Mekong

The Mekong River’s lower basin is vast, encompassing parts of Myanmar and Thailand, virtually all of Laos and Cambodia and parts of southern Vietnam, where, after a 3,000-mile journey across five national borders, the mother of rivers divaricates into a complex delta network and drains into the South China Sea. Tonle Sap Lake sits roughly in the middle of this lush expanse. On a map, it appears as a crooked blue finger extending from the Mekong near Phnom Penh. But it is more often described as Cambodia’s heart, both for its rhythmic flood pulse and the sustaining role it plays in the country’s economy and food supply.

2018 March 28, Ben Mauk, “A People in Limbo, Many Living Entirely on the Water”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 29 Mar 2018

In the isolated villages, some of which are only accessible by boat, most Laotians live off the land. There are huge rice paddies on the fertile banks on the Mekong; rice is the Laotians’ main staple, eaten three times a day here.

2023 September 1, “On the Mekong Through Laos”, in Deutsche Welle, archived from the original on 02 Sep 2023, Nature and Environment

Unsustainable development threatens the health and diverse fish populations of the Mekong river, with one-fifth of fish species in Southeast Asia's main artery facing extinction, a report by conservation groups said on Monday. The Mekong, stretching nearly 5,000 km (3,000 miles) from the Tibetan Plateau to the South China Sea, is a farming and fishing lifeline for tens of millions of people in China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

2024 March 4, Juarawee Kittisilpa, Panu Wongcha-um, “One-fifth of Mekong river fish species face extinction, report says”, in William Mallard, editor, Reuters, archived from the original on 28 Dec 2024