Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Mekong River
JOHN ELK III/LONELY PLANET IMAGES ©
As the former Indochinese countries have become more open and accessible,
scientists have begun to document the regions of the Mekong River and have iden-
tified it as having an impressive biodiversity. As many as 1000 previously unidenti-
fied species of flora and fauna have been discovered in the last decade in the
Mekong region (which includes Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia).
Southern Thailand
The kingdom's eastern rivers dump their wa-
ters and sediment into the Gulf of Thailand, a
shallow basin off the neighbouring South Ch-
ina Sea. In the joint of the fishhook-shaped
gulf is Bangkok, surrounded by a thick indus-
trial zone that has erased or polluted much of
the natural environment. The extremities of the gulf, both to the east and to the
south, are more characteristic of coastal environments: mangrove swamps form the
