The Mekong

Depending on who you speak to, there are naturally differing perspectives in regard to the future of the Mekong River, as most people living along the river look for a sustainable future through conservation of the existing ecosystem, while governments seek balanced resource usage and benefit-sharing ...

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has asked 38 cities and provinces nationwide to promptly revise the operation of reservoirs to ensure water sources for low-lying areas in this dry season, especially in vulnerable areas such as the central region, the Central Highlands and ...

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha may have been wrong when he said his government would clear the waterway for navigation in the Mekong River for the benefit of Thailand, suggesting that nobody should oppose this project. The Mekong runs through six countries in the region and ...

The struggle goes on over whether the controversial Myitsone dam and other hydropower projects along the Ayeyarwady River should be built, following indications that further reports on the projects are needed. A member of the commission for reviewing and scrutinising hydropower projects along the Ayeyarwady ...

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha last week asked reporters why non-governmental organisations, environmental activists and academics continue to protest against the planned blasting of rapids in the Mekong River. He said many of these protesters are outsiders, meaning people who do not live by the riverside, do ...

In the past, Mekong Delta residents, striving to produce as much rice as possible, built closed embankments to prevent floods and cultivate third crops. But now they need floods to preserve water to fight drought and saline intrusion. Le Anh Tuan, deputy head of the Climate ...

Tears fill U Maung Lay’s eyes as he describes losing the dolphin he knew since his childhood, the latest casualty of a battle against pollution and electrofishing that may see the species disappear from Myanmar. Loved for generations for corralling the catch into fishermen’s nets, ...

Hydropower facilities along the upper reaches of the Lancang, which becomes the Mekong River as it flows out of China, have led to major river-flow changes affecting Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, according to a study from Finland’s Aalto University. The study found river-flow ...

Dried fields, cattle dying of thirst, expensive drinking water, sea water overflowing houses. In 2016, the lives of millions of people in Mekong Delta, Central Highlands and central region were upset because of drought and salinity intrusion. In the first months of 2016, when the north ...

Representatives from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam gathered in Vientiane on Thursday to launch a six-month consultation process on what would be the third mainstream hydropower dam in Laos’s Lower Mekong River. Laos first signalled its intention to move ahead with the proposed 912-megawatt Pak ...