Pratch Rujivanarom Cargo shipping on the river is now dominated by Chinese firms. THAI businesses have voiced concern over the Mekong River Navigation Channel Improvement Project, arguing that only Chinese businesses will profit while Thai businesses are kept out of the market. As China’s CCCC Second Harbor Consultant Co Ltd surveys the Mekong River in […]
Tag: transportation
China’s blasting of Mekong will cause environmental peril
China’s plan to blast waterfalls and rapids to clear the Mekong River to allow large cargo ships to pass through has raised concerns among the public as it will damage the habitat for marine life and harm people’s lives.
ADB president calls for new Infrastructure Investment
More investment in infrastructure is needed to support continued growth in Asia and the Pacific and combat climate change, Asian Development Bank (ADB) president Takehiko Nakao said in his opening address at the 50th annual meeting of ADB’s board of governors on Saturday.
China’s Silk Road threatens the mighty Mekong River
China wants to remove rocks and sandbanks to allow ships of up to 500 tonnes to sail from its landlocked province of Yunnan to the sleepy Laotian town of Luang Prabang.
Local activists protest against Mekong survey
More than 30 local activists Friday held a peaceful protest against the survey operation for the Mekong River Navigation Channel Improvement Project at Pha Phra in Chiang Rai’s Chiang Khong District.
Governor denies bid to stop protest on Mekong blasting
CHIANG RAI’S governor has denied that the authorities attempted to block a protest against a Chinese team that is surveying the Mekong River as part of the Navigation Route Improvement project, although local residents say the order has been issued.
The Myanmar-China dilemma
Myanmar is sandwiched between two very large neighbours – China and India. Relations with China are not currently cordial, especially among the Myanmar people, who retain memories of numerous undue political and economic interactions and incidents.
Implementation is key: ADB Vice President
Myanmar has tremendous potential for development and the government is on the right track. These are the comments of Stephen Groff, Asian Development Bank’s vice president for East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
The Bird’s Eye View: What Endangered Birds Tell Us About the Risks of Mekong Development
The Thai government started 2017 announcing another major commitment to transportation expansion: US$25 billion to finance futuristic high-speed trains, super highways and expanded sea and airports. Far less glitzy but immediately controversial, however, was one of its final transportation acts of 2016: preparing to restart, after 13 years, rapid blasting and river channelization to clear the Mekong River for navigation just below its arrival from Myanmar.
The soul of the Mekong is in serious trouble
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha last week asked reporters why non-governmental organisations (NGOs), environmental activists and academics continue to protest against the planned blasting of rapids in the Mekong River.
He said many of these protesters are outsiders, meaning people who do not live by the riverside, do not fish its waters or make a living from the river and do not, in fact, have any stake in the river at all.