the project.

The impacts of Theun–Hinboun are far–reaching. The project, located in Bolikhamxai and Khammouane Provinces of central Lao PDR, diverts water from the Theun River to the Hai/Hinboun river basin (see map). An independent researcher visited the project area in March 1998 and documented severe and unmitigated impacts to villagers, including declines in fish catches, transportation difficulties, flooding of vegetable gardens and erosion of fertile riverbanks (see his report, Trouble on the Theun–Hinboun and the update published in 1999). Project developer Theun–Hinboun Power Company (THPC) now admits that people in 57 villages have suffered impacts and should receive compensation.

The ADB is working with THPC to develop and implement a mitigation and compensation plan for affected people. IRN is committed to maintaining pressure on both institutions to ensure that villagers receive the long–awaited compensation that they deserve.

 
  latest additions  
   
History Repeats Itself in Laos: ADB’s Flagship Hydro Project Goes Awry
An article by IRN’s Aviva Imhof in Bankwatch, published by the NGO Forum on the ADB, examines Nam Theun 2’s failings and draws parallels to other ADB-funded dams in Laos: Theun-Hinboun, Nam Song and Nam Leuk. The article also highlights the ADB’s role in promoting a regional power grid and electricity trading system in the Mekong subregion.
 
05-17-07
Villagers Continue to Suffer Serious Livelihood Losses from Theun-Hinboun Dam in Laos (PDF)
Read a letter from IRN to the Theun-Hinboun Power Company raising questions and concerns over ongoing problems facing villagers affected by the Theun-Hinboun dam project in Laos.
 
01–09–2007
Livestock Epidemic Along Hinboun River May Be Linked to Theun-Hinboun Dam (PDF)
Canadian PhD student writes to Theun-Hinboun Power Company (THPC) to highlight a livestock epidemic that occurred in Ban Pak Vang, a village located along the Hinboun River, in August 2006. The epidemic may be linked to increased flooding as a result of the dam. Read the letter to THPC (PDF). Read THPC's response (PDF).
 
01–05–2007
ADB Urged to Resolve Outstanding Issues with Lao Dams (PDF)
Read a letter from IRN and Environmental Defense to the Asian Development Bank urging the Bank to take long–delayed action to compensate communities affected by three ADB–supported dam projects in Laos: Nam Leuk, Nam Song and Theun–Hinboun. Read the response from the ADB to this letter (PDF).
 
01–05–2007
A Future in Doubt: Reviewing Dam Builder’s Efforts to Restore River–based Livelihoods in Laos
by David J.H. Blake, World Rivers Review, February 2005.

David Blake, who was contracted by the Theun–Hinboun Power Company to review the company’s mitigation and compensation program, shares some of the review panel’s findings and his outlook on mitigating the impacts of Theun–Hinboun.
 
02–2005
Lao Hydropower Developer Terminates Agreement with IRN
IRN Response to Theun–Hinboun Power Company Decision
 
04–07–04
The Legacy of Hydro in Laos (PDF)
Hydropower projects developed over the past decade in Laos have left a legacy of destroyed livelihoods and damaged ecosystems. This paper documents the unresolved social and environmental impacts of five different dam projects in Laos.
 
03–16–04
IRN Letter to ADB
regarding outstanding compensation issues with Theun–Hinboun.
 
10–08–01
ADB Response
to IRN regarding Theun–Hinboun.
 
08–23–01
IRN Letter to Asian Development Bank
on Theun–Hinboun.
 
06–18–01
Letter to Asian Development Bank Executive Directors
Presented on May 10, 2001 in Honolulu, Hawai’i on the occasion of the ADB’s Annual Meeting..
 
05–10–01
Theun–Hinboun Update
Review of the Theun–Hinboun Power Company’s Mitigation and Compensation Program, Lao PDR, by Bruce Shoemaker.  
12–20–00
The Politics of Studies (and economic fairy tales...)
The role of the ADB in hydro–power development in the Mekong Region, by Charlie Pahlma
 
09–2000

Theun–Hinboun Update
An Update on the Environmental and Socio–Economic Impacts of the Nam Theun–Hinboun Hydroelectric Dam and Water Diversion Project in Central Laos, report prepared for IRN, 15–17 August 1999.
 
08–1999

Study prepared by Fisheries Specialist
Read the study prepared by the Theun–Hinboun Power Company’s fisheries specialist, Terry Warren, which the Theun Hinboun Power Company and ADB have refused to publish. (PDF)
 
06–1999