Chuyên mục: Greater Mekong Sub-Region

Mekong Dam Monitor Weekly Update

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February 24 – March 2, 2025 Stimson Mekong Monitor

Spotlight

Significant releases from China’s large dams push river to higher-than-normal levels.

Sustained large releases from China’s Xiaowan and Nuozhadu Dams are causing the river to run at levels 1-2 meters higher than normal along the Thai-Lao border. The two graphs illustrate  the sudden spike in river level occurring during the last days of February, corresponding to about 900 million cubic meters of water releases from China’s dams. Under normal dry season conditions, the river level does not spike in a manner seen on the graphs. At this time of year, the river level should gradually decrease over the next six weeks. Sudden spikes in river level, particularly those which run for sustained periods at higher levels, can be devastating for the river’s ecological processes and for the communities who depend on the river.

What Happened Last Week?

    • Where’s the Water: Last week, dams throughout the basin released a significant cumulative total of 1.6 billion cubic meters of water. Significant releases came from Xiaowan (PRC, 749 million cubic meters), Nuozhadu (PRC, 164 million cubic meters), and Thuen Hinboun Expansion (LAO, 199 million cubic meters). Dry season water releases generate hydropower but also artificially raise the level of the river. Where is the water?
    • River Levels: River levels throughout the basin are now about one meter higher than normal. See how this looks.
    • Wetness and Weather: While the headwaters of the Mekong in China are excessively wet (blue), most of the lower Mekong region is experiencing intensifying drought (red). Dry season irrigation activities in the Mekong Delta are creating slightly above average wetness anomalies in Vietnam’s delta. Temperatures in the Mekong basin were about average overall, with slightly above-average temperatures in the northern portion of the basin and slightly below average temperatures in the lower basin. See the maps.

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Cambodia PM launches project linking Mekong river to sea via canal

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VNE – By AFP   August 5, 2024 | 11:05 am GMT+7

Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for the Funan Techo Canal in Kandal province on Aug. 5, 2024. Photo by AFPCambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet on Monday launched a US$1.7 billion canal project that aims to provide a new link from the Mekong River to the sea.

Manet called the 180-km (110-mile) project “historic” and vowed to “finish it at all costs.”

“We must build this canal at all costs,” Manet said at the project’s launch ceremony before fireworks shot into the air and drums sounded after he pressed the launch button for the project.

The Funan Techo canal will run from the Mekong River, about an hour’s drive southeast of Phnom Penh, to the sea in the Gulf of Thailand.

The government says the canal will offer an alternative to transit via Vietnam and will reduce dependence on Vietnamese ports, generating economic activity worth 21-30% more than its cost.

It would create tens of thousands of jobs in the country, though it has not provided detailed evidence for those forecasts.

Dự án kênh Phù Nam Techo: Vấn đề chia sẻ thông tin

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THANH TUẤN – 11/05/2024 09:34 GMT+7

TTCT – Dự án kênh đào Phù Nam Techo của Campuchia gây chú ý gần đây khi xuất hiện lo ngại dự án sẽ làm thay đổi dòng chính sông Mekong, tác động tới vùng lũ và sinh kế người dân Đồng bằng sông Cửu Long.

Ảnh: Getty

Chỉ ngắn hơn kênh đào Suez 13km, dự án 180km này dự kiến nối thủ đô Phnom Penh của Campuchia với tỉnh Kep, giáp biên giới Việt Nam. 

Được coi là nỗ lực hồi sinh hệ thống sông ngòi lịch sử Campuchia, con kênh với bề rộng 100m và sâu 5,4m có thể phục vụ tàu 3.000 tấn vào mùa khô và 5.000 tấn vào mùa mưa.

Theo China Global South Project, con kênh sẽ kéo dài từ khu vực Prek Takeo của sông Mekong tới Prek Ta Ek và Prek Ta Hing của sông Bassac (sông Hậu) và đi qua bốn tỉnh Kandal, Takeo, Kampot và Kep, với ba hệ thống âu tàu, 11 cầu và 208km đường ven bờ được xây dựng bởi Tập đoàn Cầu đường Trung Quốc (CRBC) theo mô hình BOT. 

Thủ tướng Campuchia Hun Manet ủng hộ mạnh mẽ dự án, và nói nó không có tác hại gì tới môi trường, đặc biệt là tới dòng Mekong đi qua nhiều nước ASEAN.

Tối 5-5, trả lời báo chí, người phát ngôn Bộ Ngoại giao Việt Nam Phạm Thu Hằng nói: “Việt Nam rất quan tâm và tôn trọng lợi ích chính đáng của Campuchia theo tinh thần của Hiệp định Mekong 1995, phù hợp với các quy định liên quan của Ủy hội sông Mekong và quan hệ láng giềng hữu nghị truyền thống giữa hai nước”. 

Về dự án kênh Phù Nam Techo, bà Hằng nói Việt Nam mong “Campuchia tiếp tục phối hợp chặt chẽ với Việt Nam và các nước trong Ủy hội sông Mekong chia sẻ thông tin, đánh giá đầy đủ tác động của dự án này đối với nguồn nước, tài nguyên nước và môi trường sinh thái của khu vực tiểu vùng sông Mekong cùng các biện pháp quản lý phù hợp nhằm bảo đảm hài hòa lợi ích của các quốc gia ven sông, quản lý, sử dụng hiệu quả và bền vững nguồn nước và tài nguyên nước sông Mekong”.

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History fades as rising sea levels slowly destroy Thailand’s temple murals

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theguardian.com Saltwater damage could see precious historical Buddhist artworks dating back hundreds of years slowly fade entirely from view

by Rebecca Ratcliffe and Navaon Siradapuvadol in NonthaburiWed 29 Nov 2023 02.37 GMT

If you look closely, you can just about see the characters and scenes that once stretched across the walls of Wat Prasat, a temple in Nonthaburi. There’s the dark shape of an elephant’s head, a figure slouching on its back; outlines of swords pointing upwards to the centre of the display; patches of curved roofs.

“The mural used to be more vivid,” says Phra Maha Natee, the abbot of Wat Prasat. Even when he was a novice monk, 20 years ago, the image – which shows one of the jātakas stories that recall the Buddha’s past lives – was easier to understand. “The colour was brighter and sharper,” he says.

The murals offer a glimpse into a past era – a time of prosperity but also social upheaval, when a more empowered nobility had emerged, as did a desire, say historians, for Buddhism to play a more stronger role in reinforcing discipline in society. They date back to the mid or later years of the Ayutthaya kingdom in Siam, which existed from 1351 to 1767, in what is now Thailand and are a treasured early example of the art form.

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High times in Thailand: New weed laws draw tourists from across Asia

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APnews.com

A Japanese tourist smokes cannabis at a Dutch passion shop in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, June 27, 2023. Thailand’s de facto legalization of marijuana last year has brought a wave of tourists from the region intrigued by the lure of the forbidden leaf.(AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

1 of 4 | A Japanese tourist smokes cannabis at a Dutch passion shop in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, June 27, 2023. Thailand’s de facto legalization of marijuana last year has brought a wave of tourists from the region intrigued by the lure of the forbidden leaf.(AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

A Japanese tourist smokes cannabis at a Dutch passion shop in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, June 27, 2023. Thailand’s de facto legalization of marijuana last year has brought a wave of tourists from the region intrigued by the lure of the forbidden leaf. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

A flower bud of marijuana is prepared for customers at a Dutch passion shop in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, June 27, 2023. Most Asian nations have strict drug laws with harsh penalties, and Thailand's de facto legalization of marijuana last year has brought a wave of tourists from the region like the visitor from Japan, intrigued by the lure of the forbidden leaf. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

3 of 4 | 

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Laos struggles with unexploded bombs 50 years after Paris Accords

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asia.nikkei.com

Hidden dangers from another era hinder economic development

An unexploded cluster bomb dropped by the U.S. military half a century ago is unearthed in Kasi, northern Laos.

KOSUKE INOUE, Nikkei staff writerJanuary 28, 2023 11:01 JST

KASI, Laos — Five decades have elapsed since the signing of the Paris Peace Accords on Jan. 27, 1973 that led to the end of the Vietnam War. The long conflict devastated all of Indochina, and its aftermath continues to stymie the region’s economic development.

Early this month, specialists of the Laotian military detected unexploded ordnance (UXO) in the northern town of Kasi. The team of about 10 found one cluster bomb the size of a tennis ball and used a loudspeaker to warn residents while cordoning off nearby roads before disposing of the device.

Operations of this type continue.

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‘Increasingly brazen’ war crimes evident in Myanmar

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UN.org

Two soldiers stand guard at a post in northern Myanmar. (file)

IRIN/Steve Sandford. Two soldiers stand guard at a post in northern Myanmar. (file)

Human Rights

The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) on Tuesday revealed compelling evidence of the country’s military and affiliate militias engaging in more frequent and audacious war crimes and crimes against humanity.

These include indiscriminate attacks on civilians from aerial bombing, mass executions of civilians and detained combatants, and large-scale and intentional burning of civilian homes and buildings, resulting in the destruction of entire villages in some cases, the Mechanism said in a news release.

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“The Mekong is Dying”: How China’s River Diplomacy Neglects Locals, Exacerbates Climate Change

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File image of the aerial view of the Jinghong Hydropower Station on the Lancang River, the Chinese part of the Mekong River, in Jinghong city, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China’s Yunnan province. Imaginechina Limited / Alamy Stock Photo

Chinaglobalsouth.com

The rainy season would usually start in May, but this was late June and it was still not raining much. Niwat Roykaew, who grew up on the bank of the Mekong River in Thailand’s northern Chiang Rai province, noticed. 

Born and raised in the Chiang Khong district, Roykaew, 63, was taught to observe the Mekong River to tell the season. But, in the past two decades, the river has become unpredictable like it has “pulsated out of tune”.

Niwat Roykaew is a Thai activist who campaigns for China to share data about water restrictions by its dams upstream.

“The water would get high for two days, then on the third day it would suddenly drop, even during the rainy season,” said Roykaew. 

Local residents like him knew that this delay could mean another year of drought. Since at least 2019, that’s what has happened: the monsoon rain is late, and when it comes, it departs early.

The Mekong River’s water levels in the lower basin, including in Thailand, are now very unstable, being heavily affected both by climate change and hydropower dams upstream that are mostly powered by China, according to local residents, activists, and experts.

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Myanmar is a failing state, led by a junta fuelled by Russian arms, says UN rights envoy

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theguardian.com

Civilians are being killed by Russian weapons just like in Ukraine, says special rapporteur Tom Andrews in call for global action

A man sits in front of a house destroyed by the Myanmar junta’s air strike.

A man sits in front of a house destroyed by a Myanmar junta air strike. The UN special rapporteur for human rights there has called for an arms embargo. Photograph: SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images

Rebecca Ratcliffe South-east Asia correspondentWed 15 Mar 2023 19.00 GMT

Myanmar is a “failing state” and the crisis is getting exponentially worse, a UN special rapporteur for the country has warned, urging countries to adopt the same unified resolve that followed the invasion of Ukraine.

“The same types of weapons that are killing Ukrainians are killing people in Myanmar,” Tom Andrews, special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, told the Guardian in an interview, citing the supply of Russian weapons to the junta since the coup two years ago. The junta relies heavily on aircraft from China and Russia, and has increasingly resorted to airstrikes to attempt to quell determined resistance forces.

The international response to Myanmar has been inadequate and some countries are continuing to enable the junta’s atrocities, Andrews said, calling for an arms embargo.

A man sits in front of a house that was burned by a military air strike

https://66ae38e287ca1c63cdfd74afa802d2e4.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html

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Mekong farmers struggle as fertilizer prices rise

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Farmers harvest rice in Thailand’s northern Nan province. PHOTO: Paritta Wangkiat

mekong eye – By Phafan Nokaeo, Tran Nguyen and Sao Phal Niseiy

26 September 2022 at 8:25

Rising fertilizer costs decimate poor Mekong farmers’ livelihoods despite their vital role in feeding millions.

BANGKOK, THAILAND ― Skyrocketing prices for fertilizers and agricultural production has pushed farmers in the Mekong region into severe debt and poverty.

Many have been forced to abandon their farms or have been unable to pay their debts and have lost their land, despite their roles in ensuring food security for millions of people.   

“This is the worst year for farmers. Everything is more expensive, except rice prices, and they keep dropping,” said Prasert Tangthong, 58, a farmer with a small holding in Sing Buri province in central Thailand.

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U.N. council demands end to Myanmar violence in first resolution in decades

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By Michelle Nichols

reuters.com

https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.549.0_en.html#goog_206340488

U.N. council adopts first Myanmar resolution in decades

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 21 (Reuters) – The U.N. Security Council adopted its first resolution on Myanmar in 74 years on Wednesday to demand an end to violence and urge the military junta to release all political prisoners, including ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Myanmar has been in crisis since the army took power from Suu Kyi’s elected government on Feb. 1, 2021, detaining her and other officials and responding to pro-democracy protests and dissent with lethal force.

It has long been split on how to deal with the Myanmar crisis, with China and Russia arguing against strong action. They both abstained from the vote on Wednesday, along with India. The remaining 12 members voted in favor.

“China still has concerns,” China’s U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun told the council after the vote. “There is no quick fix to the issue … Whether or not it can be properly resolved in the end, depends fundamentally, and only, on Myanmar itself.”

He said China had wanted the Security Council to adopt a formal statement on Myanmar, not a resolution.

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said Moscow did not view the situation in Myanmar as a threat to international peace and security and therefore believed it should not be dealt with by the U.N. Security Council.

Myanmar citizens protest in Bangkok
Myanmar citizens who live in Thailand, hold a portrait of former Myanmar state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi as they protest against the execution of pro-democracy activists, at Myanmar embassy in Bangkok, Thailand July 26, 2022. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed the resolution’s adoption. “This is an important step by the Security Council to address the crisis and end the Burma military regime’s escalating repression and violence against civilians,” he said in a statement.

‘FIRST STEP’

Until now the council had only agreed formal statements on Myanmar, where the army also led a 2017 crackdown on Rohingya Muslims that was described by the United States as genocide. Myanmar denies genocide and said it was waging a legitimate campaign against insurgents who attacked police posts.

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China Announces New ASEAN Belt & Road Initiative Projects Centered Around Cambodia

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The Phnom Penh-Bavet Highway which will ultimately link the Cambodian and Vietnamese capital cities

aseanbriefing.com

The 2022 ASEAN summit took place at the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, this past weekend, with China as an official guest. At the event, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced Beijing’s approval of Chinese investment in significant infrastructure projects in the ASEAN region.  

Among these is a US$1.6 billion expressway to be built from Phnom Penh to Bavet, at the Cambodian-Vietnamese border, and financial support for a rail link between Phnom Penh, Bangkok, and Vientiane, Laos, from which a high-speed rail link has already been constructed into China. 

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Phỏng vấn Ngô Thế Vinh – người đi dọc 4.800km sông Mekong

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NĐT –  10:05 | Chủ nhật, 15/05/2016 0

LTS. Gần 20 năm tâm huyết với các vấn đề trên dòng Mekong cũng như đồng bằng sông Cửu Long (ĐBSCL), bác sĩ Ngô Thế Vinh không chỉ là một nhà văn với hai tác phẩm Cửu Long cạn dòng, Biển Đông dậy sóng và Mekong – dòng sông nghẽn mạch, ông còn là một nhà hoạt động môi trường bền bỉ. Ông đã có những chuyến đi dọc dòng Mekong dài 4.800km, từ Tây Tạng đổ xuống Biển Đông. Người Đô Thị có cuộc phỏng vấn ông Ngô Thế Vinh về các vấn đề nóng bỏng hiện nay trên dòng Mekong và ĐBSCL.

Thưa, dù đã 17 năm trôi qua, từ những chuyến đi dọc dòng sông Mekong dài 4.800km, bức tranh sống động mà ông “phác họa” về những tác hại khủng khiếp do các con đập thủy điện gây ra cho đời sống người dân lưu vực sông Mekong đến nay vẫn nóng hổi tính thời sự. Từ những dự cảm rất sớm về những hậu quả do các đập thủy điện gây ra trên dòng Mekong và cho ĐBSCL nói riêng, ông nhận định gì về thực trạng hiện nay?

Năm 2000, khi nói “Cửu Long cạn dòng”, nhiều người xem đó là phát biểu “nghịch lý” bởi đó là năm có lụt lớn ở miền Tây. Một vị tu sĩ đang tất bật lo việc cứu trợ, mới nghe tên cuốn sách đã phát biểu: “Đang lũ lụt ngập trời với nhà trôi người chết mà lại nói “Cửu Long cạn dòng” là thế nào?” Nhưng cần hiểu rằng lũ và hạn tương ứng với mùa mưa và mùa khô là chu kỳ tự nhiên đã có hàng ngàn năm trên dòng Mekong và các vùng châu thổ, và đến nay thì mức độ càng trầm trọng và gay gắt.

Chúng ta không thể đổ lỗi hết cho “thiên tai”, mà cần can đảm gọi cho đúng tên những yếu tố “nhân tai” bởi do chính con người gây ra qua suốt quá trình phát triển không bền vững và có tính tự hủy từ nhiều thập niên qua, đã làm gãy đổ sự cân bằng của cả một hệ sinh thái vốn phức tạp nhưng cũng hết sức mong manh của dòng Mekong.

Băng qua Biển Hồ đến khu Bảo tồn sinh thái Tonle Sap (nguồn: tư liệu Ngô Thế Vinh)

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Cambodian mega dam’s resurrection on the Mekong ‘the beginning of the end’

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mongabay – by Gerald Flynn, Nehru Pry on 15 September 2022

  • Cambodian authorities have greenlit studies for a major hydropower dam on the Mekong River in Stung Treng province, despite a ban on dam building on the river that’s been in place since 2020.
  • Plans for the 1,400-megawatt Stung Treng dam have been around since 2007, but the project, under various would-be developers, has repeatedly been shelved over criticism of its impacts.
  • This time around, the project is being championed by Royal Group, a politically connected conglomerate that was also behind the hugely controversial Lower Sesan 2 dam on a tributary of the Mekong, prompting fears among local communities and experts alike.
  • This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network where Gerald Flynn is a fellow.

STUNG TRENG, Cambodia — A long-dormant plan to build a mega dam on the mainstream of the Mekong River in Cambodia’s northeastern Stung Treng province appears to have been revived this year, leaving locals immediately downstream of the potential sites worried and experts confounded.

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Thai court suspends Prime Minister Prayuth; Prawit made acting PM

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asia.nikkei.com

5-4 decision gives judges time to consider opposition’s term limit petition

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha: A surprising Constitutional Court ruling on Aug. 24 temporarily removes Prayuth from office.   © Reuters

APORNRATH PHOONPHONGPHIPHAT, Nikkei staff writerAugust 24, 2022 16:12 JSTUpdated on August 24, 2022 20:08 JST

BANGKOK — Thailand’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday suspended Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha from duty until it rules on a petition filed by opposition parties that the one-time army chief has served beyond the constitutionally mandated eight years.

Prayuth first awarded himself the prime minister post in 2014, after staging a military coup.

“The court has determined by a 5-4 vote to suspend Gen. Prayuth from the duties of Prime Minister from Aug. 24 onward until the court reaches a [final] verdict,” the court said in a statement.

While Prayuth remains suspended from duty, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan will serve as a caretaker prime minister, said Wissanu Krea-Ngam, another deputy prime minister and the government’s legal expert. Prawit is the most senior deputy.

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