Joint China, Thailand efforts boost basin flood and drought resilience

Editor's note: Meng Dong, a special commentator for CGTN, is an observer on international affairs. The article reflects the author's views and not necessarily those of CGTN.

The Lancang-Mekong River is a natural bond connecting Thailand and China, bearing great significance for the socioeconomic development, people's well-being and basin ecological security of both countries. Since the launch of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) mechanism, Thailand and China have adhered to the LMC spirit of mutual respect and benefit, deepened exchanges on water governance, strengthened hydrological information sharing across the Lancang-Mekong Basin, coordinated efforts on flood control and drought mitigation, advanced pragmatic cooperation and capacity building. They have also worked together to enhance the basin's climate resilience to flood and drought risks, and jointly made contribution to the peace and prosperity of the river basin.

In recent years, frequent high-level exchanges between the two countries have been carried out, through which in-depth discussions on water governance policies, flood and drought disaster prevention, advancement of pragmatic cooperation and hydrological information sharing were held. The water authorities of the two countries signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) and established the Thailand-China Joint Steering Committee in the water sector to promote cooperation in river basin planning, formulating modern irrigation schemes, and capacity building, steadily advancing bilateral water cooperation and delivering tangible results.

Hydrological information sharing serves as a vital underpinning for basin-wide water-related disaster prevention and mitigation. With the changing climate, the Lancang-Mekong Basin is plagued by frequent floods and droughts, posing challenges to sustainable socioeconomic development of the region. To assist downstream Mekong countries, including Thailand, in disaster response, China has provided seasonal flood hydrological data to the downstream countries since 2002, and year-around hydrological data since 2020. Starting from 2025, China has issued five early warning releases on typhoons and heavy rainfall via the Lancang-Mekong Water Resources Cooperation Information Sharing Platform, alerting national authorities in Thailand and other Mekong countries to take preventive measures.

To further strengthen risk reduction for the Lancang-Mekong River basin, the six riparian countries – China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam – have reached a consensus in principle on signing an MoU for hydrological information sharing across the river basin. Meanwhile, the Hydrological Information Sharing Station Upgrade Project for the Lancang-Mekong Basin is being implemented. The project will carry out intelligent and standardized upgrades on data transmission systems at 24 key hydrological stations in the basin, improve automatic data collection and transmission capacity, refine the basin hydrological monitoring network, and deliver more accurate and timely early warnings for floods and droughts.

Scientific regulation of water facilities is a key measure to cope with floods and droughts. In recent years, the six riparian countries have maintained close coordination, fully leveraged the capacity of water facilities to store floodwater in wet seasons and release more water in dry seasons, and jointly tackled flood and drought disasters.

During Typhoon Yagi in 2024, intense rainfall hit parts of Thailand and Laos, triggering sharp rises in river levels and flash floods that posed severe threats to local residents' lives and property. Upon learning about the downstream disaster, China regulated the outflow of cascade reservoirs on the Lancang River to keep it consistently below natural inflow, greatly easing flood pressure on mainstream sections of the Mekong River in Thailand and Laos, mitigating the adverse impacts of floods on people's livelihoods, and helping the Thai government protect its citizens. This vividly embodies the close bond between Thailand and China, who share the same rivers and stand together through tough times.

Projects for improving people's livelihoods constitute an integral part of the Lancang-Mekong water resources cooperation. Taking the lead in regional cooperation, the two countries have used the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Special Fund to implement a series of projects that enhance climate resilience of the river basin. From 2022 to 2023, the two countries jointly rolled out the Water Sector Youth Leadership Network in the Lancang-Mekong Region, which focuses on capacity building in the water sector. It gathers young water professionals from all six Lancang-Mekong countries for technical exchanges and hands-on professional training, building a collaborative governance platform for young water practitioners across the basin and fostering a new generation of specialized talent to safeguard basin water security.

Scientific and technological innovation is crucial to the development of the water sector, and the two countries have deepened joint scientific research on water resources. Since 2022, against the backdrop of changing hydrological regimes and increasing flood-drought risks driven by climate change across the Lancang-Mekong Basin, China and Thailand have continued supporting the Joint Study on the Changing Patterns of Hydrological Conditions of the Lancang-Mekong River Basin and Adaptation Strategies. This research systematically simulates and analyzes hydrological variation patterns, trends of extreme events under various future scenarios, and formulates localized water resources management and climate adaptation strategies for the six countries to consider.

Furthermore, the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources is preparing a capacity-building program: the Training on Irrigation District Construction and Management for Thailand. Participants will gain in-depth insights into China's concepts, experience and technologies for irrigation district construction and management, drawing references for irrigation development in Thailand.

China and Thailand are good neighbors and good partners. Looking ahead, the two countries will keep deepening water resources cooperation, translate tangible cooperation outcomes into steady progress for the China-Thailand Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership, and build a solid water security barrier for fostering a China-Thailand community with a shared future.

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