"Asia’s longest free-flowing river faces threats of dams and diversions", 6 August 2025

The Salween River, at around 3,300 kilometers, or 2,000 miles, is Asia’s longest free-flowing river, running from Tibet through Myanmar to the Andaman Sea. But Indigenous groups and communities living along its banks in China, Myanmar and Thailand say they fear hydropower development might cause the river to suffer the same fate as the Mekong River, Mongabay’s Gerald Flynn reported …

“If we compare our rivers, the Mekong is dead already because of so many dams that have strangled the river,” renowned Thai environmentalist and Goldman Prize winner Niwat Roykaew was quoted saying in March to residents of Sob Moei village in northeastern Thailand. “I feel good that there are no dams on the Salween River yet, but I came here today to share the grief and sadness of the Mekong River — so don’t let them build dams on this river.”

Sob Moei is among the communities that would be affected by the planned hydropower projects. The Hatgyi Dam, proposed to be built 47 km (29 mi) south of the village, prompted villagers and other concerned groups to protest in the past, although the military coup in neighboring Myanmar seems to have delayed construction of the dam, Flynn reported…

“We get our food from the river, so if the Salween River is dammed or developed, it will definitely impact our families,” Naw K’nyaw Paw, secretary-general of the Karen Women’s Organization, said during a protest…

At least 20 dams have been proposed along the Salween: 13 in China and seven in Myanmar. Many were first suggested decades ago and have since stalled. None of those planned in China were ever built, or even mentioned since 2016.

As for the dams in Myanmar, eyed by Chinese and Thai investors, their fate is tied to the outcome of the ongoing conflict between the military junta, rebel factions and armed ethnic groups, Flynn reported…