By Pongphon Sarnsamak
The Nation
The government will provide highlevel security for leaders from Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Burma and China who are scheduled to attend the Mekong River Commission (MRC) Summit in Hua Hin early next month.
More than 5,000 soldiers and police officers will be deployed to ensure the safety of all participants and leaders attending the meeting, which runs from April 2 to 5, director general of the Department of Water Resources Kasemsan Jinnawaso said at a press conference yesterday.
Cambodian PM Hun Sen, Lao PM Bouasone Bouphavanh, Vietnamese PM Nguyen Tan Dung, China's Foreign Minister Song Tao, Burma's Foreign Minister Nyan Win and PM Abhisit Vejjajiva have all confirmed they will attend despite the political turmoil, Pimuk Simaroj, an assistant to the natural resources and the environment minister, said.
The leaders and participants will be put up at several different hotels.
Pimuk said the government had set up a committee, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, to oversee security for the summit.
"The committee will evaluate the situation day by day," he said, adding that as an additional measure, Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan put the plan in operation yesterday.
Great expectations
"At the end of the summit, we expect each member country to achieve a deal and take a mutually beneficial standpoint over the Mekong River development," Pimuk said.
The MRC's mission is to promote and coordinate sustainable management as well as develop water and related resources for all countries' mutual benefit and their people's wellbeing.
The 4,350kilometre Mekong, one of the world's major rivers, starts in the Tibetan Plateau and runs through China's Yunnan province, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. However, in recent years, downriver countries have complained that dams constructed by China on the river's upper reaches have caused abnormal changes to water levels.
Thais living along the river have been saying that water levels often increase and decrease drastically in the space of a day.
Leaders at the fourday long summit will also discuss food and energy security for the river basin, adaptation and mitigation from the impact of climate change, infrastructure for sustainable development by the private sector and the challenge of organising an international river basin.
Meanwhile, Kasemsan said Thailand would add two new topics to the agenda - haze and drought in the region.
He said China had also asked the Thai Foreign Ministry to hold an unofficial bilateral meeting to discuss management of the Mekong River. This unofficial meeting will be held on April 4.
More than 5,000 soldiers and police officers will be deployed to ensure the safety of all participants and leaders attending the meeting, which runs from April 2 to 5, director general of the Department of Water Resources Kasemsan Jinnawaso said at a press conference yesterday.
Cambodian PM Hun Sen, Lao PM Bouasone Bouphavanh, Vietnamese PM Nguyen Tan Dung, China's Foreign Minister Song Tao, Burma's Foreign Minister Nyan Win and PM Abhisit Vejjajiva have all confirmed they will attend despite the political turmoil, Pimuk Simaroj, an assistant to the natural resources and the environment minister, said.
The leaders and participants will be put up at several different hotels.
Pimuk said the government had set up a committee, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, to oversee security for the summit.
"The committee will evaluate the situation day by day," he said, adding that as an additional measure, Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan put the plan in operation yesterday.
Great expectations
"At the end of the summit, we expect each member country to achieve a deal and take a mutually beneficial standpoint over the Mekong River development," Pimuk said.
The MRC's mission is to promote and coordinate sustainable management as well as develop water and related resources for all countries' mutual benefit and their people's wellbeing.
The 4,350kilometre Mekong, one of the world's major rivers, starts in the Tibetan Plateau and runs through China's Yunnan province, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. However, in recent years, downriver countries have complained that dams constructed by China on the river's upper reaches have caused abnormal changes to water levels.
Thais living along the river have been saying that water levels often increase and decrease drastically in the space of a day.
Leaders at the fourday long summit will also discuss food and energy security for the river basin, adaptation and mitigation from the impact of climate change, infrastructure for sustainable development by the private sector and the challenge of organising an international river basin.
Meanwhile, Kasemsan said Thailand would add two new topics to the agenda - haze and drought in the region.
He said China had also asked the Thai Foreign Ministry to hold an unofficial bilateral meeting to discuss management of the Mekong River. This unofficial meeting will be held on April 4.
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