Laos’ Luang Prabang may lose Unesco status amid fears dam will cause ‘irreversible damage’
- Geologists point out that the dam is in proximity to an active fault line in an earthquake-prone region of northern Laos
- Critics are also concerned about the ‘authenticity and integrity’ of Luang Prabang, a Unesco World Heritage site, if the project proceeds
Critics say the Thai investors and developers could not have picked a worse location, as the dam disrupts the serenity of the riverside and is close to an active fault line in an earthquake-prone region of northern Laos, just 8.6km away from the dam-site.
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Punya Churasiri, a leading Thai seismologist and former professor at Chulalungkorn University in Bangkok who has visited the active fault line, warned: “This dam is too dangerous to go ahead without a full investigation.”
Minja Yang, a former Unesco chief of heritage for the Asia-Pacific region, is concerned about the project’s impact on the area. “If they build this dam, it will become a lakeside town or a reservoir, the authenticity and the integrity will be lost forever,” she said.
Laos, in signing the 1995 Unesco World Heritage agreement, had pledged to conserve nature, culture, and history along the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers.
A local travel guide who requested anonymity also feared that the dam would put off tourists by obstructing eco-tourism boat travel on the river, even stretching to the Thai border. “It will disrupt our cultural traditions and our Laotian way of life.”
