EVENT [REPORT]: Book Launch "Dead in the Water: Global Lessons from the World Bank's Model Hydropower Project in Laos" [Bangkok, 19 October 2018]

On 19 October 2018, the Center for Social Development Studies (CSDS) hosted a book launch for "Dead in the Water: Global Lessons from the World Bank's Model Hydropower Project in Laos". The book launch event discussed several topics related to the book's themes, inviting four panelists who also contributed chapters to the book.

Bruce Shoemaker, the co-editor of the book who is an independent researcher on natural resource conflict issues with a focus on the Mekong region, presented an overview of the book highlighting amongst other issues the impact that Nam Theun 2 has had on biodiversity in the Nakai-Nam Theun National Protected Area. Glenn Hunt, a Ph.D candidate at the University of Bern, Switzerland followed by discussing the livelihoods resettlement program on the Nakai Plateau and analysed it using the five pillars of livelihood restoration program which includes commercial forestry, fisheries, agriculture, livestock and off-farm.

Carl Middleton from Center for Social Development Studies (CSDS), Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, discussed the legacy of the Nam Theun 2 project in the discourse on sustainable hydropower and the need to re-frame the debate from sustainable hydropower towards comprehensive forms of energy options assessments. Kanokwan Manorom from the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Ubon Ratchathani University, discussed the downstream impacts of the Nam Theun 2 project on the Xe Bang Fai river basin, focusing on women and the ethnic minorities living around the area and how the project affected their livelihoods negatively in their everyday life. The book launch was moderated by Kasira Cheeppensook from CSDS.

The shared presentations from this discussion can be accessed here. The discussion was broadcast on Facebook Live and can be viewed at the above link.

EVENT [RESOURCES]: Book Launch "Dead in the Water: Global Lessons from the World Bank's Model Hydropower Project in Laos" [Bangkok, 19 October 2018]

Program and List of Panelists

Moderated by Kasira Cheeppensook (Center for Social Development Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University)

Panelists:

• Bruce Shoemaker (Independent Researcher) - “Dead in the Water: An Overview of the Book”

• Glenn Hunt (Ph.D candidate at the University of Bern, Senior Land Advisor on the OneMap Myanmar project) - “Broken Pillars: The Failure of the Nakai Plateau Livelihood Resettlement Program”

• Carl Middleton (Center for Social Development Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University) - “Nam Theun 2 and the Discourse of Sustainable Hydropower”

• Kanokwan Manorom (Faculty of Liberal Arts, Ubon Ratchathani University) - “Gender Invisibility and the Nam Theun 2 Dam”

EVENT: Panel Presentation at Social and Sustainability Science in ASEAN Conference

"Water (In)security and Development in Southeast Asia: Inclusions, Exclusions and Transformations"

local researcher roundtable discussion (Credit: R. Irven)

On the first day of the Social and Sustainability Science in ASEAN International Conference 2018: Agri-Food Systems, Rural Sustainability and Socioeconomic Transformations in South-east Asia, CSDS organized and presented on a panel centered on conflicts over access to, control over and use of water and natural resources at scales ranging from the interstate to the individual. Four panelists presented their most recent research which focused on case studies from around the region, in Myanmar, Thailand and Lao PDR. The panel was comprised of Dr. Soimart Rungmanee (Puay Ungpakorn School of Development Studies, Thammasart University), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kanokwan Manorom (Department of Social Science, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Ubon Ratchathani University), Saw John Bright (Karen Environmental and Social Action Network - KESAN) and Asst. Prof. Dr. Carl Middleton (Center for Social Development Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University). For more details on the conference please visit our post here or download the official program here. 

To download the full presentations from the panel, please visit the links below:

• “Intimate Water Exclusion: Processes and Politics of River Enclosure by Fish Cage Aquaculture in Northeast Thailand” by Dr. Soimart Rungmanee

• “Rights and Rites: Community water resource governance on the Salween River in Karen State, Burma” by Saw John Bright

• “Access to Water in Hakha Town, Chin State, Myanmar: Structural violence and the politics of water insecurity” by Asst. Prof. Dr. Carl Middleton

EVENT: "Thailand’s Overseas Investment in Southeast Asia and Transnational (In)Justice"

Session organized at the 13th International Conference on Thai Studies
"Globalized Thailand?" Connectivity, Conflict, and Conundrums of Thai Studies 

15:15-16:45, 16th July 2017, Chiang Mai International Exhibition and Convention Center

Session convened by the Center for Social Development Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

Our panel critically discussed Thailand’s investment role in the region through the lens of transnational social and environmental justice. Through empirical case studies on agribusiness, hydropower and special economic zones, we explored the political economy of these investments in order to understand the production of injustice and human rights violations.  The panel addressed the following questions: what are the roles, opportunities and challenges for public interest law, national/ regional human rights institutions, other transnational soft law mechanisms, and civil society to protect and promote human rights on Thailand’s investments?

The paper presentations can be downloaded below.

• Paper 1: Accountability Beyond the State: Extra territorial obligations in the case of the Koh Kong Sugar Industry Concession, Cambodia by Michelle D’cruz

• Paper 2: Redressing transboundary environmental injustice at the Dawei Special Economic Zone and Roadlink Project by Naruemon Thabchumpon

• Paper 3: Arenas of Water Justice on Transboundary Rivers: Human Rights and Hydropower Dams on the Salween and Mekong Rivers by Carl Middleton

We would like to thank the panel discussant, Walden Bellow, and chair, Daniel King, for their insightful contributions to the panel.

Chair: Daniel King

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE: Insights on Recovering Co-existing Wetlands and Farming Systems

The importance of recognizing the value of agro-ecological systems in wetlands in Southeast Asia was the main message delivered at the SUMERNET research partners meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on 29 March 2017. Dr Outhai Soukkhy, Dr. Nguyen Van Kien and Dr. Carl Middleton shared the main scientific findings and policy messages of the RECOVER project. They also emphasized the benefits of undertaking "co-production of knowledge" research methods, so as to involve all actors sharing a policy or on-the-ground challenge.

• A poster summarizing the RECOVER project can be downloaded here.

• The presentation summarizing the main project findings can be downloaded here.