Environment and natural resources
Water resources
Fight for the Mekong gathers pace
More than 20 years ago, when two Chiang Rai-based environmentalists, Niwat Roikaew and Somkiat Kuenwongsa, learned that the Chinese government were blasting rapids in the upper Mekong River from Yunnan to Myanmar and Laos to clear the way for large commercial vessels, they started worrying.Back ...
'Pattaya Model' boosting marine safety
The Pattaya Marine Office is laying chains of buoys in Pattaya Bay to clearly differentiate areas for water traffic and other activities, to improve marine safety and build tourist confidence.The plan has been dubbed the Pattaya Model for safety at sea. Work began in 2015 ...
Chaiyot Pupattanapong
The struggle for the soul of the Mekong River
In June of this year, the FAO’s annual State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture report ranked the Mekong Basin as the world’s most productive freshwater fishery, accounting for over 15% of global annual freshwater fish catch. Meanwhile, WWF Researchers estimate that the contribution actually accounts ...
Jomtien Beach being widened under Bt1.1bn project
Jomtien Beach in Pattaya is being widened under a Bt1.1-billion project to replenish a vast expanse of sand eroded over the years by the sea.The Marine Department aims to expand around 7 kilometres of beach to a width of 35-50 metres in order to preserve ...
The Nation Reporter
Healthy Oceans Needed To Keep ASEAN Afloat
Memories of idyllic beaches and sonorous waves may seem far away while we all remain under lockdown at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, we need not look far to appreciate the enduring history of the ocean in Asia and the Pacific. For generations, ...
South-East Asia’s biggest river is drying up
Fish writhe frantically in the shallow pool, as their schoolmates stranded on the exposed sandbar breathe their last. It is November, the end of the monsoon season, yet the water in the Mekong river is perilously low. On this stretch, in north-eastern Thailand, the bank ...
China's drain on Mekong
More water discharged from Chinese dams to the lower Mekong River in the dry season and less water in the rainy season. That means a reduction of drought and flooding in the lower Mekong countries. That was the ideal “cooperation” Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam ...
Mekong river groups urge China to show transparency after dam report
Groups working to protect the Mekong River have called for greater transparency and cooperation from China after a report that Chinese dams held back water during a damaging drought in downstream countries last year.China has disputed the findings of the US government-funded study and said ...
Thailand facing double whammy – Covid-19 and worsening seasonal drought
The Office of the National Water Resources says up to 6,255 villages in 24 provinces have already been declared as drought-affected areas, while national dams and reservoirs are only at an average of 49% capacity (only 26% of that water is usable.) It has been ...
Study finds Chinese dams held back Mekong waters
China’s Mekong River dams held back large amounts of water during a damaging drought in downstream countries last year despite China having higher-than-average water levels upstream, a US research company said in a study.China’s government disputed the findings, saying there was low rainfall during last ...
