ࡱ; JK  !"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHILMNOPQRSRoot Entry F{OCompObjbWordDocument_ObjectPoolTIkOTIkO 4@   FMicrosoft Word 6.0 Document MSWordDocWord.Document.6;  Oh+'0$ H l   D hC:\WINWORD\TEMPLATE\NORMAL.DOT Chapter IVChar Karnchanapee PhDChar Karnchanapee PhD@@Rܥe- e_߈ 1"ؗؗؗؗؗؗ&((( HޘtÙTHؗFGؗؗؗؗؗؗؗؗؗؗؗؗ&J|ؗ&ؗNؗ Isan History. Part VII. Thailand's Major Role in the Mekong River Basin Development and the Future of Isan Rural Development A. Introduction In undertaking this writing of Isan History, no subject is probably of greater importance than the emergence, over the past three decades, of the Mekong River Project. In this part, an attempt will be made to trace the history and development of the Mekong work. The Mekong is the great river which flows along the border of the Northeast, and what takes place regarding the Mekong vitally affects the entire Isan region. Even many small villages in the Northeast will sooner or later feel the impact of the great new scientific and engineering developments on the Mekong. Many persons have pointed to the fact that now a bridge has been built across the mekong, The powerful and broad of this river which begins in China and flows on down past Thailand (especially the Northeast), Laos, Cambodia, and South Vietnam into the South China Sea. Where the Mekong seemed unconquerable in the past centuries, today it appears about to come under the control of modern science and technology. The United Nations and its economic body in Asia, ECAFE (Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East), have taken the lead in bringing Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam into cooperation for the development of the Mekong. Some twenty-eight nations, including the United States, are now helping in the Mekong Project. The over-all goal of this planning is to develop the river so that it will materially improve the living conditions of millions of people in the four countries in the river's basin, namely, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. B. Establishment The development of the Lower Mekong Basin began as early as the ninth century when the great Khmer emperors commenced the construction of an extensive irrigation system in the vicinity of Angkor. Recent improvement of the basin's area began in 1947 with the establishment of ECAFE. This organization provided the real stimulus for international cooperation in the Lower Mekong Basin. 1 Water problems were given particular emphasis in ECAFE's early studies, and a number of conferences were held in the region to discuss these problems and water resources planning. The reports that resulted from the conferences and ECAFE's studies provided important guidelines for the planning and development that have since taken place. In 1949, ECAFE established a Bureau of Flood Control to advise and assist governments in Asia and the Far East on matters relating to floods and other water management problems. The Bureau was requested in 1951 to include international rivers in its investigations. It selected the Mekong for particular attention and enlisted the cooperation of the four riparians in undertaking the studies. 2 C. Goals and Purposes The Mekong Development Project seeks the comprehensive development of the water resources of the Lower Mekong Basin, including mainstream and tributaries, in respect to hydroelectric power, irrigation, flood control, drainage, navigation improvement, water-shed management, water supply and related developments, for the benefit of all the people of Basin, without the distinction as to nationality, religion, or politics. Work toward this objective necessarily covers a wide range of activities from the definition of the coherent Basin Plan, to the investigation, construction, financing and management of individual projects. It seeks to catalogue the many component elements which together make up the Mekong River Project.3 D. Administrative Organization and the Members of the Mekong Development Committee The river basin planning is a highly complex process involving the collection and analysis of a large amount of data of the physical, economic, social and institutional factors that determine the opportunities for development. Planning is especially complex when several countries are involved because of differing view concerning the objectives that would be pursued. Until institutional mechanisms were available to coordinate and supervise the possibilities for development, the countries involved were not able to decide which studies needed to be undertaken and which projects should be developed. The Mekong Committee was formed to overcome such problems inherent in international river development.4 E. Planning of the Project 1. ECAFE Study--1952. The technical planning of the Mekong River Project began with the Ecafe study of 1952. It appeared in May 1952 as an eighteen-page document called "Preliminary Report on Technical Problems Relating to Flood Control and Water Resources Development of the Mekong--An International River."5 The study met with favorable responses for at least three reasons. Firstly,, the secretariat's response to the commission's request for the enquiry was prompt and efficient. Secondly, the project was interested in the problems of many Asian nations, thus giving it ann "international" and a regional flavor. Thirdly, and perhaps most important, the study cited the potential for tremendous benefits for all areas along the river. In particular it noted the possible development of firm power between Vientiane and Luang prabang, and the irrigation of the vast area of the Northeast of Thailand. The study called for further investigation and exploration, but according to Schaaf, ". . . political conditions intervened. Field surveys became impossible in many parts of the basin until the signing of the Geneva Accords in July, 1954."6 2. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Study--1956. After the Geneva Agreement in 1954, hostilities ended in Indochina and brought about a renewed interest in the possibilities of developing the Mekong River. This desire was expressed not only by the countries in the region, particularly through ECAFE, but also by other countries, especially France, Japan, and the United States. This interest resulted in a number of proposals for further studies to determine more precisely the problems to be solved and the opportunities for development. The first study after 1954 was undertaken by the United States Bureau of Reclamation under the sponsorship of the United States International Cooperation Administration. In 1955, representatives of the United States government conferred with officials of the four riparians on the possible plans. Their ideas were set forth in a basic document on the river's development.7 Because there was a great lack of basic data of the river and of activities in the basin, the Bureau made a number of recommendations relating to data collection programs, especially in connection with hydrology, meteorology, hydrography, topography, sedimentation, and geology. It also suggested the launching of studies on agriculture, fisheries, navigation and education. 3. The Wheeler Mission--1957. Meanwhile, interest in international river development in general, and in the Mekong RIver in particular, had grown at the U.N. A panel of experts was engaged to prepare a report on procedures for integrated river development planning for the development of the Lower Mekong.8 Encouraged by the offer of assistance from the United Nations, ECAFE undertook further investigations of the Lower Mekong Basin. In 1956, a team of seven experts, in cooperation with the four riparians, made a closer investigation of the basin's potentialities with respect to hydroelectric power, irrigation, and flood control. The group's report, published in October 1957, concluded that it would be possible to develop the river for a wide variety of purposes, and that such development ould be of immense benefit to the region.9 The report suggested there were especially attractive opportunities at five sites on the mainstream: Pa Mong, Khemarat, Khone Falls, Sambor and Toule-Sap. the development of projects at these sites, besides irrigating the vast areas of land, would produce some 32,000 million kwh of hydroelectric power per year at very low costs, and would reduce floods in the lower delta region. The report emphasized, however, that much more information and analysis would be required before the economic and technical feasibility of the contemplated schemes could be demonstrated. It noted the continuing lack of basic data on hydrology, meteorology, and geology, and called for the initiation of programs to remedy these deficiencies.10 The 1957 ECAFE report was one of the most important ones. It brought about close cooperation in planning and development among the nations sharing the basin, the basin's water, and its related resources. It also noted that international cooperation would be required not only in planning and development, but in basic data collection as well. In calling for formal collection of hydrologic and other data and in levelling and mapping, the report emphasized that: . . . the accuracy of such measurements should be beyond doubt, and . . . the figures should be acceptable of all countries concerned at all times.11 Adoption of the proposed international basin-wide approach, suggested in this ECAFE report, presented a major challenge. Besides calling for the close cooperation of the four riparians in data collection and planning and development function, it suggested the provision for marshalling assistance from elsewhere for the various studies and for the development of the projects that would emerge from these studies. The report also recommended, as a first step, the establishment of an international clearing house for exchange of information and plans, and for the coordination of projects. Shortly after the ECAFE report of 1957 was presented to thirteenth session of ECAFE, a meeting of representatives of the four riparian countries--Cambodia, Laos, South Vietnam, and Thailand was held in Bangkok to consider further action.12 The meeting recommended the creation of a preparatory committee which would be composed of representatives of the four riparians. In September 1957, the Preparatory Committee, by its unanimous vote, adopted a permanent cooperative committee for investigation of the Lower Mekong Basin.13 The riparians, aware of the highly complex problems in connection with the collection and analysis of information on the physical, economic, and social aspects of the development of the river's resources, agreed to request expert assistance from the United Nations Technical Assistance Administration. It sought information on what type of data to be collected, what the collection programs would cost, and what priorities were to be assigned. Particularly, the committee wanted a review of previous studies and a detailed proposal for further action. 14 The mission sent to Bangkok in late 1957 was headed by Lt. General Raymond Wheeler, formerly Chief of the United States Corps of Engineers, and included top level water resources development experts. The Mission's report was presented in early 1958. It indicated that the Mekong had impressive potentialities for multiple purpose development and recommend the establishment of a five-year program of investigations estimated to cost $9.2 million, and appointment of a high level international technical advisory board of engineers to assist the Mekong Committee. The Wheeler mission's specific recommendations relating to data collection included the following: 1) Establishment of hydrologic stations and levelling on the mainstream from the mouth to the Burmese border, as well as on the major tributaries; 2) Augmentation of meteorologic stations to provide data on precipitation and evaporation; 3) Programs of aerial photography and topographic mapping; 4) Hydrographic surveys of the mainstream to determine needed navigation improvements; 5) Reconnaissance of the major tributaries to identify sites meriting more detailed investigation; 6) Special studies relating to fisheries, agriculture, flood control, drainage, forestry, mineral resources, navigation, transportation, and power markets as well as an economic appraisal, projected for ten to twenty years, of how development would affect the area; 7) Surveys of flowage, damage likely to result in reservoir areas, surveys of construction materials, and soil survey; 8) Geologic investigations and boring at promising sites on the mainstream; 9) Preliminary planning of projects on promising stretches of the river. 15 To some, the mission's recommendations seemed rather ambitious and far beyond the capacity of the countries involved. The latter, however, considered them a charter for action and immediately set about finding ways to implement them. Their enthusiasm spread abroad, and offers of assistance from many countries began to pour in. France had already offered sixty million francs to aid the committee's work. The United States offered $2 million to facilitate the establishment of hydrologic networks, levelling on the main river and major tributaries, and a hydrographic survey of the main channel. Canada agreed to undertake a program of aerial photography and mapping. Japan said it was willing to make a reconnaissance survey of the major tributaries. 4. The Ford Mission--1961. Since the inception of the plan to develop the Lower Mekong, there had been an awareness of the need for studies to determine what affects the development of the river might have on the economic and social structures of the population in the basin and what ancillary programs should be undertaken to ensure that the benefits of the river development would be fully realized. Several reports had indicated the importance of such studies but had offered few specific suggestions on what information was required, how easily it could be obtained, what priorities should be assigned in collecting it, and what type of institutional arrangements would be required to accomplish the aims and objectives of a comprehensive plan. In 1961, the Ford Foundation sponsored a mission headed by Gilbert F. White to make a survey of the economic and social needs._ The recommendations of the Ford Mission presented the Mekong Committee with a major challenge. The programs of studies would cost at least $15 million and would compete, to some extent, with other claims on the Committee's resources. Should it hold up some of the engineering investigations to carry out the economic and social studies, or should it try to garner additional assistance from other countries, international agencies, and private organizations? Fortunately, the Committee was able to pursue the latter course. The United States offered to produce an atlas of resources and to finance a systems analysis of possible projects. France agreed to undertake studies of local power demands, and resources. Resources for the Future, Inc., of Washington, D.C., offered to provide estimates of future world demands for aluminum. Other studies, such as industry surveys and regional power market surveys, were conducted by the ECAFE secretariat and the Mekong Committee secretariat. However, many of the proposed studies, particularly those on economic problems, have been delayed because of the lack of funds and because of unsettled political conditions. Military operations i the delta area, for example, retarded studies of the flood problems. 16 5. Presidents Johnson's Statement at Johns Hopkins University-1967. President Johnson spoke at Johns Hopkins University on April 7, 1967, in Shriver Hall Auditorium in Baltimore, Maryland. He said of the Mekong Project: . . . in a world darkened by clouds of discord, a flame of international cooperation burns with a promising light in Southeast Asia. It is the Mekong River Program. U Thant called it 'a very reassuring phenomenon' that could lead to 'easing of tensions' and even more. Will this unique bright spot flourish or fade out? The answer depends in large on part on a decision to construct a key mainstream (Pa Mong, N.E. Thailand) project. For ten years, the four riparian nations, Cambodia, Laos, South Vietnam, and Thailand, have been working together on plans to develop the Lower Mekong, potentially SOutheast Asia's greatest natural resource. Actively aiding them are 27 nations, 12 specialized agencies of the U.N., three foundations and a host of private groups. Despite the armed conflict in Vietnam, preparatory work has continued. Now the outline of the mainstream project (Pa Mong) is at hand. . . . There must now be a much more massive effort to improve the life of man in that conflict-torn corner of our world. . . . The vast Mekong River can provide food and water and power on a scale to dwarf even our own T.V.A. 17 He looked forward in this address to construction of dams across the Mekong to provide". . . electricity for the countryside . . . energy for industry . . . a rich harvest for its people."18 F. Thailand's Participation in the Mekong River Project The Mekong scheme will benefit Thailand as a whole and the Northeast in particular. Thailand, a son of the four riparian countries, is a member of the Mekong Committee. Two of the tributary dams already completed are in the Northeast of Thailand. Thailand will also benefit form the construction of the first mainstream project spanning the Thai and Laotian banks of the Mekong. The first of the Mekong Committee-sponsored tributary projects (a total of thirty-four tributaries have been surveyed) to be brought physically into being was the Nam Phung in Sakon-Nakhon (in the Northeast of Thailand). It was opened by the present King of Thailand on November 14, 1965. On March 14, 1966 by the opening, also by the King of Thailand, of the Nam-Pong project some fifty kilometers to the north of Khon Kaen, electricity from the power plant began being supplied to several provinces in the Northeast. By the end of August 1968, the Nam Pong (renamed the Ubol Ratana Hydroelectric Power Station) was supplying electricity to Vientiane and to the Nam-Ngum dam-site. In a few years' time, when the Nam-Ngum project in Laos is completed, Laos in return will be able to assist Thailand by supplying electricity to it.19 1. Northeast Thailand and its Projects. The Pa-Mong Dam is one of three mainstream projects which is in an advanced investigation stage and which would benefit mainly, Thailand.68 This is a project for the construction of a huge dam and water reservoir at Pa-Mong, Nongkhai, situated about fifteen miles upstream from Vientiane. This gigantic dam, with its head approximately 204 feet (the difference between upstream and downstream levels), will provide tremendous benefits for both Laos and Northeast Thailand. Schaaf stated that: It can produce annually an estimated nearly 10 billion kilowatt hours of firm energy from some 1.6 million kilowatts installed capacity and will improve upstream navigation for the length of its reservoir, i.e., about 210 miles. . . . Construction will mean that the present average low water discharge of about 23,300 cucecs can be increased to about 777,600 cucecs, which (after subtracting water diverted for irrigation) will add tremendously to the power production capacities of all downstream projects, substantially aid downstream navigation, and reduce salt-water intrusion in the delta. Floods deriving from typhoons crossing the peninsular about Pa-Mong will be completely absorbed. 20 The potential Pa-Mong project in Laos and Thailand would certainly be a multipurpose water use and control project, with irrigation and hydroelectric power as principal functions. This mainstream Pa-Mong dam and its tributary dams on the Nam Lik River in Laos and Nam Mong in Thailand would provide primary storage, with the three dams forming essentially one larger reservoir. This three-dam complex could provide significant control of the Mekong River. However, ultimate development might include two secondary pump-storage reservoirs in the Nam-Pong basin and a diversion canal carrying water into a central basin via the upper hi River reservoir, in which case it would be possible to completely control the Mekong River at Pa-Mong, except perhaps for extremely high and unusual floods. It is hoped that irrigation will be provided to more than one million hectares of land in Northeast Thailand and Laos. Many incidental water uses would be served by the project, including flood control, navigation, fisheries, and domestic, industrial, and municipal water supplies . 21 The Pa-Mong support study program provided for under the project agreement between the Mekong Committee and the United States Agency for International Development stipulated that the Mekong secretariat and the royal governments of Thailand and Laos would provide specific research and economic information upon which feasibility analysis would be made. This program would include agricultural economic studies of productivity levels, fertilizer and timing response in crop yields, crop labor inputs, crop yields crop management practices, land development costs, irrigated live-stock economy and marginal land use. Further, it was to include studies on benefits derived from flood control, navigation, fisheries, on domestic, municipal and industrial water supplies and, most importantly, on power. Considerable progress was made in 1980's towards the completion of these support studies, particularly in agricultural economics, fisheries, flood control benefits, and power.22 To meet the considerable need for a comprehensive and coordinated approach to agricultural development studies in the Pa-Mong project area, q working committee of Thailand and Laotian representatives, U.S.B.R. Pa-Mong staff, USOM/Thailand agricultural experts, and Mekong secretariat staff was set up in the second half of 1967. The group, after a field survey in the Pa-Mong project area (in which the Royal Thai government maintains more than one hundred agricultural research projects and stations), made a series of recommendations. In summarized form, these included: the need to ensure successful development in newly constructed irrigation projects in Northeast Thailand, such as Nam-Pong, Lam-Pao and Lam Pra-Ploeng; the need to disseminate the ability of reappraising the scope, functions and objectives of agricultural research in the Pa-Mong project area; the desirability of establishing effective coordination among agencies engaged in the planning and implementation of irrigation projects; and the need to train sufficient numbers of middle-level water management technicians. 23 The Nam-Phong Dam is situated on a tributary which is located approximately thirty kilometers south-west of Sakhon Nakhon province. It was inaugurated by His Majesty, the King of Thailand, on November 14, 1965. Japan is responsible for its engineering design, and pedological investigations were made by France. Its irrigation capacity is 42,000 acres and generate up to 10,000 kilowatts of power. Its cost, five million dollars, was met by the Thai government because this project chiefly benefits Northeast Thailand. In 1966, the N.E.A. (northeast Electricity Authority) established the first pilot pumping stations, using power from the Nam-Pung to pump water from the Mekong River to irrigate a 500 hectare experimental farm. Based upon the success of this station, the N.E.A., in cooperation with the Department of Local Administration of the Ministry of Interior, embarked on a project to establish a pumping station along the Mekong River to irrigate some 4,000 hectares for the second rice crop or 8,000 hectares for upland crops, using power from the Nam-Pong and Nam-Pung projects. The Nam-Phung project supplies power to two provinces and four districts. The total electricity produced during 1967 was about six million kilowatt hours. Lam-Dom-Noi Dam-This dam project is located near Phibul Mangsahan in Ukon Ratchathani province. The National Energy Authority of Thailand, along with the cooperation of experts from the Electric Power Development Company of Japan (EPDC), made studies of it, and a joint report was completed in 1965. During 1966, SDGREAH, as part of the French technical aid program to the committee, carried out the agro-pedological survey of 30,000 hectares in the project area. After preparation of the detailed project report, a contract was signed with EPDC in July 1967 for the preparation of construction designs. Irrigation of about 25,000 to 30,000 hectares was proposed for development in the first phase and it was hoped that power could be supplied to the four provinces in the Mune Basin. Finally, the transmission system was designed to interconnect with the Nam-Phong and Nam-Pung power system. 24 Nam-San Dam-After survey and mapping by the National Energy Authority of Thailand, the second phase feasibility investigation of the Nam-San tributary project was begun in 1966 with the assistance of the government of Austria. The project, located on a tributary of the Nam Heung and as presently envisaged would comprise a thirty-two-meter high dam and a power station, linked to the Northeast Thailand transmission system. The Austrian contribution of technical assistance brought to twenty-three the number of cooperating countries from outside the basin contributing to the Mekong Project. The Mekong Committee chairman and the member for Thailand expressed to Austria the committee's appreciation at the twenty-third session of ECAFE in Tokyo, Japan in April 1967. 25 Nam-Phrom Dam-With the assistance of experts from the Electric Power Development Company (EPDC) of Japan, a feasibility report of the Nam-Phrom hydroelectric project was submitted to the Northeast Electricity Authority of Thailand for consideration in August 1967. The project proposed to impound the waters of the Nam-Phrom stream, a tributary of the Nam-Phong, by constructing a seventy-one meter high rock-filled dam with clay core creating a reservoir with an effective storage of 140 million cubic meters and a gross head of about 400 meters high. The cost of the project was estimated at 481 million baht (= $24 million). The cost of energy was assessed at 0.222 baht per kilowatt hours. The project report was under review by the Board of Directors of the Northeast Electricity Authority. Nam-Chern Dam-The preparation of the feasibility report on the Nam-Chern hydroelectric power project was entrusted by the Northeast Electricity Authority to EPDC of Japan in September 1967. 26. Preliminary information available indicated that the project contemplated construction of a thirty-six meter high rock-fill dam with clay core creating a reservoir with an effective storage of about forty-one million cubic meters with a gross head of about 390 meters high on the Nam-Chern, a tributary of the Nam-Phong. The cost of the project, if independently implemented, was estimated at 180.7 million baht (= $9 million). If it were constructed after the completion of the transmission line from the Nam-Phrom project, the cost was estimated at 150.5 million baht (= $7 million). The unit costs of energy would be 0.324 and 0.25 baht per kilowatt hours respectively. Meanwhile, an access road to the dam site was constructed and additional geological investigation at the dam site and reservoir were under way. 27 As mentioned before, the Mekong project will benefit Thailand as a whole and the Northeast of Thailand in particular. In the tributary project in the Mekong Basin, a total of thirty-four sites have been surveyed. The following are the tributary projects in Northeast Thailand at the present time: Pa-Mong Dam, Nong Khai Nam-Phong Dam, Khon Kaen Nam-Phung Dam, Sakon Nakhon Lam Dom Noi Dam, Ubon Lam Nam-Don Lam-Pao Lam-Phra-Phloeng, Khorat Lam-Takong Nam-Phrom Nam-Chern Nam-Sam Hui-Bang-Sai Nam-Mae-Ing Nam-Moon, Ubon. G. Future of the Mekong River Development Project Enough factual data has been presented here to show the imaginative and exciting character and the great potential of the Mekong Project. The Project has made much progress. But no one can afford, at this stage, to be overly optimistic. Some major problems still face it. Perhaps the largest one is finance: who is to provide the increasingly greater funding needed for the various Mekong undertakings? A second problem is the continuance of the war in the Indochinese peninsula, particularly now in Cambodia which makes cooperation with Communist Vietnam difficult. 28. A third problem is leadership. The guiding spirit of the Mekong Project, Dr. C. Hart Schaaf, who is known as "Mr. Mekong," has been transferred by the U.N. to Ceylon, and his successor has yet to prove his leadership. For such reasons as these, there has been some slowing down in the work and planning of the Mekong Committee. But despite these difficulties, the Mekong idea is just too important to falter for long. The nations and peoples of the Mekong Basin have too much at stage to let the program slide back. Nowhere is the stake higher for the people than in the struggling Northeast of Thailand.29 In the 1990's, the success of the Mekong development project will contribute enormously to the development and well-being of the Northeast region of Thailand. While the area has soil less rich than central Thailand, it mainly lacks enough water at the right time to make it a rich rice-producing area or to permit it to grow other agricultural crops profitably. Rice-growing requires about seventy inches of rain a year, and the Northeast averages less than forty inches. The central Plain does not get seventy inches either, but it does receive more than the Northeast, and the plains make up the difference needed through an extensive system of irrigation canals which have been built over many decades. With the completion of the Mekong system, water for irrigation and new power will be available for the Northeast region. Even the small dam projects already completed have brought new irrigation to some acres and new power available to some areas. There is still much to be done over the years ahead, for this was planned as a long-range project. When finished it will harness the resources of one of the world's great rivers not only for the Northeast region of Thailand but for the benefit of several nations in Southeast Asia as well. To be continued. Cites of Reference and Notation. (Isan History. Part VII). 1. C H. Schaaf, The Lower Mekong: Challenge to Cooperation in the SOutheast Asia (New Jersey: D. Van Nostrand Co., 1963) pp. 21-36, 71 2. Schaaff, op. cit., pp. 80-84. 3. United Nations Technical Assistance Mission, headed by Lt. General Raymond Wheeler, Program of Studies and Investigations for Comprehensive Development, Lower Mekong Basin (TAA/AFE/3, January 1968). 4.For more details, see Mekong Committee, Annual Report, 1965 (United Nations Document C/CN 11/714 (E/Cn.11/WRD/MKG/L.159), March 1966); Article IV, Committee for the Coordination of Investigation of the Lower Mekong Basin, Annual Report, 1967; a brief account of the activities of the U.N. and the specialized agencies in Thailand, U.N. Information Service at ECAFE (Bangkok, October 1968). 5. See especially Multiple Purpose River Basin Development, Part I: Manual of River Basin Planning, Flood Control Series, Report No. &, United Nations Publication Sales: 55.11.F1 1952. This report particularly influenced the approach taken in the early planning of the Mekong River's development. 6. Schaaf, op. cit., p. 84; Multiple purpose River Basin Development (No. 7, United nations Publication Sales: 55.11.F1 1952), op. cit. 7. For the report prepared for ICA, see Reconnaissance Report, Lower mekong Basin, U.S. Development of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Washington: G.P.D., March 1956. 8. For the report, see Integrated River Basin Development, U.N. Publication Sales No. 58.11.B3 (October 1957). 9. For the report, see Development of Water Resources in the Lower Mekong Basin, Flood Control Series No. 12, U.N. Sales No. 11.F.8, 1957. 10. Integrated River Basin Development, U.N. Publication Sales No. 58.11.B3, 1958; and H.V. Darling, "Harmony on the Mekong River," The Military Engineer (May-June 1958), pp. 178-179. (The writer has Wheeler's personal assistant in the Mission and had been a member of the I.C.A. team.) 11.Darling, op. cit., p. 64. 12. For further details, see Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam Joint Meeting on the Lower Mekong Basin, Sala Santhitham Hall, in Bangkok on May 20-23, 1957 (Conclusion section, this meeting was held in Bangkok on May 20-23, 1957). 13. Plans for the project were revised and the amendments were approved by the four riparian governments in October 1957 and August 1962. For amendments suggested in August 1965, see pp. 53-54. 14. The T.A.A. (Technical Assistance Administration) was superseded by the Bureau of Technical Assistance Operations in 1958 as the entity within the Department of Economic and Social Affairs responsible for the United Nations Technical Assistance Programs. 15. For details of the Wheeler Mission's Report, see Programme of Studies and Investigations for COmprehensive Development of the Lower Mekong River Basin (United Nations Document TAA/AFF/3, April 22, 1958). 16. For the Ford Mission's Report, see Gilbert F. White, Robert de Vries, Harold B. Dunkerley, and John V. Krutilla, Economic and Social Aspects of Lower Development (Bangkok, July 1962). 17. Gilbert F. White et al, op. cit., pp. 79-102 18. Lyndon B. Johnson, U.S. President, Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, Book 1 (Washington D.C., January-May 1965). 19. To Tame a River, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington D.C., 5.18.2: R.52. 20. The New York Times, December 17, 1968, p. 2. 21. (1) The Pa-Mong Project, N.E. Thailand, (2) the Sambor Project, Cambodia, and (3) the Toule-Sap and Delta Project, Cambodia. 22. Schaaf, op. cit., p. 104; and ECAFE Special Feature Series, No. 28: The Mekong RIver Project, by C. Hart Schaaf (Sula Santhitham Hall, Bangkok, 1968) (Revised November 1, 1968, pp. 1-3). 23. Committee for the Coordination of Investigation of Lower Mekong Basin, ECAFE Annual Report to ECOSOC (Bangkok, 1967), p.24. 24. ECAFE Annual Report to ECOSOC, op. cit., pp. 24-28. 25. ECAFE Annual Report to ECOSOC, op. cit., pp. 28-29. 26. ECAFE Annual Report (1967), op. cit., pp. 50-51. 27. ECAFE Annual Report (1967), op. cit., pp. 58-59. 28. ECAFE Annual Report (1967), op. cit., p. 59. 29. Some more recent insights into the problems and opportunities of the Mekong Project can be derived from Eugene R. Black, Alternative in Southeast Asia (Foreword by Lyndon B. Johnson) (Praeger, 1969); "An Asia that Doesn't Yet Exist," Christian Science Monitor (July 9, 1969); and "The Muddied Mekong," Time (December 26, 1969), pp. 50-51. 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