UPCOMING EVENT: Panel Discussion "The Mekong Drought: Impact and Solutions" [Bangkok, 2 August 2019]

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Friday 2 August 2019, 13.30 - 15.00 at 8th Floor, Chaloem Rajakumari 60 Building, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

This panel is organized as part of the 8th Chula ASEAN Week and 5th Parliementaty ASEAN Community Forum

The Lancang-Mekong basin is currently facing a severe drought, with serious consequences for communities living within the basin. The drought takes place in the context of increasingly extensive hydropower dam construction in the basin on the mainstream and tributaries. These projects have expanded water storage capacity that could potentially alleviate drought, but have also impacted the natural hydrology and ecology of the river with a range of negative consequences for existing riparian livelihoods. Meanwhile, intergovernmental cooperation towards the Lancang-Mekong River is evolving with the launch of the Lancang Mekong Cooperation in 2016 alongside the existing Mekong River Commission. This panel will discuss the impact of the drought currently affecting the Mekong River basin, including on rural farming and fishing communities, its causes, and the immediate and long-term solutions.

Invited speakers:

  • Representative, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand (t.b.c.)

  • Representative, Embassy of The People's Republic of China in The Kingdom of Thailand (t.b.c.)

  • Niwat Roykaew, Rak Chiang Khong

  • Chaiwat Parakhun, Representative of the Thai Mekong Network;

  • Suphakit Nuntavorakarn, Healthy Public Policy Foundation.

  • Dr. Carl Middleton, Center for Social Development Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

Chair: Emeritus Professor Surichai Wun’gaeo, Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, Chulalongkorn University

The panel will be held in Thai and English language with simultaneous translation available.

This event will be broadcasted on Facebook Live: www.facebook.com/CSDSChula/

To register online and for more details about the 8th Chula ASEAN Week and the 5th Parliamentary ASEAN Community Forum, please visit the link here.

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