Dear Mekong folks,
I really enjoy romance when travelling from China to Thailand, if
rapid blasting is no longer necessary...

"The study, funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Japan's
Chamber of Commerce, found that water transportation was not cost-
effective, compared with road transportation." Believe it or not?
But will our Chinese fellows listen to this?

Kevin

Bangkok Post. February 24, 2004.

MEKONG RIVER
Cargo route to go romantic in 10 years
Transport costs too much, seminar told

Onnucha Hutasingh

The development of the Mekong river, which links China with five
Southeast Asian countries, as a transport medium was not cost-
effective and the river will change from a cargo channel to a
romantic tourist route within a decade, a seminar was told yesterday.

Dr Chingchai Harnjenlak, of Greater Mekong Subregion Committee, said
the assumption was based on a recent study which investigated the
cost-effectiveness of using the river as a transportation mode.

The study, funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Japan's
Chamber of Commerce, found that water transportation was not cost-
effective, compared with road transportation.

Dr Chingchai, speaking at Chulalongkorn University's Institute of
Asian Studies, said blasting of rapids along the river for better
navigation conditions contributed to high costs while constant
changes of currents made the river less favourable than roads.

The Chinese government paid US$ 5.3 million for every five kilometres
of the river.

Dr Chingchai said that land transportation looked to grow and better
accommodate growing trade and economy in the region.

``So, in the next 10 years, the Mekong river will fade as a
transportation route, but it will stand out as a tourist route and
help boost the tourism industry,'' he said.

Prof Supang Chantavanich, the institute director, meanwhile, said
China has blasted off almost all of the rapids which hampered
navigation in the Mekong river.

She said the biggest rapids are Khon Phi Luang rapids in Chiang Rai's
Chiang Saen district, on the Thai-Lao border and the Thai government
has suspended blasting since 2002.

According to Prof Supang, impacts of the rapid-blasting remained
inconclusive, but local people spotted a significantly low level of
water compared to that of the same period last year.

However, she said the declining water level could have resulted from
China's dam projects in the upstream of the river.

The water level in the Mekong in Chiang Saen district was between
1.20-2 metres and boats could barely use it during the dry season.

``The people who live along the river banks don't know what the
governments have been doing, but many complain that fish disappeared
from the river for some time. Of course, blasting has destroyed the
breeding grounds,'' she said.

Beijing plans 14 hydropowered dams in the river.

Other countries such as Thailand and Laos also plan to build dams to
store water from the inland rivers before they reach the Mekong.

The projects have caused concerns for upstream countries such as
Vietnam and Cambodia whose economies rely on the Mekong river.

Cambodia's fishing industry would not survive if Tonle Sap, the
largest freshwater lake in the region and the southernmost body of
the Mekong river, became shallow.

Administrator: Kevin Li (based in Hong Kong)
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