Evaluation and improvement of the environmental impact mitigation plan of a hydropower project in Thailand

Although the local people agreed to the Lam Ta Khong project before implementation, they complained about project impacts and demanded compensation after 70% of the construction was completed. In evaluating the environmental impact mitigation plan (EIMP) for the project, we find a number of weaknesses in implementation. These include insufficient monitoring records and lack of proper channels of appeal; an ineffective approach to mitigating the adverse effects of land occupation; and poor management of the cooperative. We propose an EIMP management system to address these problems and make a number of recommendations aimed at avoiding problems such as those encountered at Lam Ta Khong.