No government has ever admitted that the building of dams is the cause of “poverty” among the people of the Mekong River. The fish of the river and their economic value have been taken away in the name of development that comes with the construction of dams.  Mekong people have seen their options for survival restricted and narrowed. The poverty of their lives is not something that has just appeared out of the blue. Their fate lies entirely in political decisions, despite the government’s attempts to make the issue apolitical.

<p>Photos collection of the anti-Rasi Salai dam movement in 1990s, these images were taken over the years by four local amateur Thai photographers and community members, Sanun Chusakul, Pairor Sujinprum, Juthathip Damrongtrairat and Pranee Makhanun. They document an important part of this community struggle, showing protests and activities of resistance, as well as ways of life that now no longer exist.</p>

<div> <div><em>An activist with the Assembly of the Poor on the issue of the Pak Mun Dam, Kritsakorn Silarak has been summoned to military bases 18 times. Kritsakorn spoke of the experience of his mother and coworker throwing their telephones in frustration with military pressure.&nbsp;</em></div> </div>

<div>The Thai military summoned an anti-dam activist into a military camp, warning that he might be charged with the computer crime act and the sedition law for his facebook post reporting land dispute between local people and investors.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On Wednesday, 4 May 2016, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) <a href="https://tlhr2014.wordpress.com/2016/05/04/krissakorn_summoned/">reported</a> that on Tuesday, 3 April 2016, Kritsakorn Silarak, a coordinator of the Assembly of the Poor for Pak Mun dam, was summoned into 22th Army Circle Camp in the northeastern province of Ubon </div>

<p>Activists who have been calling on the local authorities to open the gates of a controversial dam have summoned for talks by the military in Isan, Thailand’s northeast. &nbsp; &nbsp;</p> <p>The 22nd Army Division of the northeastern province of Ubon Ratchathani Province on Saturday issued a letter to summon key leaders of the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.prachatai.org/english/category/assembly-of-the-poor">Assembly of the Poor (AOP)</a>, a civil society organisation which is the voice of Thailand’s poor, for a discussion at 1 pm on 30 June. &nbsp;</p>

<p>A civil society group in northeastern Thailand urged the relevant authorities to come up with solutions to improve the water quality of a tributary of the Mekong River, saying that incompetent civil servants should be replaced if they cannot solve the problem.</p>

<p>State officials have postponed a promise to open the gates of a controversial dam in Thailand’s northeast, saying that the area might experience drought. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>After an inconclusive meeting, state officials have stalled on a promise to open the gates on a controversial dam in Isan, Thailand’s Northeast, to allow fish to migrate during the breeding season. &nbsp;</p>

<p>The police summoned an environmental activist for talks over a planned public forum on the controversial Pak Mun Dam in northeastern Ubon Ratchathani Province.</p>

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