Drought drops Mekong River water levels to 50-year low, affects trade

A severe drought in Southeast Asia and southern China has caused the Mekong River to drop to a 50-year low, affecting trade and farmers.

In Thailand, trade on the river has dried up and farmers say they do not have enough water for their crops.

Thai customs officials said trade on the Mekong has dropped by more than half this year as large cargo ships from China, the country's largest trading partner on the river, can no longer navigate in the shallow water.

The annual dry season started much earlier than usual, dropping the Mekong to its lowest in decades and affecting millions of people living along the river.