The Mae Klong (, , ), sometimes spelled Meklong, is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

in western Thailand. The river begins in

Kanchanaburi Province Kanchanaburi (, ) is the largest of the western Provinces of Thailand, provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. The neighboring provinces are (clockwise, from the north) Tak province, Tak, Uthai Thani province, Uthai Thani, Suphan Buri province, Sup ...

and flows across

Ratchaburi Province Ratchaburi province (, ) or Rat Buri () is one of Thailand's seventy-six provinces (''changwat'') lies in Western Thailand. Neighbouring provinces are (from north clockwise) Kanchanaburi, Nakhon Pathom, Samut Sakhon, Samut Songkhram and ...

and

Samut Songkhram Province Samut Songkhram (, ) is one of the central Provinces of Thailand, provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. Neighbouring provinces are (from the south clockwise) Phetchaburi province, Phetchaburi, Ratchaburi province, Ratchaburi and Samut Sakhon pr ...

Course

The origin of the river is in Kanchanaburi town, at the confluence of the Khwae Noi (Khwae Sai Yok) and the

Khwae Yai River The Khwae Yai River (, , ), also known as the Si Sawat ( ), is a river in western Thailand. It has its source in the Tenasserim Hills and flows for about through Sangkhla Buri, Si Sawat, and Mueang Districts of Kanchanaburi Province, where ...

(Khwae Si Sawat) rivers, having their sources in the eastern side of the

Tenasserim Hills The Tenasserim Hills or Tenasserim Range (, ; , , ; ) is the geographical name of a roughly 1,700 km long mountain chain, part of the Indo-Malayan mountain system in Southeast Asia. Despite their relatively scant altitude these mo ...

. It flows roughly southeastwards and southwards, often forming meanders across a wide

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

. The river passes by the towns of

Ban Pong Ban Pong (, ) is a district (''amphoe'') of Ratchaburi province, Thailand. It is in the northeast of the province. Geography Neighbouring districts are (from the north clockwise) Tha Muang district, Tha Muang and Tha Maka district, Tha Maka of Ka ...

and

Ratchaburi Ratchaburi (, ) or Rajburi, Rat Buri) is a town ('' thesaban mueang'') in western Thailand, capital of Ratchaburi Province. Ratchaburi town covers the entire ''tambon'' Na Mueang (หน้าเมือง) of Mueang Ratchaburi District. As o ...

. Finally it ends in a swampy delta by the town of

Samut Songkhram Samut Songkhram (Pronunciation) is a city in Western Thailand region, the capital of Samut Songkhram province, a route to the south of Thailand. It is from Bangkok and has a population of 25,623 people as of 2023. Toponymy The word "samut" ori ...

and empties into the northwestern shore of the

Bay of Bangkok The Bay of Bangkok (, , , sometimes informally อ่าวตัว ก), also known as the Bight of Bangkok, is the northernmost part of the Gulf of Thailand, roughly extending from Hua Hin District to the west and Sattahip District to the e ...

Gulf of Thailand The Gulf of Thailand (), historically known as the Gulf of Siam (), is a shallow inlet adjacent to the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. ...

. The main reservoir on the river is formed by the Mae Klong Dam.

Environment

The Mae Klong river basin has a tropical savanna climate, and is subject to two major thermal systems, the southwest and the northeast monsoons. The southwest monsoon brings moisture up from the Indian Ocean beginning in May and climaxing with heavy rains in September and October. These heavy rains are supplemented by

cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an ant ...

s out of the South China Sea during the same two months. The rising of the winds of the northeast monsoon bring an end to this rainfall. Almost 80% of the annual rainfall in the basin occurs in the half-year from May to October. Total annual rainfall ranges from on the coast to at the higher elevations. Temperatures in the basin range from lows of 18 °C to highs of 38 °C. Giant freshwater stingrays inhabit the river. A sudden die-off of forty-five of these rays in September 2016 threaten them with

local extinction Local extinction, also extirpation, is the termination of a species (or other taxon) in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with extinction, global extinctions. Local extinctions ...

. Authorities have suspected that pollution was the cause of the die-off. It was later attributed to

molasses Molasses () is a viscous byproduct, principally obtained from the refining of sugarcane or sugar beet juice into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, the method of extraction, and the age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is usuall ...

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 Ammonia is an inorganic chemical compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the chemical formula, formula . A Binary compounds of hydrogen, stable binary hydride and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinctive pu ...

killed the animals. The waste water has 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.

References

External links

*
Maeklong River - FishSiam.comThe Life at Mae Klong River ThailandTime-travelling along the Mae Klong...
Rivers of Thailand Geography of Kanchanaburi province Geography of Ratchaburi province Geography of Samut Songkhram province Gulf of Thailand {{Thailand-river-stub