The Bangkok Post
Will China turn off the Mekong tap?
Countries in the lower Mekong basin are watching anxiously to see whether their “big brother” to the north will tackle the growing Mekong River crisis. China controls the upper section of the river, which rises on the Tibetan Plateau and runs through Laos, the North and ...
Cambodian press in peril
The fate of two Cambodian journalists accused of espionage — Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin — hangs in the balance as their trial resumes in Phnom Penh today, although the charges against them are based on absurd grounds and flimsy evidence. The bogus case against the ...
Is the Indo-Pacific eclipsing Asia-Pacific?
Thailand and the smaller states in its neighbourhood will miss the Asia-Pacific era. It is not as if the Asia-Pacific has gone away or disappeared in any sense. But its role as a cradle of prosperity linking larger and small economies around the Pacific Rim ...
Thitinan Pongsudhirak
Civic groups call for reviews into Mekong River dam projects
Civic groups on Sunday lodged a petition calling for governments of countries along the Mekong River to review upcoming dam projects. The petition was on Sunday submitted to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) by the Mekong Conservation Network in the North during a forum held in ...
Wassayos Ngamkham
Dam disaster on the way
It is now early on in the rainy season and the water volume on the Mekong River should have been high. But water levels on certain stretches of the international river, which runs from China through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, have reached their ...
Govt speeding up drought relief work
The Royal Irrigation Department (RID) is speeding up efforts to mitigate the impacts of the looming drought after water levels in several major reservoirs fell below the levels of last year. Eighteen major reservoirs are holding less than 30% of their storage capacity including Pasak Jolasid ...
China must be sincere on Mekong
Last week, the Bangkok Post published remarks by Yang Yang, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Thailand, explaining how China and others are promoting water resources cooperation in the Mekong “for the benefit of the people in the region”. I, and members of the Thai ...
EEC megaproject draws flak from residents
The Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) is a well-known flagship megaproject of the military government. The project aims to turn most of the land in the three provinces of Chachoengsao, Chon Buri and Rayong into industrial zones. When completed, the project is expected to change the face ...
Sonthanaporn Inchan
Mekong water level lowest in 10 years
The water level in the Mekong river is the lowest level in 10 years, according to local media reports. The water level, 2.60m, is about 10 metres below the spill-over point on the Mekong river bank, which is 13m high. In the same period last year, ...
Pattanapong Sripiachai
False report undermines Mekong cooperation
The recent media report on the Mekong River which contained false accusations against China ignores the joint efforts made by China, Thailand and other relevant parties to promote cooperation on Mekong water resources for the benefit of the people in the region. These accusations mislead ...
Yang Yang