Word: mekong
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...ownership of certain kinds of firms, the first socialist nation to do so. It has also begun discussing with U.S companies the exploitation of its offshore oil. The Vietnamese need for normal diplomatic ties with the U.S. became acute when four tropical storms hit in one week, flooding the Mekong Delta rice fields. The floods destroyed as much as 80 per cent of the rice crop, and Vietnam now needs the American trade embargo lifted to gain access to U.S. agricultural products. While the chronic Third World ailments are forcing Vietnam to push for closer ties with the United States...
...country's small population (roughly 3 million), the exodus has been staggeringly large. Since the spring of 1975, around 140,000 Laotians have fled to refugee camps in Thailand-in recent months, most of them by paying $150 to secure a nighttime passage on boats plying the Mekong River. Although Pathet Lao soldiers often shoot at those who attempt the crossing (four died in one incident two weeks ago), an estimated 2,500 to 4,000 people seek refuge in Thailand every month...
Laos' economic plight has been complicated by natural disasters. During the summer planting this year a severe drought caused a shortfall of roughly 100,000 tons of food grain-10% of the hoped-for harvest. When the rains finally came, the Mekong and Sedone rivers deluged 30% to 40% of the rice land in Champassak, Savannakhet and Khammouane provinces...
...form a 25,000-man "liberation force" under the leadership of So Phim, a disaffected former Vice President of Democratic Kampuchea. The Vietnamese already occupy large areas of the so-called Fishhook region south of Mondolkiri province and a strategic bulge of Cambodia from Cheom Ksan to the Mekong River. They are now fighting for control of Parrot's Beak, where the U.S. invaded in 1970 (see map). Vietnamese troops are massing in Laos, near the Cambodian frontier. When the monsoon ends in October, clearing skies will make air support possible for a major Vietnamese push south from Laos...
...takeovers in 1975. The most recent escapees have been the Vietnamese and Chinese who were fleeing Hanoi's harsh new crackdown on private property and trade, which has resulted in large-scale unemployment and serious food shortages. On the average, 1,400 Laotians swim or sail across the Mekong every month, while only 60 Cambodians make it across their booby-trapped frontier in a desperate run from the mass executions and ruthless resettlement program that have cost more than a million lives since...