Don’t touch the Mekong
[…] A collection of shoals, reefs and islets off Chiang Rai province is the only serious block for 500-tonne Chinese riverboats past Thailand and all the way down to Luang Prabang in Laos. Beijing is once again applying economic and diplomatic pressure on Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and the government. Gen Prayut doesn’t want to make any decision but probably will have to in the coming weeks.
China wants to blast the 1.5km Khon Pi Luang to clear the “rapids” off Chiang Khong district in Chiang Rai. Conservationists and civil rights activists, who have formed a coalition of sorts, want it left strictly alone…
Bankok Post staff
