On Monday 8 April, at 11.05 a.m.-12.00 p.m. Thai PBS will air the documentary ‘Mekong’ produced and directed by Douglas Varchol and funded by Sweden in cooperation with CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food, IUCN’s Mekong Water Dialogues.
The film examines the issues of hydropower development and its impact on Mekong citizens’ lives. It features stories of Mekong citizens up and down the river, from fishers on the Tonle Sap, activists still fighting at the Pak Mun dam in Thailand, to a vice minister from Laos convinced he can build the region’s most “river-transparent” dam. Filmed in four countries, and four languages, it includes footage of China’s Mekong [Lancang] dams, as well as on-site footage of the controversial Xayaburi dam in Laos.
The Mekong Region is a massive ecosystem that is the lifeline for more than 60 million people across six countries: Cambodia, China, Laos, Burma/Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. For the people in the Lower Mekong Basin, it provides more fish to more people than any other river in the world. Some sources estimate the commercial value to more than US$2 billion per year, it is one of the world’s most valuable inland fishery. At the same time, more than 140 dams are currently planned, under construction or commissioned for different rivers in the basin. If constructed, this will radically alter the basin’s hydrology, its ecology and, consequently, the lives of millions who depend upon it. The purpose of this project is to open up the debate on hydropower development in the region through the use of innovative communication tools.
Watch “Mekong” trailer here:
Source: Embassy of Sweden in Bangkok
