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MAPPING THE MEKONG
Race against time to survey border line
Story By Thanida Tansubhapol
Bangkok Post. 27 April 2008.
From early July, Thais and Laotians living along the Mekong river will
see three new ships belonging to the Thai navy's Hydrographic
Department running up and down the river.
This shouldn't be cause for panic, though. The ships will be surveying
the Mekong to make a new map and update hydrological information on
the river. The map will be used by Thailand to settle the Mekong
borderline with Laos.
The 141-million-baht project is a joint effort between the Foreign
Ministry and the Hydrographic Department. Equipped with the latest
technology for hydrology surveys, the vessels were built at a total
cost of 85 million baht by Marsun Co, a Thai company, and next month
will be transported to the Mekong river.
In preparation for the survey, a 19-member team has been surveying the
routes the vessels will traverse since March and will finish its task
on Friday.
Department head Kongwat Neelasri said the surveyors were working as
fast as they can.
"We don't have much time to do it because of the Mekong river's water
levels. In fact, we can operate only in the rainy season or only three
months a year, from July to September. And we have only two years to
complete the mission," he said.
Water levels in the river are 12 metres lower in the dry season, and
that makes it impossible for the vessels to operate.
The survey of the river will be Thailand's third. The first survey in
1964 was done with the support of the United Nations with the riparian
countries along the Mekong to explore the river for irrigation
purposes. The second survey was done in 1996 and was for energy
development purposes.
Vice-Admiral Kongwat said the last survey in 1996 was not done
accurately because it lacked some information.
"This time it will be more accurate since we will strictly follow
international hydrographic survey standards," he said.
The attempt to survey the Mekong is the result of a recent agreement
between Thailand and Laos to complete demarcation of their water
borderline by 2010. During the Joint Boundary Commission meeting last
year, Thailand and Laos agreed to make a new map of the Mekong at a
scale of 1:25,000.
A Foreign Ministry source said the Thai government offered to buy the
ships for the survey, and the survey will include finding the exact
location of the thalweg of the river, or the deepest continual line.
Laos was asked to help the survey team, but Vientiane declined the
offer, according to the source. "Laos was not interested in the joint
survey with Thailand and thought the borderline in the Mekong has not
changed. But the Foreign Ministry wants to prove this. That is the
starting point of the survey," said Vice-Admiral Kongwat.
Now the 1926 Siam-Franco Treaty is used as a reference for the Mekong
border. But different Thai agencies are working together to verify the
relevance of the original map to see whether the borderline has
changed and the deepest continual points in the river match with the
map.
The treaty Siam and the French signed did not use the thalweg as the
borderline. But Thailand wants to use it to make it up to
international standards.
Both countries have set up a joint working group to amend the terms of
reference for making and surveying the water borderline.
The Mekong forms the border between Thailand and Laos from Chiang Saen
to Viengkaen districts in Chiang Rai for 97 kilometres before running
into Lao territory.
The river is a borderline again for 855 kilometres from Chiang Khan
district in Loei to Nong Khai, Nakhon Phanom and Amnat Charoen to
Khong Chiam district in Ubon Ratchathani.
The survey will be separated into three sections starting from Ubon
Ratchathani to Nakhon Phanom and covering 400 kilometres, and is
expected to be completed this year. Another section, from Nakhon
Phanom to Loei and the rest in Chiang Rai, will be done next year.
Vice-Admiral Kongwat said the three ships with five officials each on
board will run at the same time using the newest technology and the
multi-beam echo sounder system, which will find the thalweg, or
deepest continual line.
"The echo sounder system will send signals into the river to measure
the depth as well as information on the ground under water," he said.
"The information will result in a three-dimensional map," he added.
"Doing it together [with three vessels] will enable them to complete
the job in time and they will be able to share facilities, information
and provide safety to officials because the vessels need to sail close
to the Lao side in some parts. We have asked the navy's Mekong
Operation Unit to give us access and sometimes other vessels with
weapons aboard will patrol around us," he added.
"We will do it openly and with academic accuracy. We will not do
anything to cause any misunderstanding with Laos," he said. To prevent
any unexpected incidents, the survey team will inform the governors of
Lao provinces along the route of the survey.
"The governors can inform their people and soldiers along the river so
they understand our work. We do not intend to violate their
sovereignty," said Vice-Admiral Kongwat.
The Hydrographic Department will analyse the data and submit results
to the Foreign Ministry by April 2010 to prepare for further talks
with Laos.
The results will also be used for water management and administration
of the river, to help plan for floods in the rainy season as well as
building dams. |
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