Thailand
Why Asean must worry about the Mekong Delta
Why Asean must worry about the Mekong Delta
Grouping is not giving enough attention to water resource security
The recent diplomatic spat between Indonesia and Singapore over the city-state’s effort to prosecute an Indonesian businessman for his alleged involvement in the haze last year was a frank reminder of the devastating impact man-made disasters can have on the region.
Yet while the regional haze – considered the worst since 1997 – attracted most of the headlines around the world, another man-made disaster has struck the Asean region virtually almost under the radar: the Mekong Delta drought.
The great Mekong River, which from its source in the Tibetan plateau of China passes through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam before flowing out to the South China Sea, is at its lowest level in a century after experiencing its worst dry spell in 90 years.