ABC Radio Australia
Thailand is extending the Internal Security Act, ahead of this week's MeKong River Commission summit. The commission's first ever four day summit of leaders from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam begins tomorrow to discuss the future of the four thousand kilometre long Mekong River. The vital waterway, which runs through China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, is suffering from overuse its water levels reported to be at its lowest in 50 years. The five Southeast Asian nations blame three Chinese dams upstream for the dropping water levels although Beijing blames it on a long-running drought.
Presenter: Ron Corben
Speakers: Lee Huu Ti, chief of water security section United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific's Environment and Development Division; Andrew Noble regional director, International Water Management Institute
Listen: Windows MediaCORBEN: In Northern Thailand, the mighty Mekong River is known as the Mother River. The more than four thousand kilometre river runs from its headwaters in the Tibetan plains to the South China Sea.
Over 60 million people rely on its waters as a source of food and sustenance. But currently the river is at its lowest levels in decades as a drought grips southern China and South East Asia.
Lee Huu Ti is the chief of the water security section in the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific's Environment and Development Division. The drought, Dr Lee Huu says, has taken its toll.
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