The Mekong, the world’s eleventh longest river and undoubtedly one of its greatest, has been a common thread in the lives and histories of the six nations — China, Myanmar (formerly Burma), Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam — through which it flows. Paradoxically, the river has been a barrier to travel and to efforts to unify the common aspirations of these countries. But all that is changing, in much the same way as the European Union has grown out of common interests to overcome historic rivalries.
Age-old animosities are being replaced by the recognition that these six nations share common cultural legacies. More importantly, they share common goals that can best be achieved through cooperation, not competition. Among the key beneficiaries are travellers who can anticipate unimpeded movement some day through all countries of the Mekong sub-region, much as people may now travel freely through Europe.
The 60-million people living along the Mekong share a host of cultural legacies. While speaking dramatically different languages, each country contains pockets of ethnic groups that originated in its neighbouring countries. These early settlers were often migrants seeking fresh land to till or escape from their homelands. Some even arrived as prisoners of war to populate remote areas or build the cities of an emerging region and contribute to its prosperity. The Mekong was the road along which all of them travelled.
Many ethnic groups have at one time or another lived in Thailand, either as separate enclaves or on their way to eventual assimilation into the dominant population. One particularly important source group, the Tai, can be found in Myanmar, China, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. People of Vietnamese origin reside in Laos, Thailand and Cambodia. Many Khmers live in southern Vietnam, and the Chinese have settled almost everywhere. Each group maintains rich cultural links to its past. The six Mekong nations also boast countless distinct hill tribe people whose ancestral regions long predate modern borders.
All six countries share diets based on rice and fish that are made bountiful by the waters of the Mekong and its tributaries. Apart from in China and Vietnam, most people traditionally lived in stilt houses — evidence of an ancient existence beside waters that rose and fell with the seasons. All relied on boats as their principal means of transport through often impenetrable jungles. Large bodies of water such as the the Tonle Sap, which has the world’s densest concentration of freshwater fish, and the Mekong Delta rank among the most fertile agricultural areas to be found anywhere.
All six nations have strong Buddhist influences that are evident in their rites and rituals. The naga, or dragon, also figures prominently in their respective cosmologies. Moreover, they share many other animist and Buddhist symbols, among them, the lotus. Citizens traditionally celebrate in similar ways as well, for example with their own variations of water festivals and longboat races. Crafts, notably weaving, have shared histories that are reflected in the textile patterns, and use of cotton and silk.
The Mekong never developed into a more important international lifeline because of geology and politics. For one thing, the Mekong’s headwaters in China’s Qinghai and Yunnan were far too wild for most river boats. The Khone Falls in southern Laos meanwhile blocked river transport, impeding the transportation of goods to and from the northern interior of mainland Southeast Asia.
Primitive technology predicated against constructing bridges across the river’s deep waters. However, this barrier is dissolving as Mekong neighbours discover their shared heritage and the benefits of cooperation. They are literally and figuratively building bridges to bind together their destinies.
For decades, the Old Burma Road bridge at Yongping in Yunnan was the only span across the river. Fifty years later in 1994, it was joined by the Friendship Bridge linking Thailand’s Nong Khai and the Lao capital of Vientiane. This young century has seen the construction of a bridge across the Mekong at Komphong Chang to carry traffic between Cambodia and Vietnam and another at Thailand’s Ubon Ratchathani to carry vehicles to Pakse, Laos. The newest additions link Thailand’s Mukdahan with Sawannakhet in Laos, providing a land route on to Vietnam. It is now possible to drive in one day from Thailand, through Laos via Route 9, to Dong Ha near Hue, opening once remote areas to outsiders and countless commercial possibilities, notably Vietnam’s ports in the South China Sea.
Soon, a new bridge will link Thailand’s Nakhon Phanom with Tha Khaek and routes on through Laos to Vietnam. Further north, Thailand’s Chiang Khong will be linked to Ban Huay Xai, facilitating access northwards through Laos to southern China and Kunming.
Even the age-old dream of the Mekong as a river road is finally being realized. Cargo and tourist boats ply the river between Angkor Wat and Ho Chi Minh City. Others link Yunnan with northern Thailand, Thailand with Laos and Siem Reap with the Mekong Delta and beyond. New highways mean it is now possible to drive along the river all the way from Yunnan’s capital, Kunming, to Ho Chi Minh City.
For the first time, it is possible to envision a time when buses will carry visitors from one country deep into the heart of another in a single day, taking them on voyages of discovery that go deep into their own respective histories.
t tourism, and France is a market with significant potential.
The first batch of 14 French couples are now set to have a wonderful time.