Laos is on a dambuilding spree, targeting 100 hydropower dams by 2030, up from the current 77. The reclusive country has ambitions to be Asia’s battery, selling electricity to its neighbours.

But such rapid development of the Mekong River has drastically altered water flows. As dams choke up its tributaries and mainstream, fish are unable to continue their usual breeding cycles. The river waters are also stripped of alluvial sediments, affecting the fertility of farmlands downstream.

As farmers and fishermen decry the loss of their livelihoods, the Laos government sees hydropower as one of the few resources it can tap to bring in foreign investments.

But as the landlocked nation racks up debts from dam building, what is the true cost of Lao’s power ambitions?


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