Mekong projects must take impact on environment into account
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 it is not right that one or two be allowed to make a short-sighted decision on what to do with the river. It still remains unclear about who will really benefit from what Prayut is talking about. China uses the Mekong more than other countries in the basin, and the river also runs through several parts of Laos. Therefore, it is not really up to Thailand to make decisions about the river. It is widely known that China opened the waterway in the Mekong River to countries downstream more than two decades ago.
