By Zali Fung and Vanessa Lamb
Rivers might appear to be a natural or even an expedient way to demarcate political borders. Yet rivers are always in flux as flows of water, sediments, and fish and aquatics shift with the rains and tides. For rivers to serve as borders, individuals, communities, and governments engage in a range of efforts, such as erecting walls, fences, or signs, underlining the reality that borders are actively constructed through contested sociopolitical processes and in everyday life.
The transboundary Salween River is shared by China, Myanmar (Burma), and Thailand. It also serves as the political border between Mae Hong Song Province, Thailand and Karen State, Myanmar for 120 kilometers. The border continues along the Moei River, a tributary of the Salween, for another 386 kilometers, past Mae Sot (Thailand) and Myawaddy (Myanmar), which has long been a key migration point. At present, Thailand does not recognize this border as officially delimited, and various entities have positioned hydropower development as a way to “clarify the border” (Lamb 2014, 4). The river-border and surrounding borderlands are sites of migration, mobility, security, tension, and contested political authority; these areas also sustain the livelihoods, culture, and everyday practices of the residents, most of whom identify as Karen, Shan, or Thai.
We, two geographers, took the photographs presented here in March 2022 during a research trip to and along the Salween River-border. We share them to illustrate that the border, particularly when the border is a river, is not fixed, rather it is lived and experienced, and shaped through nature, infrastructure, and everyday life. The first author (Zali) has been conducting research in northern Thailand since 2015 and in the Salween basin since 2021. The second author (Vanessa) has been visiting the Thai-Myanmar borderlands and the basin since 2006. Both authors are committed to conducting collaborative research with Salween residents and civil society actors, and plan to continue working in the region.
Photo 1. A man makes fresh flatbread on a charcoal stove. Image courtesy of Zali Fung.
Photo 2. Chai tea, samosas, and flatbread served in a small shop in a Salween river-border community. Image courtesy of Zali Fung.
The first photograph is from our first stop on the journey. It is of a small tea shop in one river-border community. A middle-aged man and woman served samosas and spiced chai while preparing fresh flatbread on a charcoal stove. The dishes illustrate the diversity and range of food cultures along the river-border, the long history of trade in the region, and the connections between northern Thailand, Myanmar, and India.
Photo 3. Boats on the Salween river-border with Thai flags. Image courtesy of Zali Fung.
Photo 4. Boats on the Salween river-border. Image courtesy of Zali Fung.
At the river-border, boats are available to transport people and goods upstream and downstream, highlighting the importance of mobility and trade via the river and border. Many of the boats are fitted with Thai flags, which is notable given the marginalization of the border area and residents by the Thai state.
Photo 5. “Welcome to Kawthoolei” sign across the river-border in Karen State, Myanmar (Burma). Image courtesy of Vanessa Lamb.
Across the river-border in Karen State, a large sign recently erected reads “Welcome to Kawthoolei” (Photo 5). Kawthoolei refers to the Karen State that Karen people have sought to establish since Myanmar’s independence in 1948 and the commencement of conflict between ethnic groups, including the Karen and the Myanmar military. This sign and the conflict have changed over the years; in Vanessa’s previous visits, even as recently as 2019, this sign read “Welcome to Myanmar” attesting to the contested political authority of the border and borderlands. On February 1, 2021, the Myanmar military staged a coup which intensified state violence, human rights abuses, and conflict in Karen State and across Myanmar. The coup has also restricted and (re)shaped longstanding cross-border environmental organizing along the Salween River (Roney et al. 2021; see also Fung and Lamb 2023).
Photo 6. View of a border village from the Salween River. Image courtesy of Vanessa Lamb.
Photo 7. A concrete marker installed by Thailand’s Electricity Generating Authority shows the anticipated rising water levels if a proposed hydropower dam is constructed. Image courtesy of Vanessa Lamb.
Photo 8. View of the Salween River during the dry season from a river-border village. Image courtesy of Vanessa Lamb.
Upstream, we visited a riverside village on the Thai side of the border (Photo 6). In the image, you can see a Thai flag fluttering in the wind outside. On the edge of the village, there is a concrete marker installed by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand showing the anticipated rise in water levels if a proposed hydropower dam is constructed (Photo 7). These signs speak to a long history of proposed infrastructure development in which a series of dams and transboundary water diversions have been proposed by the Thai and Myanmar governments since the late 1970s. These developments would directly impact riverside communities, the river, and the border. Following the coup, rumours emerged that Myanmar’s military junta may pursue hydropower development along the Salween (Roney et al. 2021), however, any such plans are yet to be confirmed. Photo 8 shows the view from the village of the river during the dry season, and this looks vastly different during the rainy season when the river swells.
Photo 9. Bright flowers outside the church and NGO office at the river-border village. Image courtesy of Vanessa Lamb.
The bright flowers and awning are situated outside two of the main sites of activity in this village: the church and the office of a local nongovernmental organization (NGO) focusing on education. Many people who live on or along this river-border have experienced conflict—either nearby fighting or direct involvement. For decades, Karen residents have fled state violence and conflict between the Myanmar military and ethnic armed organizations, resettling in this village and elsewhere along the border, and further into Thailand. The work of residents to invest in the village is key to understanding the myriad ways that people and everyday life also matter to the variegated geographies of borders.
Efforts to fix the river-border in place entail a range of efforts by governments, consultants, NGOs, and residents; this includes mapping the river-border and erecting signs and fences. And, while this river-border may appear as a solid line on a map, we show some of the ways in which the flows and fluxes of the river-border—and how residents and others manage these dynamics—are a key part of daily life.
References
Fung, Z., and V. Lamb. 2023. “Dams, Diversions, and Development: Slow Resistance and Authoritarian Rule in the Salween River Basin.” Antipode 55 (6): 1662–1685.
Lamb, V. 2014. “‘Where is the Border?’ Villagers, Environmental Consultants, and the ‘Work’ of the Thai–Burma Border.” Political Geography 40: 1–12. doi: 10.1016/j.polgeo.2014.02.001.
Roney T., K. Y. Lynn, R. Bociaga, and M. Jaffee. 2021. “China’s Salween plans in limbo in postcoup Myanmar.” Third Pole, June 8. https://www.thethirdpole.net/en/energy/chinassalween-plans-in-limbo-in-post-coup-myanmar/.
Recommended Citation
Fung, Zali and Vanessa Lamb. 2024. “When the Border is a River: A Journey Along the Salween River-Border.” Open Rivers: Rethinking Water, Place & Community, no. 25. https://doi.org/10.24926/2471190X.10991.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24926/2471190X.10991
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