Murg’s work focuses on Chinese aid and investment policy in Southeast Asia; the political economy of foreign aid; and the politics of the Greater Mekong Sub-region as a whole.
Category: Mekong
Thailand challenges Laos dam building spree on Mekong River
Thailand has threatened to sink plans for a Chinese-developed dam planned for the Mekong River in neighboring Laos, in a rare rebuke that hints at a rising tide of dissension in an area where all three countries share Southeast Asia’s largest waterway.
River Discharge and Water Level Changes in the Mekong River: Droughts in an Era of Mega-Dams
The 2019-2020 drought that caused the lowest water level in recent history has affected riparian communities from Northern Thailand to the Vietnamese Delta. Using hydro meteorological data, we identified three key causes. One, the reduction of wet season flow by Chinese dams in the UMB. Two, an extreme dry year that further decreases the amount of water available in the Mekong river. Three, the operationalisation of Xayaburi and its infilling period
China’s Diversion of Upstream Mekong Flows Seen Drying Up Southeast Asia
Analysts say Chinese officials are diverting so much water from dams along the upper Mekong River system that Southeast Asian countries are going dry during prime agricultural seasons and turning to other powers for help.
The Mekong report China doesn’t want to see
The Mekong river is a life line of millions of people in six countries. In the past few years, however, life has been very difficult for people who depend on the river. 2018 was one of the river’s driest years. Many researchers tried to find the explanation, and the focus landed on China.
‘Not Sufficient’: Thailand Rejects Report on Lao Hydropower Dam
The Sanakham dam is one of seven mega-dams that the landlocked country is planning, in defiance of environmental and economic sense.
Mekong area looks to neighbor as it fights poverty
Bernard Kervyn, regional director of the nonprofit organization Mekong Plus in Vietnam and Cambodia, said he “would be very happy” to work with Chinese organizations to jointly promote poverty alleviation in the Mekong River basin countries.
China is building border walls with Vietnam and Myanmar to keep people out, but also in
Border closures have become a key feature of the COVID-19 era, but China’s decision to reinforce border walls with its South-East Asian neighbours has stirred up fresh controversy.
Thailand rejects new technical report on large-scale Lao Mekong mainstream dam
Thailand called on the developer to conduct an extensive environmental impact assessment and again revise the report before the next prior consultation.
Mekong River Being ‘Dammed’ with Uncertainty by China and Laos
But the current direction of development shows that regional decision-makers do not acknowledge the broader value of the river, ignoring other users of this shared resource.