The Anthropocene: Politik—Economics— Society—Science

Volume 27

Series Editor Hans Günter Brauch, Peace Research and European Security Studies (AFES-PRESS), Mosbach, Baden-Württemberg, Germany More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/15232 http://www.afes-press-books.de/html/APESS.htm http://www.afes-press-books.de/html/APESS_27.htm# Carl Middleton • Vanessa Lamb Editors

Knowing the Salween River: Resource Politics of a Contested Transboundary River Editors Carl Middleton Vanessa Lamb Center of Excellence for Resource School of Geography Politics in Social Development, University of Melbourne Center for Social Development Studies, Melbourne, VIC, Australia Faculty of Political Science Chulalongkorn University Bangkok, Thailand

ISSN 2367-4024 ISSN 2367-4032 (electronic) The Anthropocene: Politik—Economics—Society—Science ISBN 978-3-319-77439-8 ISBN 978-3-319-77440-4 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77440-4

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2019. This book is an open access publication. Open Access This book is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adap- tation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this book are included in the book’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the book’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publi- cation does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Series Editor: PD Dr. Hans Günter Brauch, AFES-PRESS e.V., Mosbach, Germany Editors: Dr. Carl Middleton and Dr. Vanessa Lamb

The cover photo is based on a photo by Michael Cook, Melbourne, Australia/Toronto, Canada. The photographer granted permission to use their photos here. More on this book is at: http://www.afes-press- books.de/html/APESS_27.htm#.

This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG. The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Foreword

AReflection on the Role of Researchers and Research on the Salween River: Past, Present and Future

What we highlight in this edited volume are the ecological, social, cultural and political facets of the Salween River Basin. I say “we” because, as I detail below, I have been involved in supporting the important work of organizing and sharing knowledge about the Salween, also known as Thanlwin in Myanmar, for many years alongside this excellent group of contributors. In this and in previous work, we as scholars and civil society actors have considered the various tools that can be used for research and learning about the Salween River. There are multiple approaches to research the Salween River, and multifaceted systems of governance in this River Basin. This is the time to consider the insights of our research, the tools we use, and the systems operating in the context of development of the river basin, and the region more broadly. It is a time when the world is turning to look at Myanmar and the Salween River as one of the major river systems in the region. At present, there are 20 proposed hydropower projects along the Salween River. These have the potential to transform agrarian livelihoods, fisheries, migration, and to change political and economic relationships of the Salween River Basin. Of these projects, up to seven are proposed in Myanmar or along the Thai–Myanmar border. But, the majority of the electricity produced would not be for domestic consump- tion, which is urgently required, but would be sold to Thailand and China. During the 2016 Salween Studies Network Meeting, held in Chiang Mai, Thailand, it became apparent that the Salween River Basin has only recently attracted the attention of international academic researchers. This can be seen, for instance, in the number of academic publications on the Lower Salween River since 2010. This work on the Lower Salween River is related to a greater focus on Myanmar through the economic opening up of country. Yet, while academic research has only begun to emerge, civil society research has been pursued for decades. This includes work by organizations such as KESAN, International

v vi Foreword

Rivers, Salween Watch, Southeast Asia Rivers Network, Towards Ecological Recovery and Regional Alliances (TERRA), and Mekong Energy and Ecological Network (MEE Net). This research is important to recognize and use alongside academic work to reinforce and improve the quality of research being conducted now. The increased attention to the Salween River Basin would not have been pos- sible without the work that has been done over the past ten years, mainly by civil society groups, to raise awareness on these issues. Indeed, this book would not be possible without the sustained effort and collaborations across academic and civil society researchers. The 2016 Salween Studies Network Meeting, or Salween University Network (SUN), I mentioned above is a good example of one such collaborative effort. The meeting, as evidenced in the title, was focused on moving ‘Towards a Shared Vision for the Salween-Thanlwin-Nu’. A wide variety of active participants from many sectors in the Salween-Thanlwin-Nu River Basin region gave presentations over two days. The meeting was an opportunity to review the research that came out of the 2014 Salween Studies Conference and to discuss what research can be done in the future, including a book like this edited volume. More than fifty participants attended the meeting, including professors, researchers, experts, community supported organizations (CSO) and non-government organization (NGO) representatives, and journalists from a range of countries – not limited to the Salween River Basin countries of Thailand, Myanmar, and China. The 2016 SUN meeting, however, is only one in a long line of conferences and meetings. There are too many to list all here, but some of the additional meetings include, for instance, an October 2012 meeting where there were twelve people – six of whom are also part of this book (Pai Deetes, Dr. Lamb, Prof. Saw Win, Prof. Chayan, Dr. Middleton and Dr. Yu Xiaogang) – who met to discuss the future of the Salween River Basin, supported by International Rivers and Chiang Mai University. Concerns revolved around the mega projects planned for the Upper Salween River and the downstream impacts of these projects as well as logging and mining in the river basin. The year 2014 saw two significant Salween Meetings organized. This was indeed a rare event. The first, held in Myanmar, was the workshop, Socio-economics and Ecosystem Values of the Salween River: Towards Transboundary Management Framework and Research Collaboration Network jointly coordinated by REAM, TERRA, and MEE Net at the Mawlamyine University, Mon State on 2–3 September. About twenty-five presentations were presented by both national and international scholars, researchers, and CSOs during the two-day workshop with special emphasis upon topics, such as: Ecosystems and Socio-economics, Inhabitant People and Resource-Based Livelihoods, Hydropower and River Resources of the Salween River Basin, Upstream Salween River and Sino-Asian Affairs, and Community Research Approach. During the workshop, I presented ‘A Geographical Evaluation on the Natural and Human Resources of the Salween Drainage Basin’. On the final day of the workshop, participants had the Foreword vii opportunity of paying a field visit to some river mouth islands and villages in the Salween Estuarine Region near Mawlamyine City. Later that year, in November 2014, the First International Conference on Salween/Thanlwin/Nu Studies: State of Knowledge: Environmental Change, Livelihoods and Development was hosted by the Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD), Faculty of Social Science, Chiang Mai University, Thailand, organized by the Salween-Thanlwin-Nu (STN) Studies Group. With support of the Heinrich Böll Foundation and RCSD at the Chiang Mai University, the First International Salween Studies Conference was a significant conference for the Salween River Basin region and brought together over two hundred participants, not limited to local communities, NGOs, CSOs, universities, researchers, academics, and youth. The conference highlighted that ‘universities, and others, can work together to conduct academic research and collect information to support the Salween River Basin’. The presentations at the conference raised important questions about who can create the knowledge used for decision-making in the Salween River Basin. The biggest take-away from the conference was that there is a need to link researchers to broaden decision-making processes. To allow for effective collaboration, everyone must work together to inform each other of existing research. About sixty-three research papers were presented to the Conference. Fifteen major topics were discussed during this event. During this International Conference, I personally contributed, at the kind request of the event organizers, three presentations, including the keynote titled ‘Earthquake Hazards: A Brief Analysis of Seismo-tectonic Activities in Myanmar’. Prior to the 2014 Salween Studies Conference, there were concerns over how little attention was being paid to the Salween River Basin compared with the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) and Mekong River Basins. But, due to successful mobilization efforts and collaborations in the region, the 2014 Salween Studies Conference was a big success. The biggest achievement of the conference was the knowledge sharing between international experts and local people. For civil society members from Myanmar, it was a wakeup call. The Network’s success was shown in how it was working to share knowledge instead of restricting knowledge to a small group of experts. The Network is important for the region and has provided new opportunities for Myanmar academics and civil society members to work internationally. One of the biggest strengths of the Network right now is that it is composed primarily of people from the Salween River Basin region. The Salween University Network (SUN) as a network primarily of non-state actors differs then from the inter-governmental Mekong River Commission (MRC). While the MRC produces important research, much is produced internally and/or by government agencies rather than directly together with local universities. Even as the MRC hosts various public consultations, this risks a perception that the MRC is distant from the region’s researchers, as well as more broadly the people who live in the basin. Another challenge for the MRC is that the China and Myanmar governments are not full members of the MRC, but rather hold observer status. For SUN, viii Foreword researchers have sought to bridge across countries; for example, RCSD of Chiang Mai University now works with universities in Myanmar to bring people together. The importance of these relationships should be highlighted by noting the majority of Myanmar scholars are working on natural science, geology, geography, geomorphology, geobiology, and marine sciences. In contrast, scholars generally specialize in social science and highlands research at Chiang Mai University. This is one area where different universities can collaborate and bring together unique expertise to share with policymakers within Myanmar and throughout the Salween River Basin region as a whole. We must collaborate so that we can save the Salween River for the future. One problem which academics want to tackle in Myanmar is the deep divide between academia and civil society. This should be attributed to not listening to the voices of people in the Salween River Basin. Research needs to think about people’s needs and, in the case of energy demands, provide alternative energy options. Listening and paying attention to needs should be accompanied by scientific knowledge. This is another potential implication of the Network: providing the opportunity for scientific knowledge and community-oriented research to come, taking it together to inform national policies. The SUN meeting proved effective in bringing together academics and creating a space for collaboration through various group work sessions. Following a full day of presentations, participants broke out in groups to identify knowledge gaps, current research, collaborations and priorities for future work. Four areas were identified for possible future collaborations: the environ- ment, law and policy, economics, and society and culture. With a diverse collection of participants, it came as no surprise that each group conducted very different sets of analysis. Through collaborative efforts, each group came up with thorough and comprehensive examinations of gaps, opportunities, and ways forward in the research. Many of the presentations, and much of the work in this book, focused on challenges faced by local communities and methods used to promote community empowerment and traditional knowledge research. The many forms and values of traditional knowledge is being highlighted by some researchers. Their work shows the importance of complementing social sciences with natural sciences research. All these discussions have emphasized how more focus needs to be placed on this type of research in the future. Collaborative studies linking local to scientific knowledge allows for community members to become researchers themselves. Beyond being useful for future data collection, collaborative research can work to build the confidence of local community members to work side-by-side with academic researchers. On the topic of sharing knowledge, it is also clear that knowledge links to responsibility in decision-making. At these conferences, there were also presenta- tions examining the environmental impacts on the river’s diverse ecosystems. Hopefully, the network members who have experience linking research with the communities and knowledge with policy continue to share their ideas. Reflecting on their own experiences, one researcher remarked that “policy gaps are more a result Foreword ix of poor ears than poor policies.” This statement resonated with the meeting par- ticipants and acted as a lasting takeaway message. Moreover, in this volume we see Thai Scholars (Hengsuwan, Chap. 11, and Bundidterdsakul, Chap. 9, this volume) speak to the importance of prioritizing research that looks at economic and social dimensions of the Salween due to the limited information available on those living there. Others have noted that when it comes to the Salween, there is a need for investigation, particularly in Myanmar, in relation to domestic energy supplies, but there is still a lack of baseline data on “everything”—including water levels. Looking towards how data is released through the media, scholars from Myanmar have stressed how there is a gap on sharing information between aca- demia and other communities that needs to be filled. For example, the proposed Hatgyi Dam in Kayin State also sits on a fault line, and a reservoir in this area could create a higher earthquake risk, but we do not have the full information. Overall, it is important to think outside the box and to pursue new paths that could lead to more cooperation and collaboration between many different levels— international, regional, national, and local. It is imperative to include the local community perspective in all policy processes. When local communities gain inclusion into policy processes, other gaps existing between the local and the national levels will become obvious. My brother-like-friend, and colleague Prof. Chayan, once reflected on the first meeting (and in this book’s concluding commentary, see Sect. 16.1) on the “Geography of Knowing and Geography of Ignorance.” Hopefully, all readers of this volume will agree that this makes an excellent contribution to knowledge, but in “Knowing the Salween” there is still much work to do for its communities, understanding its place, geography and history.

Yangon, Myanmar Maung Maung Aye February 2019 Professor and Rector-in-Charge (Ret.), Yangon University Distance Education [email protected] Acknowledgements

The preparation of this edited volume reflects a long journey to which many have contributed. First, we would like to express our greatest thanks to all the contrib- utors and collaborators working together on “Salween Studies” for the past ten years. The list is a long one and continues to grow. We thank Pai Deetes and International Rivers for catalysing a meeting of Salween experts in 2012 at Chiang Mai University. We also thank the participants of the conferences and workshops organized over the past five years, and all those who helped organize these mile- stones. They include the Salween Studies Conference in 2014 and the Salween Studies Network meeting in 2016 at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University, with particular thanks to Kanchana Kulpisithicharoen, Chanida Puranapun and Ajarn Chayan Vaddhanaphuti of the Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD). The Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung and International Rivers provided partial support for these events, for which we are grateful. We thank colleagues who helped organized the Salween Studies Research Workshop at Yangon University in 2018, in particular Prof. Htun Ko from the Department of Geography and Tay Zar Myo Win. There have been many people who although not authoring chapters in the book project, have helped shape the groups wider thinking about “Salween Studies” or supported the ongoing work including Witoon Permpongsacharoen, Montree Chantavong, Luntharimar (Tidtee) Longcharoen, Philip Hirsch and Sarah Allen. We want to acknowledge and sincerely appreciate the teams at our own uni- versities. At the Center for Social Development Studies (CSDS), Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, this includes Orapan Pratomlek, Bobby Irven, Claudine Claridad and Anisa Widyasari, and our colleagues in the Faculty of Political Science including Dean Ake Tangsupvattana and Ajarn Naruemon Thabchumpon. Orapan in particular has been central to coordinating our research and fellowship programme on the Salween. Park Rojanachotikul also collaborated with CSDS to produce the excellent short films at www. SalweenStories.org.

xi xii Acknowledgements

At York University, York Center for Asian Research, we appreciate the support of Directors Philip Kelly and Abidin Kusno, and of course, Alicia Filipowich, in particular, for managing so many of the fun aspects of administration. At the University of Melbourne, the School of Geography offered support and the kind and generous cartographer Chandra Jayasuriya created the superb maps for this book. A large part of the impetus for many of the chapters presented in this volume was the generous support from the Salween Water Governance Project under the CGIAR Research Programme on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) in the Greater Mekong with support from CGIAR Fund Donors and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). They supported two research for development projects fondly referred to as “MK21” or Matching Policies, Institutions and Practices of Water Governance in the Salween River Basin: Towards Inclusive, Informed, and Accountable Water Governance, and the “MK31” Professional Development of Water Governance and Regional Development Practitioners in the Salween Basin which ran from 2015–2018. We thank in particular: Kim Geheb, David Clayton, Stew Motta, Rattamanee Laohapensang (Ruby) and Mayvong Sayatham at WLE-Greater Mekong, and John Dore, and Ounheuan Saiyasith at DFAT. Key partners for the “MK21” research project included the aforementioned York Centre for Asian Research, York University, and the Centre for Social Development Studies (CSDS), Chulalongkorn University. In addition, the project included colleagues and friends at the Karen Environment and Social Action Network (KESAN), in particular Saw John Bright, Jeff Rutherford, Saw Tha Phoe, and Naw Aye Aye Myaing; Nang Shining at Weaving Bonds Across Borders/Mong Pan Youth Association; Nang Aye Tin, Nang Hom Kham, Nang Sam Paung Hom, and Sai Aum Khay at Mong Pan Youth Association; Prof. Saw Win of the Renewable Energy Association Myanmar (REAM); Diana Suhardiman at the International Water Management Institute; and Prof. Chayan Vaddhanaphuti at the Regional Center for Sustainable Development (RCSD), Chiang Mai University, Thailand. We also thank Paung Ku and in particular Sayar Kyaw Thu, Myint Zaw, and Shwe Sin, for their continued support. We also appreciate the work done by independent researcher April Kyu Kyu, for his research and organizing support at crucial moments, and Tay Zar Myo Win, for his ongoing logistics assistance. There are other close collaborators who cannot be named, but who know who they are. Key partners for the “MK31” Salween Fellowship programme include the mentors, many of whom also doubled up as workshop trainers, namely: Naruemon Thabchumpon, Stew Motta, Diana Suhardiman, Chantana Banpasirichote Wungaeo, Lyu Xing, John Dore, Prof. Saw Win, Jakkrit Sangkamanee, Jeff Rutherford, and Michael Medley. Others include our partner fellowship pro- grammes on the Mekong and Red Rivers, with whom we co-organized trainings and field visits. These include Ajarn Kanokwan Manorom and Chawirakan Nomai (Ploy) from Ubon Ratchathani University, and Nguyen Tung Phong, Ha Hai Duong, and their team at Vietnam Academy of Water Resources. Acknowledgements xiii

General project support, for both the academic and civil society networks for the two MK projects above, was provided by Prof. Saw Win, who has been an amazing facilitator, and we have been very happy to know since that 2012 meeting. Thank you, Sayar-gyi! Finally, with regard to this book, it would not have been possible without the assistance (research and copyediting support) from K. B. Roberts and her ‘mobile mentorship’, and from Sabrina Gyorvary and her mellifluous prose. Elena Tjandra transcribed talks and offered referencing assistance at very important times. The book’s two anonymous peer reviewers also worked tirelessly to provide con- structive and critical feedback to the book’s contributors. We also thank Michael Cook for the use of his photograph on this book cover, and appreciate his unpar- alleled photographic ability to capture the banal moments of everyday river life in visual art. We also very much appreciate the team at Springer for their patient support, and in particular the independent series editor, Dr. Hans Günter Brauch as well as Dr. Johanna Schwarz and Dr. Christian Witschel in Heidelberg (Germany) and the book producers Ms. Aurelia Heumader (Heidelberg) and Mr. Arulmurugan Venkatasalam (Chennai) and their team of typesetters, graphic designers, web- masters and many others that have made it possible that our research results are now available to a global audience.

Bangkok, Thailand Carl Middleton Melbourne, Australia Vanessa Lamb February 2019 Endorsements for Knowing the Salween

“A fascinating and detailed analysis of how development decisions about a river impact on local people’s lives and pose important challenges for politics. Strongly recommended. A must-read for anyone interested in transboundary water politics and the urgent environmental challenges now facing Southeast Asia.” – Professor Tim Forsyth, Professor of Environment and Development, Department of International Development, London School of Economics, UK.

“This book shares detailed and diverse knowledge and experience about the people of the Salween basin and their river. It reveals what is at stake if plans for large dams go ahead, especially for the communities who would be directly affected by them.” – Associate Professor Kanokwan Manorom, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Ubon Ratchathani University, Thailand.

“This important collection of essays on the Salween (also known as Gyalmo Ngulchu – Nu Jiang – Nam Khone – Thanlwin) demonstrates how important it is to understand a watercourse, and its meaning for those who depend on it, well before ill-conceived development plans become etched into the river’s future pathways. The knowledge behind such understanding is produced through science, experience and socio-political analysis. In this book, an impressive range of authors articulate their research-based visions for a different kind of future for the Salween and provide grounds for optimism – despite the severe challenges that lie ahead for this transboundary river system.” – Emeritus Professor Philip Hirsch, School of Geosciences, University of Sydney, Australia.

xv Contents

1 Introduction: Resources Politics and Knowing the Salween River ...... 1 Vanessa Lamb, Carl Middleton and Saw Win 2 Salween: What’s in a Name? ...... 17 Vanessa Lamb 3 Hydropower Politics and Conflict on the Salween River ...... 27 Carl Middleton, Alec Scott and Vanessa Lamb 4 From Hydropower Construction to National Park Creation: Changing Pathways of the Nu River ...... 49 Yu Xiaogang, Chen Xiangxue and Carl Middleton 5 Rites, Rights, and Water Justice in Karen State: A Case Study of Community-Based Water Governance and the Hatgyi Dam .... 71 Saw John Bright 6 Contested Water Governance in Myanmar/Burma: Politics, the Peace Negotiations and the Production of Scale ...... 87 Johanna M. Götz 7 A State of Knowledge of the Salween River: An Overview of Civil Society Research ...... 107 Vanessa Lamb, Carl Middleton, Saw John Bright, Saw Tha Phoe, Naw Aye Aye Myaing, Nang Hom Kham, Sai Aum Khay, Nang Sam Paung Hom, Nang Aye Tin, Nang Shining, Yu Xiaogang, Chen Xiangxue and Chayan Vaddhanaphuti 8 “We Need One Natural River for the Next Generation”: Intersectional Feminism and the Nu Jiang Dams Campaign in China ...... 121 Hannah El-Silimy

xvii xviii Contents

9 Local Context, National Law: The Rights of Karen People on the Salween River in Thailand ...... 141 Laofang Bundidterdsakul 10 An Ethnobotanical Survey in Shan State, Myanmar: Where Thanlwin Biodiversity, Health, and Deforestation Meet ...... 159 Mar Mar Aye and Swe Swe Win 11 Not only Anti-dam: Simplistic Rendering of Complex Salween Communities in Their Negotiation for Development in Thailand ...... 181 Paiboon Hengsuwan 12 Powers of Access: Impacts on Resource Users and Researchers in Myanmar’s Shan State ...... 205 K. B. Roberts 13 Fisheries and Socio-economic Change in the Thanlwin River Estuary in Mon and Kayin State, Myanmar ...... 223 Cherry Aung 14 The Impact of Land Cover Changes on Socio-economic Conditions in Bawlakhe District, Kayah State ...... 239 Khin Sandar Aye and Khin Khin Htay 15 Local Knowledge and Rangeland Protection on the Tibetan Plateau: Lessons for Conservation and Co-management of the Upper Nu-Salween and Yellow River Watersheds ...... 259 Ka Ji Jia 16 Future Trajectories: Five Short Concluding Reflections ...... 279 Chayan Vaddhanaphuti, Khin Maung Lwin, Nang Shining, Pianporn Deetes and R. Edward Grumbine Center for Social Development Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand...... 305 York Centre for Asian Research, York University, Toronto ...... 307 About the Editors ...... 309 About the Contributors ...... 313 Index ...... 321 Abbreviations

ADB Asian Development Bank AG Advisory Group AIRBM Ayeyarwady Integrated River Basin Management ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations BGFs Border Guard Forces CBOs Community-Based Organizations CBWG Community-Based Water Governance CLFs Community Learning Facilitators CODI Community Organizations Development Institute CPC Communist Party of China CSOs Civil Society Organizations CTGC China Three Gorges Company DKBA Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (before 2010, known as the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army) DNP Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation DP (China) Democratic Party DWRI Directorate of Water Resources and Improvement of River Systems EAOs Ethnic Armed Organizations EGAT Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand EGATi EGAT International Company EIA Environmental Impact Assessment FAO Food and Agricultural Organization GAD General Administration Department GIS Global Information System GMS Greater Mekong Subregion GW Green Watershed IFC International Finance Corporation IFIs International Financial Institutions IGE International Group of Entrepreneurs INGOs International Non-Governmental Organizations

xix xx Abbreviations

IWRM Integrated Water Resources Management KESAN Karen Environmental and Social Action Network KNLA Karen National Liberation Army KNLP Kayan New Land Party KNU Karen National Union MNDAA Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army MoA Memorandum of Agreement MOEE Ministry of Electricity and Energy MONREC Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation MRC Mekong River Commission MW Megawatts MWR Ministry of Water Resources NCA National Ceasefire Agreement NDAA-ESS National Democratic Alliance Army of Eastern Shan State NEA National Energy Agency NGOs Non-Governmental Organizations NHRCT National Human Rights Commission of Thailand NLD National League for Democracy NTFP Non-Timber Forest Products NWFD National Water Framework Directive NWP National Water Policy NWRC National Water Resources Committee ONWR Office of National Water Resources PDP Power Development Plan RCSS Restoration Council of Shan State RFD Royal Forest Department RMB Renminbi RS Remote Sensing SEIA Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment SEPA State Environmental Protection Administration SIA Social Impact Assessment SLORC State Law and Order Restoration Council SMEC Snowy Mountain Engineering Corporation SOEs State-Owned Enterprises SPDC State Peace and Development Council SPP Salween Peace Park SSPP Shan State Progressive Party TNLA Ta’ang National Liberation Army UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization USDP Union Solidarity and Development Party UWSA United Wa State Army WEPT West-East Power Transfer WHC World Heritage Committee