
The management of the Mekong River is a geopolitical puzzle on which the survival of millions of people depends. Its waters are becoming increasingly saline, a critical issue explored through a cinematic anthology envisioning the river’s state in 2030.
On the map, the Mekong River is a long line stretching from the Tibetan highlands and vertically running through six countries: China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Each country claims a segment, a small piece of this flowing line, which sometimes constitutes a natural border, as in the case of Myanmar and Laos, or Laos and Thailand.
The river line, however, is continuous. Its waters flow uninterrupted for over 4,800 kilometres, nourishing a 40,000-square-kilometre delta in the South China Sea. Water flowing from a territorial basin of over 800,000 square kilometres, nearly three times Italy’s surface. Silty water, means it is full of silt, the sandy clay that makes it turbid but fertile for the soil. From above, the Mekong appears as a fragmented line. On a human scale, it is a lifeline sustaining millions. But what happens when the fragments overshadow the whole?
The Mekong water salinity
«The Mekong is the perfect example of an Anthropocene river, affected by a series of natural disasters and human impact» Edward Park says. Listed among the top 2% of scientists worldwide by Stanford, Park as a geomorphologist studies how and why the landscapes evolve. He has been studying the Mekong for five years at the Earth Observatory of Singapore. «After my PhD, I realised that hydrologists and geomorphologists could contribute meaningfully to society through applied research», he says. «Although American, I was born in South Korea and I have always been fascinated by Asia. As you may know, especially in Southeast Asia, the population density, which is already high, is constantly increasing. In this part of the world, no river remains untouched by human impact. The Mekong is emblematic, and studying it can offer globally relevant insights into sustainable river management».

Edward Park is a geomorphologist. After his PhD in “Geography” from the University of Texas in 2017 with a research project on anthropogenic impacts in the Amazon River, he furthered his education at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore, where he has been teaching within the National Institute of Education since 2019 and a principal investigator at the Earth Observatory of Singapore since 2021. The research programme he coordinates at the Observatory, “Tropical Rivers in the Anthropocene”, investigates changes in the form and geology of river ecosystems to broaden the discussion on the sustainable management of large rivers. In 2023, he was awarded the Nanyang Research Award (Young Investigator) for his contribution to expanding the frontiers of knowledge and was listed by Stanford University in the top 2% of scientists in the world.
His works Discover the Tropical Rivers GroupPark and his team measured the salinity levels in the Mekong Delta, which have been steadily increasing, alongside worsening droughts. «Salinity intensification stems from multiple factors, but we identified four main ones», he explains. «The first one is, of course, the climate change, which results in rising sea levels entering the delta. The second one is the dams, which trap sediments such as silt that should continue to build the delta. The third one, widespread land subsidence due to intensive farming practices that extract groundwater during dry seasons. The fourth is the sand mining from the riverbed, widely used in the construction industry».
It is not immediately clear how many dams are active in the Mekong basin today. A recent study by the Nanyang Technological University, involving Professor Park, consolidated existing databases into an open-source platform1. It identified 1,055 dams, of which 661 are operational, 54 are under construction, 331 are planned, 2 are closed and 7 are cancelled. Most of the operational dams are located in Thailand and the China’s river valleys, future projects are largely planned in Laos, Cambodia, and upstream China. According to the study, between the 1980s and 2020, hydropower capacity rose from 1,242 MW to 69,199 MW, driven by 608 dams.
The country with the largest increase in hydropower capacity in the 2000-2010 decade was China (+16,854 MW) while Laos has the highest number of planned dams and is expected to grow the most (+18,223 MW after 2020). Together, China and Laos contribute over 80% of the region’s hydropower potential, currently estimated at 1,300,000 MW, which could exceed 2 million MW. Laos exports electricity to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and also Singapore. Hydropower is the asset the Chinese government is focusing on to compete with coal.
But dams impact the course of the river in many ways: they prevent the passage of fish by interrupting their life cycle; they block the sediment flow, such as silt, from upstream to downstream; they change the duration, frequency, and quantity of water flows in each season, with major impacts on crops, above all rice. According to the WWF report The Mekong’s Forgotten Fishes2, published in March 2024, the Mekong is home to 899 known freshwater fish species, making it the third most biodiverse river in the world after the Amazon and the Congo, with 25% of the fish found nowhere else on earth and many species not yet scientifically identified. It was not until 2023 that a particular species of catfish and stonefish were discovered. The Mekong is known as the giant fish river, with species exceeding 50 kilos, and the river of the 321 migratory fish that form one of the largest animal migrations on the planet. Yet, with dams obstructing their routes, where will they go?
Mekong’s “water diplomacy” involves multiple organisations: from the “Lancang-Mekong” cooperation table, established in 2016, which brings together all the states crossed by the river; to the Mekong-US partnership3, inaugurated in 2020; up to the Mekong River Commission4, the intergovernmental organisation composed of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam established in 1995 but whose history dates back to the post-World War II period.
«Cross-border water governance is a very complex geopolitical issue», Park comments. «Of the four causes of Mekong salinisation, managing dams is the most complicated. Surely a greater scientific consensus would help», he emphasises.
«But while hydropower dams and climate change are global-scale phenomena, the other two causes, namely sand mining and land subsidence, can be effectively addressed and improved if every government committed to it».
The increase in salt water implies an adaptation and change of cultures that in some areas is already taking place: «along the coastal regions of the Mekong, rotational farming is underway» Park explains. «During the wet season, rice is cultivated; during the dry season the same area becomes a fish farm». But even this transition comes at a cost: «Many people fear abandoning traditions upheld for generations», Park observes. «Governments must invest in education to equip communities with the knowledge and resources to face the changes ahead».
The Mekong 2030 Mosaic
«There’s no fish left to catch»: in different forms, two of the five short films in the Mekong 2030 anthology give cinematic expression to one of the recurring nightmares of those living along the river. In Soul River, by Cambodian director Kulikar Sotho, the scarcity of fish forces one of the protagonists to become a forest ranger. In The Che Brother, by the Laotian director Anysay Keola, the protagonist’s sister is forced to abandon her old business to embrace a new one. Mekong 2030 comprises five short films from five countries along the riverbanks, envisioning life in 2030. Production was completed in 2019, thus before the pandemic and the worst drought to ever hit the Mekong Delta in 2020. «Sotho shot on the shore of a Cambodian lake, the water level was so low that she had to wait three additional months», recalls producer Sean Chadwell.
Soul River follows a fisherman and a forest ranger who embark on a journey, hoping to illegally sell an archaeological find. Nine years earlier, a flood destroyed their village, and the fisherman and his companion hope to rebuild their lives. Cambodia, one of the most flood-prone nations Mekong Basin, serves as a backdrop to their introspective journey.
The Che Brother, on the other hand, delves into the dilemmas of a young Laotian man, passionate about Che Guevara. He is called upon to take part in a dispute between his brother and sister over his elderly mother’s blood. Her blood is sold to produce an effective vaccine against an unidentified epidemic from which he must protect himself by wearing masks.
The Forgotten Voices of the Mekong by the Burmese director Sai Naw Kham is set in a small village in Shan State, and revolves around the juxtaposition between the young local politician, who sells a gold mining concession, and the elderly grandmother, who maintains a deep connection to nature.

Sai Naw Kham is a Burmese filmmaker. Born in Shan State, northern Myanmar, he has often portrayed it in his works. He made his directing debut in 2014 with ‘The Crocodile Creek’, which won best documentary at the Myanmar Climate Change Film Festival 2017. This was followed by “32 Souls” (2015), “The Forgotten Voices of the Mekong” as part of the anthology “Mekong 2030” (2020), “Song of Souls” (2023), which won Best International Documentary at the Dokumenter Film Festival in Indonesia. He is currently working on his first feature film ‘Mangoes are Tasty There’, based on the impact of the civil wars in Myanmar.
«Initially, the main character was to be a young man, but then when we got there, we met this lady in traditional dresses. We were there with no electricity, looking at the stars, and the role of the grandmother grew accordingly», says the director.
All the actors are locals rather than professionals. «The short film is a mix of reality and fiction», he explains. «Since the 2021 coup, gold mining concessions linked to the military have increased, leaving locals powerless. They can only protest and make their voices heard». What the Mekong means to you? «It is a border line between Myanmar, Thailand and Laos. A connecting line, an economic and cultural bridge. The people living around the river are deeply connected».
Thai director Anocha Suwichakornpong also focused on The Line, where art and reality merge, where different forms of knowledge can converge. The short film follows a young artist preparing an exhibition on the changes in the Mekong Delta through a narrative that brings out Thai animism. «The final image of the toaster is brilliant. You wouldn’t expect it in an ecological film, yet it works», Chadwell recalls.
In Unseen River by Vietnamese director Pham Ngoc Lan, a woman reconnects with a former lover near a hydroelectric plant, while a young couple visits a temple seeking a cure for insomnia. Does the invisible river represent time?
«This short film won multiple awards, it was even nominated at the Sundance Shorts Festival. We were proud to be part of it», comments Chadwell.

Sean Chadwell is very interested in understanding what people talk about when they mention authenticity. After a PhD in “English Language and Literature” at Texas A&M University, where he taught for ten years, he moved to China and then Laos. In 2014, he began volunteering with the Luang Prabang Film Festival, now Blue Chair, and became its executive director in 2019. In this capacity he oversaw the completion of the “Mekong 2030” anthology, took support for the Lao Filmmakers Fund in the 2020-2023 triennium to unprecedented levels and produced the 2020 (online) and 2022 (live) festivals.
Find out Blue Chair Festival«I think with this anthology we managed to show the richness of the cultural diversity along the river: there is no distance between the people and the water, it’s all interconnected».
The project, initiated by the Open Society Foundations, was funded by The Asia Foundation, Oxfam, the Mekong River Commission and the Heinrich Boll Stiftung. «We called for applications and selected five compelling proposals», Chadwell explains. «In early 2019, we arranged a meeting between the five filmmakers and representatives of Oxfam and the Mekong Commission to deepen their understanding of the river’s complexities. This was my first time producing something collaborative. I learned so much from the experience. Next year we will be halfway between 2020 and 2030. The original idea was: let’s look into the future, ten years from now. Now I really want to work with that idea, I want other people to see the film and ask: does it feel like five years have passed and progress has been made?»
The story this article is about was discovered using an artificial intelligence tool, Asimov, developed by ASC 27, especially for Mangrovia. The tool helped us find the story, but the rest of the content you read and see is the outcome of creative processes and human sensibilities and is in no way generated by artificial intelligence. Follow us to find out the details of how we use artificial intelligence in the newsroom!
- On the Nanyang Technological University study published in open source see Ang W. J., Park E., Pokhrel Y., Tran D. D., Loc H. H. (2024). Dams in the Mekong: a comprehensive database, spatiotemporal distribution, and hydropower potentials, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 1209–1228. https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/16/1209/2024/essd-16-1209-2024.pdf ↩︎
- For the WWF report, see Hughes K. (2024). The Mekong’s forgotten fishes and the emergency recovery plan to save them, WWF International, Gland, Switzerland. https://wwfasia.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/final-mekong-forgotten-fishes-report–web-version-.pdf ↩︎
- The official website https://mekonguspartnership.org/ ↩︎
- The official website https://www.mrcmekong.org/ ↩︎