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Mae Klong River

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Mae Klong River Nong Pho, Photharam, Ratchaburi. The Mae Klong, sometimes spelled Mae Khlong or Meklong, is a river in western Thailand.

The river begins at the confluence of the Khwae Noi or Khwae Sai Yok and the Khwae Yai River or Khwae Si Sawat in Kanchanaburi, passes Ratchaburi Province and empties into the Gulf of Thailand in Samut Songkhram.

In the 1960s the upper stretch of the river to the town of Kanchanaburi was renamed Khwae Yai, as the famous Bridge on the River Kwai spanned the Mae Klong and not the Khwae (Kwai) river.

However the actual origin of the river is in the Tenasserim Hills, around the Khuean Srinagarindra National Park area in the north of Kanchanaburi Province.

An early portion of Khwae Yai River in Amphoe Umphang, Tak Province is also called Klong River. It becomes known as Khwae Yai River when it flows into Kanchanaburi Province. It feeds the giant Umphang Thee Lor Sue Waterfall in its upper reaches.

Environment: Giant freshwater stingrays have inhabited the river for years. A sudden die-off of 45 animals in September 2016 may threaten them with local extinction.

Authorities suspected that pollution was the cause of the die-off. It was later attributed to molasses waste water which leaked from a sugar/ethanol factory in Ban Pong District of Ratchaburi Province on 30 September that continued until 7 October.

High levels of free ammonia killed the animals. The waste water was have been reused by farms and not discharged into the environment. The Pollution Control Department will sue Rajburi Ethanol Co for allowing molasses wastewater to leak.

Category: Nature and Wildlife