Who is Responsible for Decision-making in Participatory Development? – Lessons Learned from the Social Reconstruction Plan for the Nam Theun 2 Dam Project

The livelihood reconstruction plan implemented in villages affected by the Nam Theun 2 Dam has been facing the limited sustainability of resource use and increasing economic and social disparity among the 16 relocated villages. The objective of this paper is to describe the problems that arose despite a carefully planned resettlement scheme, which included the participation of the residents from affected villages. Issues can be categorized into three types, based on whether risks were identified before decision-making and whether appropriate mitigation measures were considered for the identified risks. Local consensus may not be in agreement with development goals, and the issues that can be addressed by local consultation are limited. Therefore, whether to use local consultation or not should be considered carefully.