As resistance mounts to hydroelectric dam projects along the Mekong River, local leaders have tried to engage civic movements in the Mekong sub-region in the battle.
The latest group to emerge is the Transborder News Network, which held a forum on dam project investments and environmental problems in the river.
Held in Chiang Rai province on May 6, the forum aimed to highlight human rights issues and the ecological impact from development projects in the river, said Passakorn Chamlongrat, a journalist and founder of Transborder news, a local news group that organised the event.
Attending the event were local villagers affected by dam projects on the river, conservationists and journalists from Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand.
"Members of the press know that China has a strong influence in this matter and they also know their governments are in control of how the water resources are used while local communities lose out. We need to escalate the fight by bringing in civic networks in the four countries together," Mr Passakorn told the Bangkok Post.
Witoon Permpongsacharoen, director of Mekong Energy and Ecology Network, blamed investors for trying to make profit from the river. He accused Thai authorities of overestimating electricity demands that led to over-investment for dams projects in Laos, such as Xaiya Buri dam and Pak Beng Dam.
He insisted that Thailand has massive power reserves and building more hydroelectric dams means high costs, which will result in higher prices of energy.
"The dams are built unnecessarily. Why do they want to build Pang Beng dam when there is already the Xayaburi dam being built. The projects have taken a lot out of the Mekong River. We hope Xayaburi is the last," he said.
Mr Witoon also cast suspicions over the delay of the release of the so-called Council Study by the Mekong River Commission (MRC) which was completed three months ago.
The MRC is a consultative body created in 1995 by Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos to enable collective management of the lifeline.
The Study on the Sustainable Development and Management of the Mekong River, known as the Council Study, was conducted by the MRC from 2012 to 2017. According to Mr Witoon, the study has suggested the use of new technologies to produce electricity as an alternative to the hydroelectric dam projects.
It has also predicted that if all the 28 dam projects are built on the main river and other 112 on tributaries as planned, by the year 2040 the sediment in the Mekong delta in Vietnam will be reduced to 3% as most will be trapped upstream. Cambodia and Vietnam stand to lose the most, he said. Sediments are crucial for replenishing soil on farmland.
"The Council Study also recommends that inland fishermen must be compensated for such losses caused by the dam projects and the money should come from power sales taxes," he said.
Thongsuk Intawong, 57, of Chiang Rai, said his village, Ban Huay Leuk, has borne the brunt of the dam projects in China.
His next concern is the Pak Beng dam project in Laos. If built, it will affect 164 households in his village. The project site is about 100km from the village which could be flooded by rising water levels, said Mr Thongsuk.
Niwat Roikaew, head of the local Anurak Chiang Khong group, said the river is more than a resource for generating electricity and moving cargo. It is also a source of people's livelihoods. According to Mr Niwat, there are two pressing issues concerning the Mekong situation -- the existing dams upstream and the blasting of reefs to clear the way for commercial navigation.
He said local communities depend on the river for fishing and irrigation but the upstream dams in China have caused the water levels to fluctuate which is threatening the biodiversity and the ecosystem.
Blasting of reefs to allow large cargo vessels to cruise all the way through is also a major concern and if China has its way, it could be catastrophic to smaller ecosystems, said Mr Niwat.
It is common knowledge that China wants to use the river to transport goods from Yunnan to Luang Prabang in Laos and a major obstacle are the underwater rapids in the lower stretch in Thailand and Laos.
"Those small ecosystems are vital. If we lose any of them it's like we lose a body part. The civic movement must keep a close watch," he said.