At present, the construction of a large-scale hydropower
electricity plant causes several problems, such as environmental
and social problems. Therefore, it is rather difficult to build largescale
hydropower electricity plants. However, alternative electricity
production from small-scale hydropower project is still
ongoing. Small-scale hydropower electricity facilities are a suitable
alternative for country development due to the shorter duration of
construction and ease of operation. Not only does it add to the
main electricity supply of the country but it can also supply
electricity directly to local areas, particularly remote areas. For
these reasons, a study on the potential of small hydro power plants
around the country is important. However, there have not been
many investigations concerning hydropower potential in Thailand.
EPPO indicated that the existing hydropower potential for development
was at 15,155 MW or about 4 times the capacity at the time
[9]. In addition, the 25 river areas of the country could provide smallscale
hydropower plants with a total potential no less than 1500 MW
[15]. Table 8 shows the identified potential sites of micro to medium
hydropower in Thailand. This table reveals that there are 256 sites
with a capacity of 347 MW suitable for micro to medium hydropower
development, which are distributed over 6 main river basins. The Ping
River alone could support small-scale 100 kW or more hydro power
plants with a total potential of 211 MW and could generate about
720 GWh of electricity supply from 64 projects [16]. In 2010,
Supriyasilp et al. [17] studied the hydropower potential of the Wang
River and found that productivity would be about 6 MW, which could
generate about 30 GWh of electricity from 19 projects. In addition,
Supriyasilp et al. [18] analyzed the laws and regulations related to
hydropower development in forested areas. The small hydropower
development sites in the Ping and Wang river basins were used as
case studies. The Yom River had the potential of 52 small hydropower
projects. However, 4 projects in this group had legal restrictions.
Hence, the remaining 48 projects had a total productivity of 26 MW
and could generate about 110 GWh of electricity supply [19].
Chindaprasirt et al. [20] studied the hydropower potential of the