Mekong River Commission (MRC) Report: Defer dams on Mekong; UN Chief Ban Ki-moon accuses the Burmese government of being ''slow and incomplete'' in meeting political commitments; North-Eastern Thailand badly affected by floods; Myanmar plans to construct
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  • A report released by the Mekong River Commission (MRC) has recommended that no dam be built on the main stream of the lower Mekong River in South-East Asia for 10 years. The commission links Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. It also included China, which has built or is building eight dams on the upper Mekong, and Myanmar as "dialogue partners". The 200-page report has been released just weeks after Laos formally notified its Mekong neighbours that it wants to go ahead with a major dam at Xayaboury near the Thailand border.1

    Expressing grave concern at the Burmese junta's refusal to free opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi before the November 7 elections, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has accused the Burmese government of being ''slow and incomplete'' in meeting political commitments and said its refusal to hold talks with the international community was ''deeply frustrating''. In a report on human rights in Burma, Mr Ban made repeated calls for the military government to free Ms Suu Kyi if it wanted the November 7 election to have any international credibility.2

    Thailand’s North-Eastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima was declared a disaster zone over the weekend after floods inundated hundreds of houses and cut off the highway leading to Bangkok. Reports noted that two days of heavy rains forced thousands to evacuate their at least 20 villages flooded by water 1 meter deep.3

    Myanmar has planned to construct a railroad that will link a deep-sea port, Kyaukphyu, in western Rakhine state with Kunming, southwest of China. The Kyaukphyu-Kunming railroad, which is part of the Kyaukphyu- Ruili platform project and national railroad network, has been targeted to be finished in 2015.4

    Meanwhile, fifteen Pakistani nationals suspected of collecting funds for terrorist organizations have been arrested in Thailand, police sources noted on 13 October. According to Colonel Piyawat Chalermsri of the Thai police, police were tipped off to the activity by a bank in the Southern Yala province after the suspects tried to wire funds to a person in Pakistan whose name was on a list of people with "terrorist connections".5

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