News
When the Mekong has no fish, and the land can’t grow
The government’s push to reclaim forest land from encroachers in Ubon Ratchathani’s Khong Chiam district has threatened members of two communities who now face arrest and eviction from their land. To make things worse, construction of Chinese dams in the upper Mekong River in the ...
Something Is Very Wrong on the Mekong River
The Mekong is reeling from the combined onslaught of climate change, sand-mining, and incessant damming of the river, which combined to help cause the worst drought recorded in over 100 years in July.Keep reading ...
UN warns Mekong River is a Disaster Hotspot
The Mekong River basin was identified as a major disaster risk hotspot by the United Nations today.Poor people living close to the river suffer high exposure to flood and drought, according to a report released today. A UN official also called for the nations in ...
Dam-building race threatens the Mekong River
The Mekong River is a lifeline to many communities in Southeast Asia. But an ongoing drought and dozens of hydroelectric power plants are lowering water levels and damaging a fragile ecosystem.The Mekong River, a critical waterway for six countries in Southeast Asia, is registering critically ...
Mekong water level rising steadily
Water in the Mekong river in this northeastern border province is rising steadily by about 60-70 centimetres per day, pushing up the water level to about 7 metres, or about 6m below the spill-over point on the river bank, local media reported.Keep reading ...
Pattanapong Sripiachai
Govt looks to ease Mekong dam impacts
The Department of Fisheries will roll out a number of measures to help cushion the impacts of dam construction in the upper reaches of the Mekong River on Thai fishermen.Department chief, Adisorn Promthep, said the measures will entail further diplomatic coordination with Laos — which ...
Apinya Wipatayotin
Will China turn off the Mekong tap?
Countries in the lower Mekong basin are watching anxiously to see whether their “big brother” to the north will tackle the growing Mekong River crisis.China controls the upper section of the river, which rises on the Tibetan Plateau and runs through Laos, the North and ...
Nauvarat Suksamran
OPINION: Mekong Drought Reveals Need for Regional Rules-based Water Cooperation
The severe drought currently faced by farmers and fishers in the Mekong basin is a disaster that reveals many things. It reveals the extent to which large dams now increasingly control river water levels. It reveals too the limits to cooperation between the countries sharing ...
Mekong runs dry as politics, business fail local communities
“The most disastrous situation in history,” was one expert’s stark verdict when shown images of the dry Mekong River bed and dead aquatic animals. Dr Chainarong Setthachua, a lecturer and ecology expert at Maha Sarakham University, was at a loss when asked to describe the ...
Piyaporn Wongruang
China offers to help manage water in Mekong River
Following a period of severely low water levels along the Mekong river, China locating in the upper stream of the river says they will release more water to replenish the supply. Panod Srisinsuphya reports. Panod Srisinsuphya has more on the story.Keep watching ...