As it stands, the Mitigation and Compensation Programme for the impacted villages along the mainstream Xe Bang Fai and its tributaries is overly ambitious, poorly reflects actual experience in the region and leaves many questions unanswered. The programme is lacking in detail and no feasibility study has been completed to examine the various recommended options. The Nam Theun 2 Power Company (NTPC) makes the unjustified assumption that loss of wild fisheries and edible aquatic organisms can simply be replaced by introducing aquaculture or animalraising options (i.e. ‘fish for fish’ or ‘livestock for fish’) to impacted villagers. This assumption shows that NTPC does not comprehend the social, economic and practical problems involved in attempting to introduce novel livelihood strategies to numerous geographically widespread rural communities and thousands of households, hitherto inadequately informed or prepared for the changes which they will experience post operations. The programme is not based on any actual example of successful mitigation and compensation in the region. There is no evidence that NTPC is utilising the experiences – both positive and negative - from the nearby Theun-Hinboun Hydropower Project or other projects in Laos in trying to mitigate and compensate for such massive changes to the river ecosystem. This is a major failing of the current plan. The experiences from these projects shows that replacing lost subsistence livelihoods takes a long time and is rarely successful. In this context, NTPC’s stated goal of completing all mitigation and compensation activities within 5 years of commercial operation is unrealistic and, if implemented, will leave villagers without adequate long-term livelihood options.