By RACHEL O'BRIEN
AFP
Southeast Asian nations on the Mekong River pledged Monday to step up cooperation over the shrinking waterway amid fears China's dams are exacerbating a severe regional drought.
Leaders of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam -- the member-states of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) -- convened in the Thai coastal town of Hua Hin to discuss management of the river, on which more than 60 million people rely.
"Without good and careful management of the Mekong river as well as its natural resources, this great river will not survive," Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said as he opened the summit, the first in the MRC's history.
"The Mekong river is being threatened by serious problems arising from both the unsustainable use of water and the effects of climate change," he warned.
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