The Mekong River

Sify Bangkok: Extensive flooding in central Thailand this month killed up to 100 people and affected 5 million others, officials said on Saturday. Unusually heavy monsoon rains since Oct 10 caused flooding in 38 of 76 provinces, swamping 640,000 hectares of farmland and causing more than 10 billion baht ($333 million) in damage, the disaster [...]

Confirms that it will not finance investments in mainstream hydro projects Washington DC, October 22, 2010 — In the wake of the release of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of proposed hydropower projects on the Mekong River’s mainstream, the World Bank today reaffirmed its commitment to helping the countries of the lower Mekong Basin to [...]

Senate Press release… Says U.S. should consider withdrawing funding for Mekong River Commission if environmental standards are not met October 27, 2010 Senator Jim Webb, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs, today warned that the lack of cooperation on infrastructure development in the Lower Mekong Initiative [...]

Yoolim Lee for Bloomberg The Mekong River sparkles in the early morning sun as Somwang Prommin, a stocky fisherman wearing a worn-out black T-shirt and shorts, starts the motor of his boat. As the tiny craft glides on the river’s calm surface in the northeastern Thai district of Chiang Khong, Somwang points to a nearby [...]

By Lachlan Carmichael for AFP WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton left Wednesday on a two-week Asia trip to pursue what an aide called “cool-headed, constructive diplomacy” with China and boost US ties with Pacific neighbors. The chief US diplomat’s tour, her sixth to Asia since she took office 21 months ago, comes as [...]

The Bangkok Post Run-off from heavily flooded northeastern provinces is heading towards the Mekong River which borders Ubon Ratchathani, causing havoc along the way. As Ubon Ratchathani prepares to deal with the approaching deluge, parts of Maha Sarakham and Surin along the Chi and Mun rivers have begun to suffer from the overflow. These two [...]

By Milton Osborne for The Interpreter A thorough environmental assessment has called into question plans for the construction of dams on the Mekong River, plans which are backed by the Lao and Cambodian governments. On 15 October the Mekong River Commission (MRC) released the Final Report on the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of planned hydropower [...]

By Minh An for Thanh Nien NGOs urge cancellation of hydropower projects planned on mainstream Mekong River The debate over dams on the lower Mekong continued to rage with campaigners calling for a halt to the discussion process on constructing any on the river’s mainstream. The renewed call for a moratorium on dams followed the [...]

By Tom Fawthrop for The Diplomat Chinese dams threaten one of the world’s most biodiverse rivers, critics say. It’s not just environmentalists who are worried. The untamed, roaring currents of the mighty Mekong have long enchanted travellers, inspired explorers and sustained some 65 million inhabitants who live off the world’s largest freshwater fisheries. From its [...]

Mekong River Commission Secretariat 15 October 2010 The Mekong River Commission (MRC) today released the draft final report of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for hydropower development projects proposed on the mainstream Mekong River. In response to a high level of interest to construct up to twelve mainstream hydropower projects in Cambodia, Lao PDR and [...]