"Villagers in Laos and Thailand Suffer as China Opens the Floodgates on Mekong River Dams", 3 July 2019

Villagers living near the Mekong River in Thailand and Laos are finding it difficult to cope with sudden releases of water from dams upstream in China.

More than 200 famililes living in Laos' Bokeo province have suffered because of sudden increases in the height of the river, threatening their livelihoods.

..."Local people are then unable to fish, and seaweed that they have been raising for food or income gets destroyed or otherwise disappears because the water current is abnormally strong," the official said.

...Meanwhile in Thailand, about 300 families in more than 20 villages are also struggling from the sudden release of Chinese dam water.

...China typically releases water from dams during the rainy season to lower the possibility of a break in any of the dams. They also release water during the dry season for Chinese farmers in need of water for irrigation, but the effects are felt downstream.

...Global environmental group International Rivers warned that such water releases could result in disaster.