Perspectives

by Lia Sciortino

Perspectives

Reading Media in the Mekong Region

Johanna Son

BANGKOK -- Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia. What images might these words conjure up in the minds of international consumers of news? Perhaps war, maybe the Khmer Rouge. Or they might say, ‘Oh, it’s that those countries that had that war some time ago. . . they’re near one another, and they’re all the same’.
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LOW WATER LEVELS HALT THAI-LAO FERRIES

Mekong Media Roundup | Water | Mekong Region

MUKDAHAN - Critically-low water levels in the Mekong River in early March at this key trade border crossing point has stopped the
service between Thailand and Laos.

According to provincial authorities here, the receding water level is at a critically low level that forces motorised-ferries between
Thailand and Laos to remain at their moorings.

Mukdahan Governor Boonsom Pirintharawong said that the
river has dried up so quickly that it was impossible for motor ferries
between Thailand's Mukdahan to Laos's Sawannakhet to cross, forcing
operators to suspend services since last Friday.

More than 200 truckloads of goods are reportedly waiting on both sides
of the water frontier to cross the border because of the suspension of
services.

Governor Boonsom met with concerned agencies and businesses and is
appointing a joint committee to find a solution. As a short-term solution, the committee suggested relocation of the
ferry service to a new site some 10 kilometres distant where waters
remain deep enough for the operation. (Thai News Agency)

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