A massive Chinese-financed dam in Cambodia has "washed away the livelihoods" of tens of thousands of villagers while falling short of promised energy production, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Tuesday.The 400-megawatt (MW) Lower Sesan 2 dam in the kingdom's northeast has sparked controversy since long before its December 2018 launch.Fisheries experts had warned that damming the confluence of the Sesan and Srepok rivers – two major tributaries of the resource-rich Mekong River –

Environmentalists have criticised Lao PDR for pressing ahead with plans for another "destructive dam" on the Mekong River, a waterway already strangled by hydropower schemes.The flow of the Mekong, Southeast Asia's longest river, is interrupted by a cascade of dams in China - where it is called the Lancang.Two downstream dams - the Xayaburi and Don Sahong - have been built in Lao PDR, which wants to construct seven more as it strives to live up to its billing as the "Batte

97 kilometres of rocks in Thai waters stand between Beijing and dominance over the Mekong, a mighty river that feeds millions as it threads south from the Tibetan plateau through five countries before emptying into the South China Sea.China has long wanted to dredge the riverbed in northern Thailand to open passage for massive cargo ships – and potentially military vessels.Ultimately, a link could be carved from Yunnan province thousands of kilometres south through the Mekong countries – Myan

Along with most Southeast Asian countries, Cambodia’s electricity consumption over the past decade has skyrocketed. In a report by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), electricity consumption in Cambodia has been growing rapidly, averaging 20 percent growth per annum since 2010.

From rivulets to regionwide river channels, the Southeast Asian region hosts dozens of rivers. The most well-known river in Southeast Asia is the Mekong River – spanning five countries in the region itself.The Mekong, which is also the 12th longest river in the world is a major water source for drinking, fishing and agricultural needs for millions of people.

Early this year, a 16-minute documentary called “Lost World” was released. The documentary, directed by Kalyanee Mam and produced by Go Project Films, the John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation, and Heinrich Böll Stiftung, showcases the damage done to Cambodian coastal fisheries by the industrial-scale dredging of sand for sale.

Originating in the Tibetan highlands and running through China, Myanmar, Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia, and Vietnam, the Mekong and its tributaries provide water, food and income for 60 million people. The longest river in Southeast Asia is home to the world’s largest inland fishery. It is estimated that 25 percent of the global freshwater catch is harvested from this river.Damming of the Mekong started in China in the early 1990s.

The Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) marked its third anniversary last week with the announcement that China’s trade with the five Mekong member countries – Cambodia, Lao, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam – has reached over US$260 billion for the period, highlighting the overarching role China plays in these five countries’ economies.A sub-regional cooperation mechanism connecting the six countries along the Mekong river, which is known as Lancang in China, the LMC was formed in March 2016 and h