French Republic
91-580: The Paknam Incident was a military engagement fought during the Franco-Siamese crisis in July 1893. While sailing off Paknam on Siam 's Chao Phraya River , three French ships violated Siamese territory and a Siamese fort and a force of gunboats fired warning shots. In the ensuing battle, France won and blockaded Bangkok , which ended the war. Conflict arose when the French Navy aviso Inconstant and
182-555: A boat and captured the steamer. They then attempted to sink her, but failed. The prisoners were treated badly according to French reports but again this is refuted by Warington Smyth. A day later, the French gunboat Forfait arrived at Paknam and sent a boatload of sailors to recapture the mail steamer, but when they boarded the Siamese defenders repelled their attack. Captain Borey had anchored off
273-753: A connection to the South China Sea. Although the hydraulic relationships between the Mekong and the Tonle Sap Great Lake systems during the Holocene are not well understood, it is clear that between 9,000 and 7,500 years ago the confluence of the Tonle Sap and the Mekong was in proximity to the South China Sea. The present river morphology of the Mekong Delta developed over the last 6,000 years. During this period,
364-765: A difficult conflict within their respective colonies. Malaria was common and deadly. Ultimately, the imagined trade routes never really came into use. In 1904, the French and the British put aside their many differences with the Entente Cordiale , ending this dispute in southeastern Asia. France continued to occupy Chanthaburi and Trat up until 1907, when Siam ceded to it the provinces of Battambang, Siem Reap and Banteay Meanchey. Chakri dynasty Kings Viceroys Deputy Viceroy Crown Prince Hereditary Prince Royalty Siamese Foreigners Key events Mekong The Mekong or Mekong River
455-643: A head by two separate incidents when Siamese governors in Khammuan and Nong Khai expelled three French merchants from the middle Mekong in September 1892, two of them, Champenois and Esquilot, on suspicion of opium smuggling . Shortly afterward, the French consul in Luang Prabang , Victor-Alphonse Massie , feverish and discouraged, committed suicide on his way back to Saigon . Back in France, these incidents were used by
546-475: A high evaporation rate means it is classified as a semi-arid region. Consequently, although the Mun and Chi basins drain 15% of the entire Mekong basin, they only contribute 6% of the average annual flow. Sandy and saline soils are the most common soil types, which makes much of the land unsuitable for wet rice cultivation. In spite of poor fertility, however, agriculture is intensive. Glutinous rice, maize, and cassava are
637-464: A major distinction in the low-flow hydrology of the river. One fraction comes from melting snow in China and Tibet and the rest from over-season catchment storage in the lower basin. This has implications for the occurrence of drought conditions. For example, if runoff from melting snow in any given year is very low, then flows upstream of Vientiane - Nong Khai would be lower. In a large river system like
728-575: A maximum of about 4.5 m (15 ft) above present levels in the early Holocene about 8 ka. At this time the shoreline of the South China Sea almost reached Phnom Penh and cores recovered from near Angkor Borei contained sediments deposited under the influence of tides, and salt marsh and mangrove swamp deposits. Sediments deposited in the Tonle Sap Great Lake about this time (7.9–7.3 ka) also show indications of marine influence, suggesting
819-620: A telegram of updated instructions from Paris to hold his position at the mouth of the river, as it was not received by the French consul Auguste Pavie until the following day. But Pavie did advise him of the Siamese stance and suggested he anchor off Koh Sichang and await further instructions. Borey was under pressure since his ships could only cross the bar at high tide and chose to follow his orders from Rear Admiral Edgar Humann in Saigon rather than Pavie's counsel. The French in Bangkok believed that
910-588: Is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia . It is the world's twelfth-longest river and the third-longest in Asia with an estimated length of 4,909 km (3,050 mi) and a drainage area of 795,000 km (307,000 sq mi), discharging 475 km (114 cu mi) of water annually. From its headwaters in the Tibetan Plateau , the river runs through Southwest China (where it
1001-477: Is flooded during the rainy season. The impact of road embankments and similar infrastructure developments on the movement of this flood water is an increasingly important consequence of development. Table 2 summarises the mean annual flows along the mainstream. The mean annual flow entering the lower Mekong from China is equivalent to a relatively modest 450 mm (18 in) depth of runoff. Downstream of Vientiane this increases to over 600 mm (24 in) as
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#17328444517891092-517: Is heterogeneous and active, and is the major factor controlling the course of rivers and the landscapes they carve out. The elevation of the Tibetan Plateau during the Tertiary period was an important factor in the genesis of the south-west monsoon , which is the dominant climatic control influencing the hydrology of the Mekong Basin. Understanding the nature and timing of the elevation of Tibet (and
1183-527: Is little evidence from the last 45 years of data of any systematic changes in the hydrological regime of the Mekong. The internal drainage patterns of the Mekong are unusual among those of large rivers. Most large river systems that drain the interiors of continents, such as the Amazon , Congo , and Mississippi , have relatively simple dendritic tributary networks that resemble a branching tree. Typically, such patterns develop in basins with gentle slopes where
1274-490: Is officially called the Lancang River ), Myanmar , Laos , Thailand , Cambodia , and southern Vietnam . The extreme seasonal variations in flow and the presence of rapids and waterfalls in the Mekong make navigation difficult. Even so, the river is a major trade route between Tibet and Southeast Asia. The construction of hydroelectric dams along the Mekong in the 2000s through the 2020s has caused serious problems for
1365-554: The Central Highlands of Vietnam) therefore helps explain the provenance of sediment reaching the delta and the Tonle Sap Great Lake today. Studies of the provenance of sediments in the Mekong delta reveal a major switch in the source of sediments about eight million years ago (Ma) . From 36 to 8 Ma the bulk (76%) of the sediments deposited in the delta came from erosion of the bedrock in the Three Rivers Area . From 8 Ma to
1456-645: The Haw wars (1865–1890), in which the Siamese attempted to pacify northern Siam and Tonkin. The conflict started when French Indochina's Governor-General Jean de Lanessan sent Auguste Pavie as consul to Bangkok to bring Laos under French rule. The government in Bangkok, mistakenly believing that they would be supported by the British government , refused to concede territory east of the Mekong and instead reinforced their military and administrative presence. Events were brought to
1547-696: The Incident of Rattanakosin Era 112 ( Thai : วิกฤตการณ์ ร.ศ. 112 , RTGS : wikrittakan roso-roisipsong , [wí krít tàʔ kaːn rɔː sɔ̌ː rɔ́ːj sìp sɔ̌ːŋ] ) was a conflict between the French Third Republic and the Kingdom of Siam . Auguste Pavie , French vice consul in Luang Prabang in 1886, was the chief agent in furthering French interests in Laos . His intrigues, which took advantage of Siamese weakness in
1638-508: The Inconstant , but more effective action was prevented by a lack of training at the fort. Under Richelieu's direct command at the fort were three other Danes. Two of them were recent arrivals who spoke no Siamese. By Warington-Smyth's account "these officers were running breathlessly to their guns in turn up and down half-finished steps and gun-platforms, avoiding pitfalls as best they might, and communicating their orders in languages which none of
1729-507: The Lancang River ( simplified Chinese : 澜沧江 ; traditional Chinese : 瀾滄 江 ; pinyin : Láncāng Jiāng , from the old name of Lao kingdom Lan Xang ; the characters may also be literally understood as "turbulent green river"). It originates in the " three rivers source area " on the Tibetan Plateau in the Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve . The reserve protects the headwaters of, from north to south,
1820-576: The Nam Ngum , Nam Theun , Nam Hinboun, Se Bang Fai , Se Bang Hieng and Se Done Rivers. The Mun - Chi river system from the right bank in Thailand enters the mainstream within this reach. Reach 4: Pakse to Kratie . The main hydrological contributions to the mainstream in this reach come from the Se Kong , Se San , and Sre Pok catchments. Together, these rivers make up the largest hydrological sub-component of
1911-460: The Richter magnitude scale and is unlikely to cause material damage. The difficulty of navigating the river has meant that it has divided, rather than united, the people who live near it. The earliest known settlements date to 210 BCE, with Ban Chiang being an excellent example of early Iron Age culture. The earliest recorded civilization was the 1st century Indianised -Khmer culture of Funan , in
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#17328444517892002-457: The South China Sea . From the point where it rises to its mouth, the most precipitous drop in the Mekong occurs in the upper Mekong basin, a stretch of some 2,200 km (1,400 mi). Here, it drops 4,500 m (14,800 ft) before it enters the lower basin where the borders of Thailand, Laos, China, and Myanmar come together in the Golden Triangle. Downstream from the Golden Triangle,
2093-1002: The Yellow (Huang He), the Yangtze , and the Mekong Rivers. It flows through the Tibetan Autonomous Region and then southeast into Yunnan Province, and then the Three Parallel Rivers Area in the Hengduan Mountains , along with the Yangtze to its east and the Salween River (Nu Jiang in Chinese) to its west. Then the Mekong meets the China–Myanmar border and flows about 10 km (6 mi) along that border until it reaches
2184-625: The Yunnan component makes up almost 30% of the average dry season flow. A major concern is that the ongoing and planned expansion of dams and reservoirs on the Mekong mainstream in Yunnan could have a significant effect on the low-flow regime of the lower Mekong basin system. Reach 2: Chiang Saen to Vientiane and Nong Khai . This reach is almost entirely mountainous and covered with natural forest although there has been widespread slash and burn agriculture. Although this reach cannot be termed "unspoiled",
2275-611: The gunboat Comete arrived on July 13 at Paknam with the intention of crossing the bar into the Chao Phraya River and join the French gunboat Lutin already anchored off the French embassy in Bangkok . The Siamese forbade the French gunboats to cross the bar, a contravention of the Franco-Siamese Treaty of 1856 which permitted the French free passage up as far as Paknam Island. The French commander, Captain Borey, did not receive
2366-579: The tripoint of China, Myanmar and Laos . From there it flows southwest and forms the border of Myanmar and Laos for about 100 km (60 mi) until it arrives at the tripoint of Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand . This is also the point of confluence between the Ruak River (which follows the Thai–Myanmar border) and the Mekong. The area of this tripoint is sometimes termed the Golden Triangle , although
2457-543: The 1950s to around 50% in the mid-1990s. Agricultural expansion and population pressure are the major reasons for land use and landscape change. Both drought and flood are common hazards in the Delta, which many people believe is the most sensitive to upstream hydrological change. Table 1: Country share of Mekong River Basin (MRB) and water flows By taking into account hydrological regimes, physiography land use, and existing, planned and potential resource developments,
2548-444: The British, who put pressure on both the Siamese and French governments to reach a negotiated settlement. The final agreement gave the French control of substantial territories east of the Mekong river, territory that today forms most of Laos . Furthermore, a 25 km-wide military-exclusion zone was established on the right bank of the Mekong and around Battambang and Siem Reap , weakening Siamese control of these territories, and
2639-524: The British. In addition, the French demanded as guarantees the temporary occupation of Chantaburi and the demilitarization of Battambang , Siem Reap and a 25-kilometer (16 mi)-wide zone on the west bank of the Mekong. The conflict led to the signature of the Franco-Siamese Treaty, on 3 October 1893. Following the killing of Grosgurin, the Commissioner of the Khammuan District, Phra Yot ,
2730-479: The French Embassy in Bangkok around 22:00 on July 13. His ships' guns were targeted on the royal palace to put pressure on the Siamese to resolve multiple territorial disputes that had arisen with France. The Siamese were widely seen as having overplayed their hand in the dispute. By attempting to prevent the French from entering the Chao Phraya River, the Siamese had contravened the 1856 Franco-Siamese Treaty, giving
2821-439: The French a pretext for their subsequent actions. The French gunboats, together with Pavie, departed Bangkok on July 24 prior to the French imposing a blockade of the river from July 29 until August 3. In France, many were calling for a protectorate to be imposed upon Siam. But the events of July 13, followed by the blockade, which harmed British interests far more than French (British trade accounted for 93% of Siam exports), alarmed
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2912-523: The French were given temporary control of the port of Chanthaburi ). Finally, the Siamese were forced to pay three million French francs indemnity to the French. The final agreement was signed on October 3, 1893. Chakri dynasty Kings Viceroys Deputy Viceroy Crown Prince Hereditary Prince Royalty Siamese Foreigners Key events Franco-Siamese crisis The Franco-Siamese crisis of 1893, known in Thailand as
3003-815: The Great Lake via the Tonle Sap River . Phnom Penh also marks the beginning of the delta system of the Mekong River. Here the mainstream begins to break up into an increasing number of branches. In Cambodia, wet rice is the main crop and is grown on the flood plains of the Tonle Sap, Mekong, and Bassac (the Mekong delta distributary known as the Hậu in Vietnam) Rivers. More than half of Cambodia remains covered with mixed evergreen and deciduous broadleaf forest, but forest cover has decreased from 73% in 1973 to 63% in 1993. Here,
3094-719: The Kingdom of Thailand which is the mechanism for cooperation with regard to riverine trade on the upper stretches of the Mekong. The Mekong basin is one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the world. Only the Amazon boasts a higher level of bio-diversity. Biota estimates for the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) include 20,000 plant species, 430 mammals, 1,200 birds, 800 reptiles and amphibians, and an estimated 850 freshwater fish species (excluding euryhaline species mainly found in salt or brackish water, as well as introduced species ). The most species rich orders among
3185-417: The Mekong and withdraw their garrisons there, to pay an indemnity of three million francs in reparation for the fighting at Paknam, and to punish those responsible for the killings in the disputed territory. When Siam did not immediately comply unconditionally to the ultimatum, the French blockaded the Siamese coast. In the end the Siamese submitted fully to the French conditions after finding no support from
3276-616: The Mekong delta. Excavations at Oc Eo , near modern An Giang , have found coins from as far away as the Roman Empire . This was succeeded by the Khmer culture Chenla state around the 5th century. The Khmer empire of Angkor was the last great Indianized state in the region. From around the time of the fall of the Khmer empire, the Mekong was the front line between the emergent states of Siam and Tonkin (North Vietnam), with Laos and Cambodia, then on
3367-763: The Mekong is called the Tiền River or Tiền Giang. In Vietnam, distributaries of the eastern (main, Mekong) branch include the Mỹ Tho River , the Ba Lai River , the Hàm Luông River , and the Cổ Chiên River . The Mekong Basin is frequently divided into two parts: the "upper Mekong basin" comprising those parts of the basin in Tibet , Yunnan and eastern Myanmar , and the "lower Mekong basin" from Yunnan downstream from China to
3458-462: The Mekong is divided into six distinct reaches : Reach 1: Lancang Jiang or Upper Mekong River in China . In this part of the river, the major source of water flowing into the river comes from melting snow on the Tibetan plateau . This volume of water is sometimes called the "Yunnan component" and plays an important role in the low-flow hydrology of the lower mainstream. Even as far downstream as Kratie,
3549-651: The Mekong, seasonal flows can be quite variable from year to year. Although the pattern of the annual hydrograph is fairly predictable, its magnitude is not. The average monthly flows along the mainstream are listed in Table 3, providing an indication of their range and variability from year to year. At Pakse , for example, flood season flows during August would exceed 20,000 m /s (5,300,000 US gal/s) nine years out of ten, but exceed 34,000 m /s (9,000,000 US gal/s) only one year in ten. Table 3: Mekong Mainstream monthly discharge, 1960–2004 (m /s). There
3640-605: The Phra Chulachomklao Fort opened fire with two blank rounds but the French continued on, so a third, live, warning shot was fired and hit the water in front of the Jean Baptiste Say . When this warning was ignored, a fourth shot was fired so the gunboats Makhut Ratchakuman and Coronation opened up at 18:50. Inconstant returned fire on the fort while the Comete engaged the gunboats. At least two shots from fortress hit
3731-619: The Sap River joins the Mekong by Phnom Penh, the Bassac River branches off the right (west) bank. The Bassac River is the first and main distributary of the Mekong. This is the beginning of the Mekong Delta. The two rivers, the Bassac to the west and the Mekong to the east, enter Vietnam shortly after this. In Vietnam, the Bassac is called the Hậu River (Sông Hậu or Hậu Giang); the main, eastern, branch of
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3822-467: The Siamese gunboats Makut Ratchakuman and Coronation were present, together with "two very old-fashioned gun flats with a big gun each, and the training barque, lying farther up river, armed with six brass carronades for saluting purposes". The French chose to cross the bar with the high tide just after sunset on July 13. The weather was overcast and raining. By this time the Siamese were on high alert and at battle stations. The French ships were led by
3913-475: The Siamese were well-prepared for battle. Chulachomklao Fort had just been modernized with seven 6-inch Armstrong Whitworth disappearing guns and was under the command of Andreas du Plessis de Richelieu , a Danish naval officer granted the noble title of Phraya Chonlayutyothin. Further upriver at Paknam Island, the smaller Phi Seua Samut fortress had also been fitted with three of the same guns. The Siamese had also sunk mines, barrels of gas , and dynamite in
4004-467: The astonished gunners understood." It was a similar situation aboard the Siamese gunboats where the Siamese crews lacked any training, so their Danish commanders ran back-and-forth to lay and fire the guns, then back to the bridge to steer the ship and instruct the engine room. After firing two shots the carriage of the 70-pound gun aboard the Coronation broke through the deck and could no longer be fired. In
4095-611: The border between Thailand and Laos commemorates Phra Yot. The Siamese agreed to cede Laos to France, significantly expanding French Indochina . In 1896, France signed a treaty with Britain defining the border between Laos and British territory in Upper Burma. The Kingdom of Laos became a protectorate, initially placed under the Governor General of Indochina in Hanoi. Pavie, who almost single-handedly brought Laos under French rule, saw to
4186-432: The city of Pakse . Thereafter, it turns and runs more or less directly south, crossing into Cambodia . At Phnom Penh the river is joined on the right bank by the river and lake system the Tonlé Sap . When the Mekong is low, the Tonle Sap is a tributary : water flows from the lake and river into the Mekong. When the Mekong floods, the flow reverses: the floodwaters of the Mekong flow up the Tonle Sap. Immediately after
4277-417: The coast, torn between their influence. The first European to encounter the Mekong was the Portuguese António de Faria in 1540. A European map of 1563 depicts the river, although even by then little was known of the river upstream of the delta. European interest was sporadic: the Spanish and Portuguese mounted some missionary and trade expeditions, while the Dutch Gerrit van Wuysthoff led an expedition up
4368-402: The colonial lobby ( Parti Colonial ) to stir up nationalistic anti-Siamese sentiment, as a pretext for intervention. The death of Massie left Auguste Pavie as the new French Consul. In March 1893 Pavie demanded that the Siamese evacuate all military posts on the east side of the Mekong River south of Khammuan, claiming that the land belonged to Vietnam. To back up these demands, the French sent
4459-471: The death of Grosgurin became known as the "Affair of Kham Muon (Kien Chek)" and was ultimately used as a pretext for strong French intervention. As a result, France demanded reparations and tensions with the British over control of Siam came to a peak. The British sent three navy ships to the mouth of the Chao Phraya , in case evacuation of British citizens became necessary. In turn the French went one step further in July 1893 by ordering two of their ships,
4550-440: The delta advanced 200 km (120 mi) over the continental shelf of the South China Sea, covering an area of more than 62,500 km (24,100 sq mi). From 5.3 to 3.5 ka the delta advanced across a broad embayment formed between higher ground near the Cambodian border and uplands north of Ho Chi Minh City . During this phase of its development the delta was sheltered from the wave action of long-shore currents and
4641-452: The delta. For much of its length the Mekong flows through bedrock channels, i.e., channels that are confined or constrained by bedrock or old alluvium in the bed and riverbanks. Geomorphologic features normally associated with the alluvial stretches of mature rivers, such as meanders , oxbow lakes , cut-offs, and extensive floodplains are restricted to a short stretch of the mainstream around Vientiane and downstream of Kratie where
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#17328444517894732-457: The ensuing confusion the Coronation was nearly rammed by the Inconstant which fired two shells into the Coronation . The Jean Baptiste Say was hit several times by cannon fire and the captain was forced to ground her on Laem Lamphu Rai. No shells hit the Phra Chulachomklao Fort. Within 25 minutes the Inconstant and the Comete had broken through the line of Siamese defences at a cost of fifteen Siamese and two French lives. A short time later
4823-434: The ghost lost its way'. It then turns east into the interior of Laos, flowing first east and then south for some 400 km (250 mi) before meeting the border with Thailand again. Once more, it defines the Laos-Thailand border for some 850 km (530 mi) as it flows first east, passing the capital of Laos, Vientiane , then turns south. A second time, the river leaves the border and flows east into Laos soon passing
4914-409: The gunboat Lutin to Bangkok , where it was moored on the Chao Phraya next to the French legation . When Siam rejected the French demands, Lanessan sent three military columns into the disputed region to assert French control in April 1893. Eight small Siamese garrisons west of the Mekong withdrew upon the arrival of the central column, but the advance of the other columns met with resistance. In
5005-528: The high rainfall areas of Laos. The second group are those on the right bank, mainly the Mun and Chi Rivers, that drain a large part of northeast Thailand. Laos lies almost entirely within the lower Mekong basin. Its climate, landscape and land use are the major factors shaping the hydrology of the river. The mountainous landscape means that only 16% of the country is farmed under lowland terrace or upland shifting cultivation . With upland shifting agriculture (slash and burn), soils recover within 10 to 20 years but
5096-429: The house subsequently set on fire on the orders of Phra Yot. In a joint agreement between the Siamese and the French, Phra Yot was condemned to 20 years of penal servitude. The solicitor for the defense was the Ceylonese lawyer William Alfred Tilleke , who was later appointed Attorney General of Siam and granted a peerage by the king. The Royal Thai Army fort Phra Yot Muang Khwan in Nakhon Phanom Province on
5187-529: The hydrological impacts of land cover changes induced by the Vietnam War were quantified in two sub-catchments of the lower Mekong River basin. Loss of forest cover in the Thai areas of the lower basin has been the highest of all the lower Mekong countries over the past 60 years. On the Khorat Plateau , which includes the Mun and Chi tributary systems, forest cover was reduced from 42% in 1961 to 13% in 1993. Although this part of northeast Thailand has an annual rainfall of more than 1,000 mm (40 in),
5278-437: The hydrological response is perhaps the most natural and undisturbed of all the lower basin. Many hydrological aspects of the lower basin start to change rapidly at the downstream boundary of this reach. On 19 July 2019 this reach of the river dropped to its lowest level in a century. Officials are particularly concerned as July is in the wet season, when mainstream flows are abundant historically. Locals are blaming low water on
5369-437: The lower basin from Yunnan make up about 15% of the wet season flow at Kratie . This rises to 40% during the dry season, even this far downstream. During the wet season, the proportion of average flow coming from Yunnan rapidly decreases downstream of Chiang Saen, from 70% to less than 20% at Kratie. The dry season contribution from Yunnan is much more significant. The major portion of the balance comes from Laos, which points to
5460-411: The lower basin. Over 25% of the mean annual flow volume to the mainstream at Kratie comes from these three river basins. They are the key element in the hydrology of this part of the system, especially to the Tonle Sap flow reversal. Reach 5: Kratie to Phnom Penh . This reach includes the hydraulic complexities of the Cambodian floodplain, the Tonle Sap and the Great Lake. By this stage, over 95% of
5551-439: The newly constructed Xayaburi Dam , as it enters its test phase prior to the start of commercial operation in October 2019. Reach 3: Vientiane and Nong Khai to Pakse . The boundary between Reach 2 and 3 is where the Mekong hydrology starts to change. Reach 2 is dominated in both wet and dry seasons by the Yunnan Component. Reach 3 is increasingly influenced by contributions from the large left bank tributaries in Laos, namely
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#17328444517895642-454: The north, the French came under siege on the island of Khoung , with the capture of an officer, Thoreaux. In the south the occupation proceeded smoothly until an ambush by the Siamese on the village of Keng Kert resulted in the killing of French police inspector Grosgurin . Inspector Grosgurin was a French inspector and commander of a Vietnamese militia in Laos . Like Auguste Pavie , he had been engaged in several exploratory expeditions in
5733-401: The officialization in Hanoi . The French and British both had strong interests in controlling parts of Indochina. Twice in the 1890s, they were on the verge of war over two different routes leading to Yunnan . But several difficulties discouraged them from war. The geography of the land made troop movements difficult, making warfare more costly and less effective. Both countries were fighting
5824-534: The present, however, the contribution from the Three Rivers Area fell to 40%, while that from the Central Highlands rose from 11 to 51%. One of the most striking conclusions of provenance studies is the small contribution of sediment from the other parts of the Mekong basin, notably the Khorat Plateau, the uplands of northern Laos and northern Thailand, and the mountain ranges south of the Three Rivers area. The last glacial period came to an abrupt end about 19,000 years ago (19 ka ) when sea levels rose rapidly, reaching
5915-436: The principal crops. Drought is by far the major hydrological hazard in this region. As the Mekong enters Cambodia, over 95% of its flows have already joined the river. From here on downstream the terrain is flat and water levels rather than flow volumes determine the movement of water across the landscape. The seasonal cycle of changing water levels at Phnom Penh results in the unique "flow reversal" of water into and out of
6006-580: The principal left bank tributaries enter the mainstream, mainly the Nam Ngum and Nam Theun. The flow level falls again, even with the right bank entry of the Mun-Chi system from Thailand. Although the Mun–Chi basin drains 20% of the lower system, average annual runoff is only 250 mm (10 in). Runoff in the mainstream increases again with the entry from the left bank of the Se Kong from southern Laos and Se San and Sre Pok from Vietnam and Cambodia. Table 2: Lower Mekong Mainstream annual flow (1960 to 2004) at selected sites. Flows at Chiang Saen entering
6097-411: The proper name of the Yangtze before becoming a generic word for major rivers. To the early European traders, the Mekong River was also known as Mekon River , May-Kiang River and Cambodia River . The local names for the river include: The Mekong rises as the Za Qu ( Tibetan : རྫ་ཆུ་ , Wylie : rDza chu , ZYPY : Za qu ; Chinese : 扎曲 ; pinyin : Zā Qū ) and soon becomes known as
6188-448: The region and periodic invasions by Vietnamese rebels from Tonkin , increased tensions between Bangkok and Paris . The conflict concluded with the Paknam Incident , in which French gunboats sailed up the Chao Phraya River to blockade Bangkok . The Siamese subsequently agreed to cede the area that constitutes most of present-day Laos to France, an act that led to the significant expansion of French Indochina . This conflict succeeded
6279-406: The region. He was a member of one of the French armed columns dispatched in April 1893 by Lassenan to cross the Annamite Range into the Lao area of Khammuan (modern Thakhek ) and to occupy the disputed territory. The column was at first successful in evicting the Siamese commissioner at Khammuan by 25 May. Shortly afterward on 5 June, the Siamese commissioner organized a surprise ambush on
6370-419: The river as far as Vientiane in 1641–42. The French invaded the region in the mid-19th century, capturing Saigon in 1861, and establishing a protectorate over Cambodia in 1863. The first systematic European exploration began with the French Mekong Expedition led by Ernest Doudard de Lagrée and Francis Garnier , which ascended the river from its mouth to Yunnan between 1866 and 1868. Their chief finding
6461-448: The river develops alluvial channels that are free of control exerted by the underlying bedrock. The Mekong basin is not normally considered a seismically active area as much of the basin is underlain by the relatively stable continental block. Nonetheless, the parts of the basin in northern Laos , northern Thailand , Myanmar and China do experience frequent earthquakes and tremors. The magnitude of these earthquakes rarely exceeds 6.5 on
6552-475: The river flows for a further 2,600 km (1,600 mi) through Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia before entering the South China Sea via a complex delta system in Vietnam . The upper basin makes up 24% of the total area and contributes 15–20% of the water that flows into the Mekong River. The catchment here is steep and narrow with Soil erosion being a major problem and as a result of this, approximately 50% of
6643-459: The river landscape is flat. Small changes in water level determine the direction of water movement, including the large-scale reversal of flow into and out of the Tonle Sap basin from the Mekong River. The Mekong Delta in Vietnam is farmed intensively and has little natural vegetation left. Forest cover is less than 10%. In the Central Highlands of Vietnam, forest cover was reduced from over 95% in
6734-601: The river's ecosystem , including the exacerbation of drought . The Mekong was originally called Mae Nam Khong from a contracted form of Tai shortened to Mae Khong . In Thai and Lao, Mae Nam ("Mother of Water[s]") is used for large rivers and Khong is the proper name referred to as "River Khong". However, Khong is an archaic word meaning "river", loaned from Austroasiatic languages , such as Vietnamese sông (from * krong ) and Mon kruŋ "river", which led to Chinese 江 whose Old Chinese pronunciation has been reconstructed as /*kˤroŋ/ and which long served as
6825-497: The river, from below the fort to the center of the river. Above this, two chain and stake barrages plus several sunken vessels off both banks left only a narrow passage available to the French. Reports are contradictory about the strength of Siamese naval forces that day. Contemporary French accounts suggest that five gunboats were anchored just beyond the sunken vessels, almost the entire Siamese fleet. Herbert Warington Smyth who visited Paknam that day disputes this, reporting that only
6916-477: The sediment in the river comes from the upper basin. In Yunnan Province in China, the river and its tributaries are confined by narrow, deep gorges. The tributary river systems in this part of the basin are small. Only 14 have catchment areas that exceed 1,000 km (400 sq mi), yet the greatest amount of loss of forest cover in the entire river system per square kilometer has occurred in this region due to heavy unchecked demand for natural resources. In
7007-507: The ships passed the Phi Seua fortress at Paknam. By this time night had fallen and after "five minutes' desultory firing of the wildest kind" the gunboats passed unhindered. Warington-Smyth reports that a civilian woman in Paknam was struck and killed by a stray bullet from this skirmish. The following morning, Jean Baptiste Say ' s crew was still aboard their grounded vessel so the Siamese sent
7098-515: The sloop Inconstant and the gunboat Comète , to sail up the Chao Phraya toward Bangkok, without the permission of the Siamese. They came under fire from the fort at Paknam on 13 July 1893. The French returned fire and forced their way to Bangkok. With guns trained on the Grand Palace in Bangkok, the French delivered an ultimatum to the Siamese on 20 July to hand over the territory east of
7189-409: The small mail steamer Jean Baptiste Say . At 18:15 the rain stopped and the Siamese gunners observed the French ships passing the nearby lighthouse . A few minutes later, the French were off Black Buoy when they entered the range of the fort's guns. Siamese gunners were ordered to fire three warning shots; if they were ignored, then a fourth shot would signal their gunboats to open fire. At 18:30,
7280-503: The south of Yunnan, in Simao and Xishuangbanna Prefectures, the river changes as the valley opens out, the floodplain becomes wider, and the river becomes wider and slower. Major tributary systems develop in the lower basin. These systems can be separated into two groups: tributaries that contribute to the major wet season flows, and tributaries that drain low relief regions of lower rainfall. The first group are left bank tributaries that drain
7371-608: The support of the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement within the US State Department Bureau of Political-Military Affairs , to conduct underwater explosive removal. The many maps of the river basin produced throughout recorded history reflect the region's changing human geography and politics. In 1995, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam established the Mekong River Commission (MRC) to manage and coordinate
7462-462: The term also refers to the much larger area of those three countries that was notorious as a drug producing region. From the Golden Triangle tripoint, the Mekong turns southeast to briefly form the border of Laos with Thailand. Khon Pi Long is a series of rapids along a 1.6 km (1.0 mi) section of the Mekong River dividing Chiang Rai and Bokeo Province in Laos. The name of the rapids means 'where
7553-572: The total flow has entered the Mekong system. The focus turns from hydrology and water discharge to the assessment of water level, over- bank storage and flooding and the hydrodynamics that determine the timing, duration and volume of the seasonal flow reversal into and out of the Great Lake. Reach 6: Phnom Penh to the South China Sea . Here the mainstream divides into a complex and increasingly controlled and artificial system of branches and canals. Key features of flow behaviour are tidal influences and salt water intrusion. Every year, 35–50% of this reach
7644-473: The underlying geological structure is fairly homogeneous and stable, exerting little or no control on river morphology . In marked contrast, the tributary networks of the Salween , Yangtze , and particularly the Mekong, are complex with different sub-basins often exhibiting different, and distinct, drainage patterns. These complex drainage systems have developed in a setting where the underlying geological structure
7735-664: The use and care of the Mekong. In 1996 China and Myanmar became "dialogue partners" of the MRC and the six countries now work together in a cooperative framework. In 2000, the governments of China, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar signed a Agreement on Commercial Navigation on Lancang-Mekong River among the Governments of the People's Republic of China, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, the Union of Myanmar and
7826-419: The vegetation does not. Shifting cultivation is common in the uplands of northern Laos and is reported to account for as much as 27% of the total land under rice cultivation. As elsewhere in the basin, forest cover has been steadily reduced during the last three decades by shifting agriculture and permanent agriculture. The cumulative impacts of these activities on the river regime have not been measured. However,
7917-412: The village of Kien Ket , where Grosgurin, confined to his sickbed, had encamped with his militia. The commissioner had apparently been instructed by Siamese government representatives to "compel their [French troops] retirement, by fighting, if necessary, to the utmost of their strength". The ambush resulted in the razing of the village and the killing of Grosgurin and 17 Vietnamese. The incident and
8008-511: The wars in Indochina in the 1970s, a significant quantity of explosives (sometimes, entire barges loaded with military ordnance ) sank in the Cambodian section of the Mekong (as well as in the country's other waterways). Besides being a danger for fishermen, unexploded ordnance also creates problems for bridge and irrigation systems construction. As of 2013, Cambodian volunteers are being trained, with
8099-623: Was acknowledged by his government to have been the responsible official, although he was initially acquitted of wrongdoing in a trial in March 1894. A "Franco-Siamese Mixed Court" was subsequently convened in June 1894. The court determined that Phra Yot had brought extra forces to surround the house in Kien Ket occupied by the ill Grosgurin, outnumbering his small Vietnamese militia; that Grosgurin and those Vietnamese who had not managed to escape had been killed and
8190-473: Was constructed largely through fluvial and tidal processes. At this time the delta was advancing at a rate of 17 to 18 m (56 to 59 ft) per year. After 3.5 ka, however, the delta had built out beyond the embayment and became subject to wave action and marine currents. These deflected deposition south-eastwards in the direction of the Cà Mau Peninsula , which is one of the most recent features of
8281-485: Was that the Mekong had too many falls and rapids to ever be useful for navigation . The river's source was found by Pyotr Kuzmich Kozlov in 1900. From 1893, the French extended their control of the river into Laos, establishing French Indochina by the first decade of the 20th century. This lasted until the First and Second Indochina Wars expelled French from its former colony and defeated US-supported governments. During
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