Residents of Chiang Rai plan to rally outside the Chinese embassy in Bangkok next month to protest against Beijing's dam management, which they say has caused severe water shortages this year and heavy floods two years ago along the Mekong River.
Niwat Roykaew, the leader of the Chiang Khong Conservation Group, said tens of thousands of people depend on the Mekong River for their livelihoods.
China has built four dams upstream. Protesters say the operations have had a severe impact on the ecosystem and the traditional way of life of the people downstream.
"We can't stand by idly on the issue," Mr Niwat said.
"No one is telling China about the painful experience we are facing. As the prime victims, we will make our voice heard and take action to deal with the problem."
He said the planned protest outside the Chinese embassy next month was timed to coincide with a meeting of the Mekong River Commission in Cha- am, Phetchaburi.
Members of the Chiang Khong Conservation Group would set up a desk during the MRC meeting to educate people about the importance of the Mekong River and to explain the impact of the Chinese dams on the lives of people who depend on it.
The government will be petitioned to "take serious action and help solve the problem for the people".
"The government should play an active role to deal with the problem," Mr Niwat said. "Serious discussions with China must be held.
"The government should not be concerned only with the country's trade relations with China. It must protect the rights of the people using the river."
The water level in the river dropped to 33 centimetres above mean sea level last month against the average summer level of 2.2 metres, records of the Chiang Saen water measurement centre show.
The unusual drop in the water level made river transport impossible and forced the Chinese government to open dam sluice gates to facilitate shipments of goods along the river. The water level has risen back to about 1.29 metres.
Miti Yaprasit, a coordinator of the Chiang Khong Conservation Group, said the Chiang Rai provincial authority sent a letter to the governor of China's Yunnan province last month, demanding he release water to ease the water shortage in the lower Mekong region.
The Yunnan governor sent a reply saying he could not release the water to the lower part of the river because he needed to reserve water for agriculture during the dry season.
"It is clear that the dams in China are the cause of the water crisis in the Mekong," Mr Miti said.
"I don't understand why Thai authorities always claim that the drought and floods have nothing to do with the dams. It's time we spoke the truth."
The group has estimated that severe floods in Chiang Saen in 2009 had caused damage of up to 85 million baht.
The damage from the water shortage this year has yet to be assessed.
Laos has suspended its ferry operation in Luang Prabang on the Mekong for safety reasons.
Prasarn Marukpitak, chief of the senate subcommittee on the Mekong River impact on development, said he would raise the water shortage problem with the government today.
Where are : Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Burma. These countries should get together with thais counterparts to protest the Chinois... Let' see, what's their excuse ???
Senior Chinese and Thai officials brushed off claims yesterday that Chinese dams had dried up the Mekong River, saying China had only a small proportion of water flowing into Southeast Asia's longest river.
Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Hu Zhengyue told Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva during a meeting at Government House that Chinese dams on the upper Mekong in Yunnan province made no significant impact on water flow into the lower part of the river, according to an official at the meeting.
Beijing and local administrators paid a lot of attention to drought within the region and China would not do anything to damage mutual interests with neighbouring countries in the Mekong, Hu was quoted as telling Abhisit.
The PM told Hu people living in the lower Mekong region were worried about the drought as they had no clear information about the dams in China. It would be useful if there was a forum for experts to share information, he said.
"China plays a significant role in regional development and I believe China does not want to see people in the lower Mekong basin in difficulties," Abhisit was quoted as saying to Hu.
Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, who met Hu separately, said countries in the lower Mekong should not blame China for the drought since 35 per cent of the river's water supply came from rain in Laos. The dams in China held only 4 per cent of total water in the Mekong, he said.
"We should not blame each other but should find ways to cooperate with China for water management of the Mekong," Kasit told reporters.
Natural Resource and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti said separately that Chinese dams were not a big contributing factor to the drought in the Mekong basin. There are many other factors in the region that could have caused the river's low water level, he said.
"It is difficult to blame China, as it shares only some 15 per cent of the water flow. Water supply to the river from Thailand and Laos is more than half of the total," he said.
However, the Mekong River Commission would invite representatives from China and Burma, to meet as dialogue partners of the commission, to discuss the issue at a meeting next month, he said.
"The problem is that we don't have sufficient information about water in Chinese dams and we also have a problem of water management," he said.
"We have to find better solutions for water management otherwise we will face drought in the dry season and flood in the wet season," Suwit said.
China has been blamed for controlling water flow into the Mekong since it began operating three hydropower dams with a combined reservoir capacity of three billion cubic metres on the mainstream of the Mekong in Yunnan province.
A fourth dam is under construction at Xiaowan and due for completion in 2012. With a height of nearly 300 metres, the Xiaowan dam, if completed, will be the world's highest dam, with a reservoir capable of holding 15 billion cubic metres of water.
The Mekong River Commission said recently river levels in southwest China were at their lowest in 50 years, with water flowing at only half the level that would be considered normal for February.
