Yeoh Siew Hoon prepares for trips to Luang Prabang and Siem Reap and wonders if, with water as scarce as it is on the Mekong, whether restraint will be shown during the upcoming Songkran festival in Laos and Northern Thailand.

Mekong River in Vientiane, Laos

Next week, I am returning to Luang Prabang with a couple of girlfriends. They've been bugging me to put together this trip for a while – I moonlight as a travel agent.

Seems one of them was inspired by a picture I painted in her head when I described how, one morning at 6am, I was sitting in a French-inspired café having coffee and croissant and surfing the Internet while watching the monks go by to collect their alms for the day.

It is contrasting images like these that move travellers to places.

Although Luang Prabang is now far easier to get to, it is still not the easiest of places to access – mainly because we are now all so spoilt and expect point-to-point, low cost, good value everytime we fly.

To get to this Laotian ancient capital, we have to fly via Bangkok and with the Thai city immersed in problems, that's an additional mental hurdle to get over. We are due to stop over in Bangkok couple of nights on the return and I hope the silly red shirts get out of the way soon otherwise Bangkok's in for some more trying days ahead. (When I think of all the blood they wasted, imagine the sick people who could have used the blood.)

The other hurdle to get to Luang Prabang, of course, is the cost. Compared to a point-to-point destination like Ho Chi Minh or Phuket, flying there costs more.

But here's the thing – you've got to be prepared to be inconvenienced and pay more if you want to experience something special. You can't expect to pay Swatch prices for a Cartier, for example, although some people do.

Anyway, finally, after sorting out the flights and air fares, we are set and I am looking forward to returning, especially as it's over the Songkran period.

With the Mekong as dry as it is though, and some regions experiencing drought, I do hope they don't waste too much water during this water festival season.

Pictured left: Angkor Wat, Siem Reap

It wouldn't be right to throw something as scarce and precious as it's become everywhere I go. In Danum Valley, Sabah, where I was over Easter, the rivers in the virgin rainforests were dry from a prolonged and unseasonal dry period.

In the Mekong River, water levels are significantly below average in Northern Laos and Thailand. I read a report in the Mekong Tourism Update that levels at mainstream measuring stations at Chiang Saen, Chiang Khan, Luang Prabang, Vientiane and Nong Khai are below those that occurred in the low flow season of 1993, which followed the most extreme regional drought on record in 1992. 


Said the report, "The implications of these low water levels are serious for the people of Northern Lao PDR and Thailand. Severe drought will have an impact on agriculture, food security, access to clean water and river transport and will affect the economic development of people already facing serious poverty. The northern provinces are amongst the poorest areas for both Lao PDR and Thailand. 


"River tour operators have stopped offering services on the stretch of river between Houiesay and Luang Prabang in Laos and it has been reported that Yunnan provincial authorities have halted the operation of Chinese cargo boats which will affect regional trade."

People have been quick to blame China and its damming activities on the Mekong which they say have affected water levels.

It will be interesting to hear the discussions at the Mekong Tourism Forum 2010, which will be held in Siem Reap on May 7-8. The river is the lifeblood of the region and is crucial to people's livelihoods,

I will be facilitating two sessions at the event, which carries the theme, "New Roads, New Opportunities".

"Today villages and towns along the way are benefiting from the arrival of tourists where there were none before," said Mason Florence, Executive Director of the Bangkok-based Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office.

The forum, he said, will discuss investment prospects and hear from tourism operators who are already taking advantage of opportunities along the new overland corridors.

The Mekong Tourism Forum 2010 is open to all. Registration can be done online here:

http://mekongtourismforum.org/site

Yeoh Siew Hoon, one of Asia's most respected travel editors and commentators, writes a regular column on news, trends and issues in the hospitality industry for 4Hoteliers.com.

Siew Hoon, who has covered the tourism industry in Asia/Pacific for the past 20 years, runs SHY Ventures Pte Ltd. Her other writings can be found at www.thetransitcafe.com. Get your weekly cuppa of news, gossip, humour and opinion at the cafe for travel insiders.

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