Moon river dries up faster than usual in Buri Ram

BURI RAM: -- The Moon river in Buri Ram’s Satoek district has dropped sharply and prematurely exposing mid-river sand dunes and sparking off concern that they may not be enough water for consumption to last through the hot season.

Residents living along the river in Tambon Tha Muang, Tambon Sakae and Tambon Satoek of Satoek district said that usually the river would run dry exposing the sand dunes in late March or early April but, this year, it came early in February.

Residents who make their living by fishing in the river complained that the river has become so shallow that fish has become scarce and they can no longer fish.

Besides climate change, excessive pumping of water from the river to feed second crop rice farming was blamed for the sharp drop in the level of water in the river.

In some parts of the river, the water level is so shallow that that one can wade through from one side of the river to another. Livestocks are seen drinking water from the river on sand dunes which are also accessible to trucks.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/content/151340


-- Thai PBS 2016-02-18

I have a house on that river.

The name of it is River Mun, not Moon River.

Moon River is what it was miss named by U.S. fighter pilots based in Khorat during the US occupation of Vietnam, after the famous song by Andy Williams.

Also, I know of nobody who "consumes" water from the river anytime of year.

With all of the factories along the river, the water has not been safe to consume for many years now.

People do eat fish from the river, but even the safety of that is questionable.

Water from the river is mostly used to irrigate rice farms.

I do agree that it is drying up!

Is this the same Moon River that Andy Williams sings about?

".....excessive pumping of water from the river to feed second crop rice farming was blamed for the sharp drop in the level of water in the river."

It is blindingly obvious when water has been pumped and rice paddy prepared but for some reason nothing seems to be done about it. If there is not enough water then measures have to be taken to ensure critical supplies but for whatever reason those with the power to do so seem unwilling to act.

I have a house on that river.

The name of it is River Mun, not Moon River.

Moon River is what it was miss named by U.S. fighter pilots based in Khorat during the US occupation of Vietnam, after the famous song by Andy Williams.

Also, I know of nobody who "consumes" water from the river anytime of year.

With all of the factories along the river, the water has not been safe to consume for many years now.

People do eat fish from the river, but even the safety of that is questionable.

Water from the river is mostly used to irrigate rice farms.

I do agree that it is drying up!

Not much point fighting over English language transliterations of a foreign language word. Locals pronounce it differently anyway - some closer to a long 'oo' and some closer to a short 'u', but it is almost always pronounced in Thai somewhere in the middle!

The important thing seems to be to have the slight tonal uplift at the end. Say it flat and most Thais won't understand you outside a strong context.

PS - it is a fabulous river which we Hashers love exploring in Ubon/Sisaket provinces - much under-feted by the appallingly inept TAT and local provincial tourist offices.

PSS so it's going to be well short of water this season and damaging of local economies - well there's a surprise!

I never heard it being called The Moon River, I have always called it the Mun.

However:

The Mun River (Thai: แม่น้ำมูล, rtgs: Maenam Mun, IPA: [mɛ̂ːnáːm muːn]), sometimes spelled Moon River, is a tributary of the Mekong River.

Is this the same Moon River that Andy Williams sings about?

Not wider than a mile if drying up. Crossing in style shouldn't be difficult now either, even if we are after the same rainbow....

Is this the same Moon River that Andy Williams sings about?

Yep. "Wider than a meter..."

the rice farmers are still flouting the law pumping water for their 2nd crop rice planting and they are getting away with it .

As various posters have said the pronunciation can be different, even amongst Thais. However, มูล, in English transliteration the อู is usually pronounced as oo, as in boo, thus the moon river. There is a district town not that far from me called, หนองสูง, the transliteration sign reads Nong Sung, and that's how I want to pronounce it, "sung" past tense of "sing", but the Thais pronounce it, "soon", as in very soon.

. . . the transliteration sign reads Nong Sung, and that's how I want to pronounce it, "sung" past tense of "sing", but the Thais pronounce it, "soon", as in very soon.

Actually they pronounce it 'soong', or maybe a better transliteration, 'suung'. i.e. the 'oo' sound, but long duration. It's the same word as 'high' or 'tall' in Thai.

The problem with transliteration into English is the bizarre spelling conventions of our language. Any language in which the word 'fish' could be spelled 'ghoti' (as per G. B. Shaw) is not going to have an easy time rendering the phonetics of other languages.

".....excessive pumping of water from the river to feed second crop rice farming was blamed for the sharp drop in the level of water in the river."

It is blindingly obvious when water has been pumped and rice paddy prepared but for some reason nothing seems to be done about it. If there is not enough water then measures have to be taken to ensure critical supplies but for whatever reason those with the power to do so seem unwilling to act.

I think you'll find that water supply is critical for a rice farmer.

the rice farmers are still flouting the law pumping water for their 2nd crop rice planting and they are getting away with it .

Due to pollution from the factories, the water in the River Mun ( correct name ) is not fit for drinking, cooking, washing, swimming or eating the small fish caught in it.

I know this as a fact since my village is located on the River Mun.

Why not let the farmers utilize it for irrigation of the crops the depend on for a living?

One reason please?.

the rice farmers are still flouting the law pumping water for their 2nd crop rice planting and they are getting away with it .

Due to pollution from the factories, the water in the River Mun ( correct name ) is not fit for drinking, cooking, washing, swimming or eating the small fish caught in it.

I know this as a fact since my village is located on the River Mun.

Why not let the farmers utilize it for irrigation of the crops the depend on for a living?

One reason please?.

Perhaps a laboratory analysis of the water that you deem is not fit for drinking, washing, swimming or eating the small fish caught in it might be in order. Instead of making unsubstantiated claims?

Could be polluted...who knows? Can't tell by looking or following local gossip.