Hydropower dams

China’s integrated water management approach holds promise in addressing resource management challenges and fostering sustainable development in the Lancang-Mekong countries, said a Thai expert. Piti Srisangnam, executive director of the ASEAN Foundation, said China’s emphasis on comprehensive planning, cooperation, and recognizing the interconnectivity of various sectors ...

In a collective stance against two prospective dam projects along the Mekong River, villagers from five communities, researchers, as well as a Thai university, have teamed up. The collaboration aims to gather comprehensive data regarding their local economy, natural resources, and potential downstream impacts. The participation from within ...

Pressing ahead with its vision to become the “Battery of Southeast Asia,” the government of Laos is going forward with plans to build its seventh of nine mainstream dams on the Mekong River, despite widespread concerns that it could inflict social and environmental damage. The 728-megawatt ...

The 4th Mekong River Commission Summit, held in Vientiane on 4-5 April 2023, saw heads of state and ministers from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam come together to discuss the sustainable development of Southeast Asia’s greatest river. At its conclusion, the four countries signed the ‘Vientiane Declaration’, in ...

A Chinese official in a Mekong River intergovernmental body has warned against jumping to conclusions about data on the distressed waterway, saying that politics may get in the way of closer cooperation between upstream and downstream countries along the waterway. “Some parties start with preconceptions, and ...

Niwat Roykaew, an environmental activist based in Chiang Rai province in northern Thailand, described the Mekong as a naga, a mythical water serpent and symbol of fertility that brings abundance to the entire region. The river, which flows across the borders of six countries, supports a vast ...

The Mekong River carves a vast aquatic lifeline through Asia. Rising in glacial streams high in the Tibetan plateau, the river morphs as it tumbles south through rocky ravines, steep-sided valleys and expansive flooded forests to the South China Sea. Its influence is immense: over ...

“When the Salween runs dry and we can cross it, that would be the end of the world,” is a saying widely believed by generations of locals who live on the banks of the river in Mae Hong Son province. In a proactive move, the ...

CHIANG KHONG, Thailand: From February to April each year, Kam Thon spends most of her days knee-deep in the waters of the Mekong River by her village in northern Thailand, gathering river weed to sell and cook at home. Kam Thon and other women who live ...

The Mekong River Commission (MRC) is working to promote the maximization of the potential benefits of hydropower and other water-related development projects while minimising the harmful impact on the environment and millions of people living along this Southeast Asia’s largest river. The MRC launched two sets ...