History
Mekong Institute (MI) began implementing training programs in 1996 after Thailand signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with New Zealand.
Initially, MI mainly conducted training activities for middle-senior level government officials in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) to assist them in moving towards a market economy. In 2003, with the creation and signing of the MI Charter, MI evolved into a non-profit autonomous organization. Since then, it has focused more on rural development, good governance, and trade and investment facilitation.
In 2009, after further development, the Bill for the Protection of the Operation of Mekong Institute was signed and a royal decree was issued by H.M. the King of Thailand. MI was thereby declared and acknowledged as an intergovernmental organization (IGO) providing human resource development programs as well as other capacity development learning programs.
As of 2015, MI has over 6000 alumni and accomplished over 80 research projects related to the development of the sub-region with the support of more than 40 national and international development and implementing partners. After more than 18 years of service, MI continues to take on multi-sector programs in collaboration with various partners, both in public and private sectors, to deliver effective programs.
The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth-longest river and the third-longest in Asia with an estimated length of 4,909 km (3,050 mi) and a drainage area of 795,000 km2 (307,000 sq mi), discharging 475 km3 (114 cu mi) of water annually. From its headwaters in the Tibetan Plateau, the river runs through, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and southern Vietnam. The extreme seasonal variations in flow and the presence of rapids and waterfalls in the Mekong make navigation difficult. Even so, the river is a major trade route between Tibet and Southeast Asia. The construction of hydroelectric dams along the Mekong in recent decades causes serious problems for the river's ecosystem, including the exacerbation of drought.
Northeast Thailand or Isan consists of 20 provinces in northeastern Thailand. Isan is Thailand's largest region, on the Khorat Plateau, bordered by the Mekong River to the north and east, by Cambodia to the southeast and the Sankamphaeng Range south of Nakhon Ratchasima. To the west it is separated from northern and central Thailand by the Phetchabun Mountains. Isan covers 167,718 km2 (64,756 sq mi), making it about half the size of Germany and roughly the size of England and Wales. The total forest area is 25,203 km2 (9,731 sq mi) or 15 percent of Isan's area.
Khon Kaen is one of Thailand's 76 provinces (changwat). It is in central northeastern Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Nong Bua Lamphu, Udon Thani, Kalasin, Maha Sarakham, Buriram, Nakhon Ratchasima, Chaiyaphum, Phetchabun, and Loei.
Loei, is one of the more sparsely populated provinces (changwat) of Thailand. It lies in the Isan region of upper northeastern Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Nong Khai, Udon Thani, Nong Bua Lamphu, Khon Kaen, Phetchabun, and Phitsanulok. In the north it borders Xaignabouli and Vientiane province of Laos.
The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), founded in 1959, is an international organization for higher education situated 40km north of Bangkok, Thailand. It specializes in engineering, advanced technologies, sustainable development, and management and planning. It aims to promote technological change and sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region, through higher education, research, and outreach.
The Greater Mekong Sub-region Academic and Research Network (GMSARN) is a network of academic and research institutions in a Greater Mekong sub-region.
The National University of Laos (NUOL) is a national public university in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Founded in 1996, with departments brought in from other existing colleges, it is the only national university in the country. The NUOL accepts students from all over Laos, along with international students.
Khon Kaen University or KKU (มข.) is a public research university, and it is one of the most prestigious universities in Thailand. The university was the first institution of higher education in the northeastern Thailand and remains the oldest and the most competitive university in the region. The university is a hub of education in northeast Thailand. It is a widely recognized university in Asia with strong emphasis on medicine, engineering, science, agriculture and social science. Khon Kaen University was ranked 21st in Southeast Asia by Time Higher Education in 2009, and 4th in Thailand by The Office of Higher Education Commission.
The East–West Economic corridor is an economic development program initiated in order to promote development and integration of 5 Southeast Asian countries, namely: Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. The concept was agreed upon in 1998 at the Ministerial Conference of the Greater Mekong Subregion, organized in Manila, the Philippines. This corridor became operational on December 12, 2006.
The Greater Mekong Subregion, (GMS) or just Greater Mekong, is a trans-national region of the Mekong River basin in Southeast Asia. The region is home to more than 300 million people. It came into being with the launch of a development program in 1992 by the Asian Development Bank that brought together the six Asian countries of Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, and Vietnam.
The Christian Foundation for the Blind in Thailand (CFBT) is a non-profit charitable organization helping blind people and employing staff in Thailand regardless of gender, race or religion. It was founded in 1978 by Prayat Punong-ong, a blind man who taught 13 blind children in a rental house in Khon Kaen Province.
The estimated hydropower potential of the lower Mekong Basin is 30,000 MW, while that of the upper Mekong Basin is 28,930 MW. In the lower Mekong, more than 3,235 MW has been realized via facilities built largely over the past ten years, while projects under construction will represent an additional 3,209 MW. An additional 134 projects are planned for the lower Mekong, which will maximize the river's hydropower generating capacity. The single most significant impact—both now and in the future—on the use of water and its management in the Mekong Region is hydropower.
The Ubol Ratana Dam, formerly known as the "Phong Neeb Dam", is a multi-purpose dam in tambon Khok Sung, Ubolratana district, approximately 50 km (31 mi) north of Khon Kaen, Khon Kaen province, Thailand. It was the first hydroelectric power project developed in Thailand's northeastern area of Isan. The dam impounds the Nam Phong, which flows into the Chi River and thence to the Mun River, a tributary of the Mekong River. The dam was given its current name by royal permission in 1966, in honour of princess Ubol Ratana, the eldest child of King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
International Institute of Rural Reconstruction, also known as IIRR is a non-profit organization that helps empower rural communities by making them self-sufficient. By offering programs across health, education, environment, and livelihood, its goal is to have rural communities take charge of their own success. The organization has delivered programs to more than 40 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America and directly impacted the lives of over 19 million people as of 2019.
The Sustainable Mekong Research Network (SUMERNET) is a network of organizations committed to the sustainable development of the Greater Mekong Region. Launched in 2005, SUMERNET supports policy-relevant research and outreach activities to inform and engage policy-makers, planners and stakeholders. Within this context, it pursues an evolving agenda in response to questions and policy issues that arise in the region. Current research themes are climate-compatible development, regional economic integration, and ecosystem services and local development. The network works on a range of issues including natural ecosystems governance, floods and natural disasters, climate change and adaptation, and transboundary resource flows.
Economic corridors are integrated networks of infrastructure within a geographical area designed to stimulate economic development. They connect different economic agents in a particular geographic area. Corridors may be developed within a country or between countries. Corridors exist in Asia, Africa, and other areas.
The Khon Kaen Light Rail Transit Project is a planned 22.6-kilometre (14.0 mi) light rail transit system consisting of an initial 16 stations to serve Khon Kaen Province in north-east Thailand. A Phase 2 3.5-kilometre (2.2 mi) five-station extension is also planned. The line will have both at-grade and elevated sections. Fares are expected to be a flat 15 baht. Construction is set to begin in 2024.
Banchob Sripa is a Thai scientist who is professor and head of the Tropical Disease Research Laboratory (TDRL) at Khon Kaen University in Khon Kaen, Thailand. He is also the head of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Research and Control of Opisthorchiasis, an infectious parasitic disease caused by the Southeast Asian liver fluke, which is endemic in northeastern Thailand and other portions of the Mekong River basin. He is also coordinator for the Asian Neglected Tropical Disease Network. He has a doctorate in tropical health from the University of Queensland, Australia. He received the Outstanding Scientist Award from the Foundation for the Promotion of Science and Technology in 2013.
Thailand Creative & Design Center (TCDC, Thai: ศูนย์สร้างสรรค์การออกแบบ) is a public resource center in Thailand focused on the design and creative industries. It was founded in 2004 as part of the Office of Knowledge Management and Development, a government-owned public organization, and opened on 14 November 2005. Its oversight was transferred to the newly created Creative Economy Agency (Public Organization) in 2018.
The Savannakhet–Lao Bao railway is a 220 kilometres (140 mi) 1,435 mmstandard gauge railway planned in southern Laos, between Lao's second largest city, Savannakhet and the small town of Lao Bảo on the border with Vietnam. Unexploded bombs that have been dropped during the Vietnam War along the route will also be removed.
