The Yuam River (; ) is a river in northwestern Thailand, part of the

Salween The Salween is a Southeast Asian river, about long, flowing from the Tibetan Plateau south into the Andaman Sea. The Salween flows primarily within southwest China and eastern Myanmar, with a short section forming the border of Myanmar and Tha ...

watershed. It originates in the mountains of the

Thanon Thong Chai Range The Thanon Thong Chai Range (, , formerly Thanon Range; Burmese ''Tanen Taunggyi'') is a mountain range in northern Thailand. Its tallest peak is Doi Inthanon, the highest point in Thailand. Most of the range is in Chiang Mai Province, with ...

, Khun Yuam District, Mae Hong Son Province,

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. The river flows in a north–south direction and then in

Sop Moei District Sop Moei (, ) is the southernmost district (''amphoe'') of Mae Hong Son province, northern Thailand. History ''Tambons'' Sop Moei, Mae Khatuan, and Kong Koi were separated from Mae Sariang district to create Sop Moei minor district (''king amphoe ...

it bends westwards and then northwestwards, forming a stretch of the Thai/ Burmese border shortly before it joins the left bank of the

Moei River The Moei River (, , ), also known as the Thaungyin River (; ) is a tributary of the Salween River. Unlike most rivers in Thailand, the Moei River flows north in a northwest direction. It originates in Phop Phra District, Tak Province, flowing th ...

, shortly before its confluence with the Salween. The

Ngao River The Ngao River (, , ; , ) is a river of Thailand with its source in the Phi Pan Nam Range. It is a tributary of the Yom River, part of the Chao Phraya River basin. The Ngao in this basin should not be confused with the Ngao River that is a tribut ...

, which unlike most rivers in Thailand flows northwards, is one of the Yuam's main tributaries.

Environment

The Thai government, to solve persistent water shortages in the central region, have proposed a 70.7 billion

baht The baht (; , ; currency sign, sign: ฿; ISO 4217, code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 ''satang'' (, ). Prior to decimalisation, the baht was divided into eight ''fueang'' (, ), each of eight ''at'' (, ). The ...

plan to divert some 1.8 billion m³ of water annually from the Yuam River to the perennially underfilled Bhumibol Dam. As part of the plan, the Royal Irrigation Department (RID), would build 69 metre high dam with a storage capacity of 68.7 million m³ constructed on 2,075

rai (), commercially styled as since 2000 and known until 1954 as (RAI), is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terrestrial and subscription television channels a ...

of forest land, together with a pumping station on a separate 55 rai plot and a 61.5 kilometre-long tunnel passing through 14 villages. The inhabitants of the area—primarily Karen tribes people—largely oppose the project. In December 2019, the RID submitted a second

environmental impact assessment Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is the assessment of the environmental impact, environmental consequences of a plan, policy, program, or actual projects prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action. In this context, the te ...

(EIA) to the Office of the Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP). ONEP rejected the EIA for the second time due to concerns about forest destruction, tunnel rock waste, and compensation issues.

References

External links

Mai Ngao National ParkNam Ngao
Yuam Salween River {{Thailand-river-stub

Environment

See also

References

External links