"Rapid development in the Mekong Basin has increasingly caused adverse impacts not only to the mainstream Mekong River, but also to its tributaries that have long supported the mainstream including the so-called last free-flowing tributary in the Northeast, the Songkhram River, the recent forum, "The Songkhram River Basin, the Mekong’s Womb" learned.

The mainstream Mekong River has once again experienced an unusual change in the water levels as the dams in China released an increasing volume of water discharge downstream over the last week of April. Such an incident becomes countless, having repeatedly raised serious questions on the dam impacts downstream over and over.

In spite of increasing public scrutiny in recent years, impacts of the Mekong dams as well as other unsound development projects in the Mekong basin still extensively remain unchecked, especially those affecting the Mekong tributaries like the Songkhram River Basin in Thailand’s Northeast.

“This is a major challenge that all stakeholders, civil society, educational institutions, the media, as well as the governments should come and discuss, especially about the aspects concerning the rising threat and the values of these overlooked ecosystems. What is the current situation? How critical is it? What would happen if we have not paid attention to it?” remarked Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kanokwan Manorom, Director of the Mekong Sub-Region Social Research Center, Ubon Ratchathani University’s Faculty of Liberal Arts during the recent special forum, The Songkhram River Basin, the Mekong’s Womb."

The link below provides a full event report of the first forum of the series "The Songkhram River Basin, the Mekong’s Womb" organised by the Bangkok Tribune News Agency with the support of the KAS in Thailand on March 18, 2022. The second forum will be held at Ubon Ratchathani University in June 2022.

https://bkktribune.com/the-mekongs-wilting-womb/