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OPENING REMARKS AND OVERVIEWDr. Ratana Tosakul, 10 th API Workshop DirectorDr. Ratana elaborated on the need to be critical about development in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS).Referring to the title of the forum, she referred to development as contentious and comprising many varyingmotives. She brought to attention the growing vulnerable populations and the shifting definitions ofdevelopment in the context of trans-border development projects. She encouraged participants to construct anddeconstruct the region and to see how the production of knowledge is contested, especially by civil society. Shenoted that with today’s economics-driven development, the stage has been set in which negotiations take placenot just with the state but also with the private sector who are development investors.PRESENTATION SESSIONTrans-border Issues within the Context of Alternative ModernityModerators: Dr. Chayan Vaddhanaphuti and Dr. Ratana TosakulDr. Chayan said the objective of the session was to explore regional perspectives in the context of emerging social,economic, and political trends over the last two decades, especially after the creation of the GMS. While statestend to regard social and environmental problems from a national perspective, the regionalization of developmentis growing, largely initially due to efforts by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the creation of the GMS,which introduced ideas around the 3Cs – Connectivity, Competitiveness and Co-operation. Connectivity is nowbeing promoted through the building of roads, dams, bridges and navigation channels. These are also raising manyconcerns. The question is – what happens to the local people? To understand the new complexities, analysis andsharing of experiences was vital.PANEL 1: ENVIRONMENT-RELATED ISSUESTransboundary Environmental Standards in the MekongMs. Pianporn Deetes, Southeast Asia River NetworkMs. Pianporn stated that the dominant development model for the Mekong region had created major problemson the Mekong River. Numerous studies have indicated major issues for both the upper and lower Mekong. Themost pressing issue was dam projects. Dam construction has long been controversial. Dam projects are still seen aslucrative and as an important means of trade. Extensive plans for hydropower in the Mekong region are stillpushed to cater to national power demand and for transboundary trade. Ms. Pianporn explained that the NGOInternational Rivers has been monitoring the situation in the Mekong for 17 years. She cited examples of someexisting hydropower dams that have exacerbated rather than reduced poverty for local people, contrary togovernment commitments, including Theun Hinboun in Lao PDR, the Pak Moon Dam in Thailand, and theYali Falls in Vietnam.Laos has been expanding the construction of dam projects, but most of the electricity produced is exported to itsneighbors. Ms. Pianporn noted that the Theun Hinboun dam exports 95 per cent of the power generated toThailand. The project was completed in 1998 and has affected 29,000 local people. The Xayaburi dam in Laos isthe first in a series of dams planned for the Mekong and its tributaries in that country. If approved by the MekongRiver Commission (MRC), this dam is expected to produce 1,280 megawatts of electricity and is slated to becompleted by 2019. This dam would export 95 per cent of the power generated to Thailand, with the remaindergoing to Laos. From the local level perspective, despite the commitment of the Laos government to do a one-yearassessment of the project, in 2011 there were reports of preparatory construction at the proposed site.Ms. Pianporn also discussed a series of dams on the Mekong in China which have affected the river andlivelihoods downstream. The Man Wan Dam in China was completed in 1993 and was the first in a series of damsthat China plans to complete on the Mekong in Yunnan by 2018. After construction, a number of abnormalevents occurred. For instance, the river dried up in 1995 after the first dam was completed. Next, the second dam245The Work of the 2010/2011 API Fellows