China, Laos and Myanmar Meet in Chiangrai on Mekong Security

Summary measures of the Mekong River are the three severity groups

 

Chiangrai Times – Thailand and three other member countries of the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), including Laos, Myanmar and China, have joined forces in providing security in areas along the Mekong River, reports Thai News Agency.

Provincial police chief, Police Lieutenant General Suthep Dejraksa, in his capacity as Director of the Mekong River Crime Suppression Centre, has acknowledged that Thailand and the three GMS neighbours have worked together to maintain shipping safety along the Mekong River, right from Chiang Saen District in Chiang Rai Province in the Thai North to Xishuangbanna in China’s southern Yunnan Province.

As part of the cross-border cooperation, the Mekong River Crime Suppression Centre organised a workshop in Chiang Rai on Monday, in which officials concerned were briefed on measures for preventing and suppressing crime in the areas close to the Mekong River, aimed at boosting security for marine transportation in the lead-up to the Asean Economic Community (AEC) by 2015.

Even though, a Myanmar drug lord who murdered 13 Chinese sailors has been nabbed by Chinese and Lao authorities, there have been movements of three armed ethnic groups along the nine-kilometre-long Mekong Rim to collect protection money from boats.