Mai Khot power station

The Mai Khot power station, which is also referred to as Mong Kok, is a proposed 369 megawatt power station 40 kms north of Thailand’s Chiang Rai border in Burma, which has been proposed to be operated by the Thai company, Italian-Thai Development Plc. It is proposed that the power be exported to the Chiang Rai region of northern Thailand.

The project is a joint operation between the Italian-Thai Company and Thailand’s Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT). EGAT expects the plant to generate up to 15,000 MW electricity power over the next 20 years. The agreement with the Burmese government must be renewed every five years; the total project tenure is 25 years. Burma will begin selling energy to Thailand in early 2016, according to officials.

Coal mine
EGAT and the Burmese government signed an agreement to produce 1.5 million tons of coal annually for 10 years and to build a 405 MW thermal power station of which 369 MW will be sold to Thailand. The coal to be used in the power units will be produced by the Mae Mao coalmine and imported coal.

About 20 villages south of Mogok were forcibly relocated in March 2011 for the plans. The military regime ordered the villagers to sell their farmland at a set price of 20,000 kyat (US$ 25) per acre to the company. Local residents said the authorities violated the human rights of local villagers.

Citizen action
In July 2011, environment groups and local villagers in Burma and Thailand launched a protest against the Mong Koke coal-mining project. The protesters said the project would include about 200 trucks that will transport coal daily through the area causing noise and coal dust pollution. The report compiled by the Mong Koke activist group said Burmese military units persecuted and tortured local villagers in 2007 when it accused them of giving support to the Shan State Army – South (SSA-S). The report said that about 1,000 Shan, Akha and Lahu villagers fled to Thailand in fear of persecution.

Residents in northern Thailand also worry that pollution will affect the Koke River. The Koke River is a main waterway for people in northern Thailand and is a popular tourist attraction. The power station is projected to use water from the Koke River and wastewater from the power station will be put into the river again. The report said the project would emit many chemicals and destroy wildlife and plants in the region.

Thai social groups have sent letters and expressed their opposition to the project to the Thai Human Right Commission, the Thai Lawyers Council and the Chiang Rai authorities since 2009.

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