Why This Project

In 2009, as part of a small team, an RFA cameraman followed the Mekong River from its source in Tibet to Vietnam and the South China Sea. Traveling more than 2,700 miles through six nations, they gathered stories from local people as the river faced radical change. Now, seven years later, that cameraman retraces the journey alone to see what’s become of the Mekong River and its people.

The river is still the lifeblood of more than 60 million people who depend on it for food, transportation, and commerce. But dams have changed the river, impoverishing fisheries and fields. Witnesses from Thailand to Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam tell the same story.

The Mekong has always been a river of empires, where distant powers impose their visions on locals whose fate is inextricably linked to the river. These people are our guides. Their stories will chart the river’s changing course, not from a distance but through the eyes of the people who share their lives with the Mekong.

The Journey Begins in Yunnan

China

In seven short years, the Mekong River has been irrevocably reengineered.

A Dangerous Corner of the Mekong

The Golden Triangle

Chinese trade expands here where China, Myanmar, and Laos meet.

Teacher Confronts Chinese Dams

Thailand

Upstream Mekong dams and Chinese-backed bananan plantations anger villagers led by a respected teacher.

Seeking Wealth Through Hydropower

Laos

Villagers displaced by dams pay a heavy price in lost ancestral lands.

Villagers Resist Relocation by Dams

Cambodia

Officials bring in police and soldiers, threatening arrests or imprisonment of those defending ancestral lands.

The Fertile Mekong Delta Imperiled

Vietnam

Rice and fish farmers battle against drought, climate change, rising sea levels, the impact of dams, and salt intrusion.

Experts Weigh In

Founding RFA Executive Editor Dan Southerland Interviews Experts

Brian Eyler

^{Director, Southeast Asia Program, Stimson Center}

The Mekong River crosses six countries and supports as many as 70 million people living both in subsistence economies and in modern cities. Yet little investigative reporting has been done on the impact of dam building along the river’s mainstream and its tributaries.

Ian Baird

^{Geography Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison}

As experts increasingly doubt the value of building large dams, Dr. Ian Baird takes a firm stand against international organizations that, according to him, have failed to mitigate negative impact on local populations.

Pham Tuan Phan

^{Chief Executive Officer, Mekong River Commission}

The Mekong River Commission, created to promote sustainable development in four of the six countries it traverses, has long been accused of having “no teeth” at a time when upstream dams have an enormous impact on the lives and livelihoods of people downstream. Reports abound regarding decreasing staff and finances.