Revealing the historical background of the Mekong River tragedy

The Lancang River originates from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China. It is called the Mekong River after it exits the No. 243 boundary marker on the China-Myanmar border in Xishuangbanna. The Lancang-Mekong River flows through six countries: China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. It is the "golden waterway" for the six countries to conduct friendly exchanges and promote economic, commercial and tourism development. On June 26, 2001, China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand achieved free navigation on the more than 800 kilometers of Lancang-Mekong waterway.

The main culprit in the Mekong River tragedy

Data from the Yunnan Provincial Shipping Administration shows that there are currently 98 ships engaged in international shipping on the Lancang River, carrying 473 passengers, and the annual cargo volume exceeds 400,000 tons . Freight transportation has gradually expanded from bulk cargo transportation to container, refrigerated, and bulk cargo transportation; regular tourist flights have been opened, with nearly 10,000 passengers per year. Lancang-Mekong international shipping exports mainly include cold temperate fruits, refrigerated vegetables, agricultural and sideline products, large livestock, flowers, etc. Imports mainly include tropical fruits, beverages, palm oil, etc. From 2000 to 2009, China's cumulative transportation volume through the Lancang-Mekong River international shipping reached more than 3 million tons, and the cumulative import and export volume and border trade exceeded 30 billion yuan.

Robbery

In April 2010, a group of armed men followed three merchant ships that a casino in the Golden Triangle used to import products to China. One ship was used to transport the stone cutters and two ships were used to transport the stone. The armed men took the captain and 29 crew members hostage, parked the merchant ship in the middle of the Mekong River directly opposite Banqiao in Boqiao Province, Laos, and demanded a ransom of 300,000 baht from the casino. After bargaining, the ransom was set at 150,000 baht.

On August 22, 2010, 17 tourists from the Yunnan Kanghui Outbound Tour Group were robbed by unidentified armed men while passing through the borders of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar in the waters of the Mekong River. At about 5:40 pm that day, the "Golden Triangle No. 1" boat on which the tourists were traveling was intercepted by a group of unidentified armed men as it sailed to the waters of the Mekong River between Myanmar and Laos. At that time, armed men drove two boats to the bow of the ship to intercept it. Seven masked armed men armed with submachine guns, pistols and knives threatened to stop the cruise ship and asked everyone on board to disembark and rob the ship of property. The militants also fired three shots into the air as a threat. The entire robbery process lasted about 50 minutes. After all the belongings on the boat were searched, the people and the boat left. At the same time, he threatened the crew and passengers not to call the police.