Why the Mekong needs to become a river of democracy
Rivers are the lifelines of the world. Their waters crisscross cities, countries and continents. But after a week on the mighty Mekong, our correspondent sees a need for more ‘river democracy’. Keep reading ...
Bruno Kaufmann
Foreign nations express sympathy, hope for swift recovery after flood
Foreign countries have continued to convey messages of sympathy to the Lao government and the families of those who lost their lives or houses in the flood caused by the collapse of the dam in Attapeu province.More ...
Times Reporters
75th joint patrol on Mekong River starts
The 75th joint patrol on the Mekong River, with law enforcers from China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, started Tuesday. Eight vessels and more than 100 law enforcement personnel participated in the patrol between China’s Guanlei port and waters near the Golden Triangle. Keep reading ...
Mekong region's boutique hotels raise the bar
With its seemingly endless tropical summers, increasingly vibrant urban centers and relatively low living costs, the so-called Mekong region — comprising Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam — is drawing a rapidly growing share of Southeast Asian tourism. Keep reading ...
72nd joint patrol on Mekong River starts
The 72nd joint patrol on the Mekong River with law enforcement from China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand started on Tuesday. Six vessels and more than 100 law enforcement personnel participated in the mission, aiming to crack down on crime in the region. Keep reading ...
New strategy for Japan, Mekong cooperation
Japan and four Southeast Asian nations along the Mekong River Basin – Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand – have approved a plan to speed up industrial development in the region. Keep reading ...
Rotary Club of Ladner takes lead in running water project for Laos village
In remote villages of Laos, considered the most bombed country in history where one-third of the population was killed during a 20-year civil war, lack of access to clean water is both a health problem and a barrier to education for many children.The village of ...
Delta Optimist
Joint patrol completes on Mekong River
The 79th joint patrol on Mekong River, led by China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, concluded Friday at the Guanlei Port, Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Xishuangbanna in southwest China’s Yunnan Province. A total of 154 law enforcement officers from the four countries, in nine vessels, participated ...
Civil Society Organisations Support Lao Government Response to COVID-19 Prevention Across Country
The 12-month partnership agreements were signed as part of the ‘Civil Society Action to Prevent and Mitigate COVID-19’ (CiSAC) project, which will improve the nations’ long-term response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. These ten CSO projects, funded by the European Union, will reach over 100,000 ...
Advertorial Desk
4 Dams on the Upper Mekong in Yunnan, China: 2011-2019
These photos document the construction of four dams – from north to south, Wunonglong, Lidi, Tuoba, and Huangdeng (see map below) – along a 200-kilometer stretch of the upper Mekong in Yunnan, China, and the transformation of the river from a free-flowing current to a ...
Scott Ezell
ASIA 2016: Conference on water resources and hydropower development in Asia
This international conference will take place in Vientiane, Laos, 1-3 March 2016. The event is organised by the International Journal on Hydropower and Dams, IEA, IFC, the World Bank and others. ...
Thai lockdown sparks exodus of 60,000 migrant workers: ministry official
About 60,000 migrant workers living in Thailand have fled the country since authorities shut malls and many businesses at the weekend to curb the spread of the coronavirus, a Thai interior ministry official said on Wednesday. Thailand’s latest measures have left many without jobs and prompted ...
Panarat Thepgumpanat
Sebastian Strangio on China in the Mekong region
With far-reaching implications for the upcoming elections in Myanmar and with the US tentatively wading into river governance, the Mekong region has become a contentious staging ground for China’s wider goals in Southeast Asia. Sebastian Strangio’s new book In the Dragon’s Shadow: Southeast Asia in the Chinese Century draws ...
Tyler Roney
Water wars: Mekong River another front in U.S.-China rivalry
The Mekong River has become a new front in U.S.-China rivalry, environmentalists and officials say, with Beijing overtaking Washington in both spending and influence over downstream countries at the mercy of its control of the river’s waters. It’s a confrontation in which the Trump administration – ...
Kay Johnson, Panu Wongcha-um
New Industrial Estate to Link Isaan with Mekong Nations
A new industrial estate, currently under construction in northeastern Thailand, is primarily designed as a logistics and freight forwarding center in connection with neighboring countries, confirmed a senior government official on Monday. The industrial estate in Udon Thani province, which is now 50 percent complete and ...
Xinhua News Agency
Mekong River Commission Calls For Water Flow Transparency From China
The Mekong River Commission’s (MRC) annual report, published 16 June, includes a noteworthy statement calling for increased transparency from China over upstream dam operations on the river. The Mekong is Southeast Asia’s longest river and acts as a lifeline to 60 million people. Downtream Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and ...
OOSKAnews Correspondent
The changing face of ASEAN
With much of ASEAN stuck in the economic doldrums and its senior members beset with issues ranging from unprecedented levels of corruption to violent insurgencies and maritime disputes with China, the regional bloc has known better days. But from the most unlikely corners of northern ASEAN, a more ...
Pointing out culprits of Mekong’s problems is not our mission: MRC Secretariat CEO
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 ...
Aron White, thethirdpole.net
More dams would devastate the ailing Mekong River
Once, not that long ago, the Mekong River in Southeast Asia was a formidable waterway. Navigating much of the 4,350km-long river was a real challenge. The Mekong, which originates in China and empties into the South China Sea in Vietnam after passing through four other ...
Daniel T Cross
Ratana decries lack of UXO aid
A top Cambodian demining official slammed US President Barack Obama’s widely heralded pledge to increase demining aid to Laos on September 6, faulting the US for what he characterised as its “marginal assistance” to Cambodia’s demining efforts. In a speech at the 2016 ASEAN Summit in ...