With 46 hydropower plants currently, Laos plans to have a total of 100 dams by 2020 to serve the energy-starved Mekong region. That could help the one party-ruled country achieve its ambition of becoming "the battery of Southeast Asia". But the dam collapse in Attapeu in southeastern Laos on Monday shows how easily catastrophes can happen.
The latest disaster, which has resulted in at least 26 deaths, hundreds missing and more than 6,000 homeless, reminds dam developers and governments that no one should underestimate the extent of the potential threats associated with building dams.
Previously, a number of smaller dam breaches took place in Laos and neighbouring Cambodia and Vietnam which should have spurred the attention of governments over construction safety.
