BANGKOK — A new satellite analysis from U.S. think tank the Stimson Center has identified 517 suspected mines along rivers in Laos, including major tributaries of the Mekong, Southeast Asia’s longest river, heightening concerns about contamination of waterways that sustain local communities.

Stimson has not ground-truthed the mine sites identified through satellite imagery, but Mongabay spoke by phone with several government officials in Laos’s southern border province of Attapeu, home to 188 mines in the data, who said illegal mining remains widespread despite recent crackdowns.

“We still see officials carrying out inspections and confiscating equipment” from illegal mines in Attapeu, said one government official who spoke to Mongabay on condition of anonymity due to the limited press freedoms in Laos.

The analysis shines new light on the scale of mining in river basins across mainland Southeast Asia. The issue previously caught the spotlight in northern Thailand earlier this year after dangerous levels of arsenic were found to be flowing downstream from unregulated gold mines in Myanmar’s Shan state.

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The People’s Party (PP) has called on the government to tackle arsenic contamination from foreign mining, spreading from northern rivers to the Mekong in the Northeast. It is urging immediate talks with China, Myanmar and Laos.

PP deputy spokesman and Chiang Mai MP Phattarapong Leelaphat posted on Facebook on Saturday, accusing authorities of ignoring the toxic contamination. Arsenic levels in Mekong River passing Loei, Bueng Kan, Nong Khai and Nakhon Phanom provinces exceeded safety standards, yet officials withheld the information from the public, he said.

The pollution originates from neighbouring countries’ mining operations, but the government has failed to act. While contamination in northern rivers such as the Kok, Sai and Salween has long been known, the problem is now spreading to the Northeast, he added.

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HO CHI MINH – Authorities in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta are taking proactive measures to prevent saltwater intrusion up rivers during the upcoming dry season that will last until April.

The delta, Việt Nam’s largest producer of rice, fruits and seafood, typically experiences saltwater intrusion from the sea through river mouths during the dry season from December to April.

This year it is forecast to exceed normal levels, according to the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research.

In coastal areas, seawater with a salinity level of four grammes per litre has penetrated deep into major rivers, surpassing the tolerance level of most crops, which is less than one gramme.

In Kiên Giang Province, salinity levels of four grammes have been detected 18-20 kilometres upstream in the Cái Lớn River, a major waterway in Gò Quao District, according to the province’s Centre for Hydro-Meteorology Forecasting.

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In the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi, communities in northern Thailand’s Chiang Rai province are taking stock of the toll wreaked by heavy rains and rising rivers. At least 33 people lost their lives in the country since mid-August amid hazardous conditions that devastated riverside homes, businesses and agricultural land.

The flooding has heightened public and policymaker scrutiny of plans to build a major hydropower dam spanning the Mekong River at Pak Beng in Oudomxay province in Laos. Experts warn the dam, situated 97 kilometers (60 miles) from the Thailand-Laos border, has the potential to elevate water levels in the mainstream Mekong and thus exacerbate seasonal flooding along key tributaries in Thailand.

Local communities and civil society groups have raised their concerns about the project for nearly a decade, claiming the developers and their Thailand-based investors have failed to consider the dam’s potential impacts on people living upstream.

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NAKHON PHANOM, Thailand – Authorities in Nakhon Phanom are closely monitoring Typhoon Yagi, though the situation remains under control for now, September 8. Water levels in the Mekong River have been steadily decreasing, currently standing at 9.20 meters, approximately 3 meters below the critical threshold, allowing the river to handle more water inflow.

Tributaries such as the Nam Oon and Nam Songkhram rivers are also draining into the Mekong more rapidly, further alleviating the flood risk. However, border districts along the Mekong remain on high alert as heavy rainfall could overwhelm the river’s drainage capacity. Local authorities are maintaining 24-hour surveillance in high-risk areas, installing additional water pumps to mitigate potential flooding.

Although Nakhon Phanom has not yet been impacted by Typhoon Yagi, which is expected to move towards northern Thailand, officials are urging continued vigilance and preparedness. (TNA)

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HCM CITY – The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta is entering its annual flooding season and many rice farmers in upstream provinces have opened their field sluices to let the floodwaters and aquatic creatures in.

The floods are caused by the rising level of the Mekong River during the rainy season, and they bring sediments and fish and other creatures.

The country’s rice granary is expected to have higher levels of floodwaters this year compared to the last two because the forecast is for plenty of rain.

In the upstream provinces of An Giang and Đồng Tháp, where the first floodwaters enter the delta from Cambodia, the floods have started.

Farmers in An Giang’s An Phú District have begun to catch aquatic species in their fields and rivers and canals.

Nguyễn Văn Hiền in the district’s Vĩnh Hội Đông Commune said in recent years flooding had been minimal and late and receded quickly, and so there were few fishes.

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More than three dozen districts across Thailand’s 77 provinces have seen record temperatures in April, generally the hottest month of the year, with new highs beating records held as far back as 1958, according to data from the Thai Meteorological Department.

Temperatures have topped 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in 26 provinces this month, according to the agency. The northern province of Lampang has seen the highest temperature so far this year at 44.2 degrees, just shy of the highest temperature ever recorded in Thailand – 44.6 degrees – that was last seen in 2016 and 2023.

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The post Southeast Asia heatwave: Thailand’s heat index tops 52 degrees as Philippines risks ‘overloaded’ power systems first appeared on Open Development Mekong.

HO CHI MINH CITY — A heatwave in Vietnam is worsening environmental conditions in the Mekong Delta region, and farmers and gig workers have told VOA the heat is causing grueling working conditions and cutting crop yields.

The heatwave is fueled by the El Nino weather pattern causing hotter and drier conditions in Vietnam. Le Dinh Quyet, head of the Southern Regional Hydro-Meteorological Center, told local news outlet VnExpress that peak temperatures hit the South early this year due to the El Nino and a heatwave that started early March is expected to continue through April and delay the start of the rainy season.

Vo Quang Tuong, a lecturer at Ho Chi Minh City Open University specializing in Hydrology, told VOA by email April 2 that the El Nino is “expected to exacerbate extreme weather and climate events like heat waves, floods, and droughts.”

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