Sainyabuli Province
Only trans-Mekong province hosting controversial mainstream dam while elephant conservation creates alternative development pathway.
Sainyabuli is Laos's only province west of the Mekong—a geographic anomaly where territory across the river came under Lao rather than Thai sovereignty through colonial boundary drawing that divided ethnic populations. This western position creates both Thai-oriented economic connections and environmental significance as home to Laos's largest elephant population.
The Sainyabuli Dam on the Mekong mainstream has generated intense controversy. Completed in 2019 as the first dam on the Lower Mekong in Laos, it represents the 'Battery of Asia' development model while affecting downstream communities in Cambodia and Vietnam who depend on fish migrations and sediment flows that dams interrupt. The dam exemplifies how national development can create transboundary environmental costs.
Elephant conservation provides alternative economic activity. The province's remaining wild elephants and mahout traditions create tourism potential that development threatens. Elephant camps and conservation projects attempt to generate revenue while protecting populations that habitat loss and human-elephant conflict endanger.
Agriculture—particularly rice and livestock—sustains rural populations in a province where forest cover has declined with logging and agricultural expansion. By 2026, expect hydropower revenue continuing despite downstream impacts, elephant tourism maintaining niche presence, and Thai-oriented commerce reflecting geographic proximity across the Mekong.