Bokeo worried about shallow Mekong

VIENTIANE,MAR 02.(KPL) -The northern province of Bokeo is now worried about the shallow waterway of the Mekong River, according to a local official.
Head of the Water-borne and Land Transport Management Division, Public Works and Transport Service of Bokeo province, Mr. Somchay Sivolavong said that on average, the water level in the Mekong got low in April but this year the level began to get low in mid-February and the condition was expected to get worse in April.
Due to the shallow course of the Mekong, boats find it difficult to transport goods as well as tourists. The province will see the repetition of shallow water in the Mekong this year. The Mekong recorded its lowest level in 50 years last year.
Mr. Somchay said on Tuesday that the Mekong now could not accommodate any 200-tonne boat because the water level was very low.
“Normally we have five boats ferrying on a daily basis but now due to the very low flow only two boats can travel per day,” Mr. Somchay.
He said that sandbanks, islands and rapids were visible along the Mekong River.
This problem has forced Thai and Chinese business operators to change mode of goods transport from river to overland transport, which runs from Luang Namtha border checkpoint through the R3 road to Bokeo province and across the Mekong River to Chiang Khong district, Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand.
Bokeo province is a transit point where goods are loaded and unloaded for export to Thailand’s Chiang Rai.
The authorities in Bokeo are worried that the R3 Road which is now run on by heavy trucks for overland goods transport between Thailand and China will face damage as the goods transportation along the Mekong is reduced by half.
“Now a boat can carry only 100 tonnes of goods per trip between Thailand and China,” said Mr. Somchay.