Chiang Rai drought; Mekong runs dry

CHIANG RAI: -- The drought in Thailand's northernmost province of Chiang Rai is reaching a crisis point as the Mekong River is running dry, severely impacting boat tour operations on the river, according to a tour operator.

Songchai Suksomjai said the Mekong tour operators in Chiang Rai's Chiangsan district report that the water transport businesses, particularly boat tours, were affected by the receding waters of the Mekong River.

Tour operators have attempted to counter the problems by reducing the number of passengers to cut the load of the boat from 35-40 persons per trip to 20-25, giving the craft a shallower draft, enabling it to cruise in shallow waters, he said.

However, fewer paying passengers at a time when fuel prices are rising means that the tour companies cannot profit from their work.

Consequently they want the government to lend a helping hand by cut gasoline prices to reduce the financial burden of the tour operators.

In related developments, the Chiang Rai drought has gradually expanded so that it now affects almost 314,000 families in 18 districts who are hard-hit by water shortages and drought affecting their crops.

More than 68,000 rai (27,200 acres) of agricultural lands have been damaged by the drought and the provincial authorities declared all 18 districts of Chiang Rai as a drought-ravaged area.

--TNA 2008-03-31

They speaking of putting dams on, better for some maybe, but not all surely???

They speaking of putting dams on, better for some maybe, but not all surely???

Hmmmmm, aren't the Chinese damming upriver?

They speaking of putting dams on, better for some maybe, but not all surely???

Hmmmmm, aren't the Chinese damming upriver?

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn4819...zarre-flow.html

Thought so.

The Rio Grande, the only boundary separating Texas from Mexico, ran dry at its mouth, around 2001. The illegal aliens walked across dry land, like Biblical Hebrews with Moses, to the Promised Land!

So will the Burmese and Laotians start walking into Thailand?

The Rio Grande, the only boundary separating Texas from Mexico, ran dry at its mouth, around 2001. The illegal aliens walked across dry land, like Biblical Hebrews with Moses, to the Promised Land!

So will the Burmese and Laotians start walking into Thailand?

They already are in their thousands! Besides the fact that the Mekong does not form a common border between Thailand and Burma and mostly the border is mountainous, it is not a big problem walking from Laos to Thailand. But not necessarily across the Mekong, as there are hundreds of miles of land border between Sayaboury Province and six Thai provinces, or Champasak Province and Ubon Ratchatani. However, the land mines can be a bit bothersome.

However, expect the Mekong to initially get dryer in the dry season as they build these dams in China, and then in a few years time when the giant 300 m high Xiaowan Dam is complete for the river to be higher in the dry season and walking across to become impossible as its wet season peaks and dry season troughs get ironed out by hydropower production releases.

If the Mekong is running low, I suspect tour operators are the least of their worries.