The women who won't let go: Female-led resistance to development harms across Asia

In Thailand, communities led by women including 74-year-old Sompong Viengchan have protested the World Bank–funded Pak Mun Dam for 36 years. Their decades-long resistance succeeded in 2026 when authorities agreed to reconsider whether the dam's electricity output justifies its social and ecological costs, and the government has begun periodic gate openings to allow migratory fish upstream.

The dam remains in operation. The government's reconsideration is ongoing, not a final decision to decommission or remove it.