Among the fish populations that could be harmed by the Xayaburi dam in Laos is the critically endangered Mekong giant catfish, considered by the Guinness Book of World Records to be the world’s largest freshwater fish. The fish, which grows to 650 pounds and about 10 feet long, is only found in the Mekong River. It is migratory, moving between downstream habitats in Cambodia upstream to northern Thailand and Laos each year to spawn. Some experts fear the Xayaburi dam could block the migration and drive the giant catfish to extinction. (Photo by Courtesy of Zeb Hogan/University of Nevada, Reno)

A Thai visitor appears to be frightened by a life-size Velociraptor model also known as Raptor at the Dinosaur Planet theme park in Bangkok, Thailand, 25 March 2016. The 500 million baht (14 million US dollars or 12 million euro) theme park opening in the Thai capital aimed to attract more than 15,000 visitors a day featuring a chance to experience more than 200 dinosaurs from various species that are brought back to life. (Photo by Rungroj Yongrit/EPA)

A schoolgirl is soaked with water thrown by an elephant in a preview of the upcoming Songkran Festival celebration, the Thai traditional New Year, also known as the water festival in the ancient world heritage city of Ayutthaya, Thailand, 11 April 2016. The annual elephant Songkran is held to promote the tourism industry prior the three-day Songkran Festival which starts on 13-15 April annually and is celebrated with splashing water and putting powder on each others faces as a symbolic sign of cleansing and washing away the sins from the old year. (Photo by Diego Azubel/EPA)

Thai Princess Bajrakitiyabha (R) and Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana take part in the funeral procession for the late Thai king Bhumibol Adulyadej in Bangkok on October 26, 2017 A sea of black- clad mourners massed across Bangkok' s historic heart early on October 26 as funeral rituals began for King Bhumibol Adulyadej, a revered monarch whose passing after a seven- decade reign has left Thailand bereft of its only unifying figure. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

Molly Swindall, 30, who travelled from the United States to meet Moo Deng for the third time, reacts as she takes a selfie with the one-year-old female pygmy hippo, who became a viral internet sensation last year, and her mother Jona, at Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand, on July 10, 2025. (Photo by Chalinee Thirasupa/Reuters)

Multiple lightning strikes are seen in this 66 image composite taken over 1.5 hours during a monsoon in Bangkok, Thailand which took place overnight from October 29th to October 30th, 2024. The monsoon season in Bangkok normally lasts from July to October, making this one of the year's last major storms to hit the Thai capital. (Photo by Adryel Talamantes/ZUMA Press Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

“Maeklong Railway Market, located in Samut Songkhram, Thailand, around 37 miles west of Bangkok, looks like any other open-air market in Asia. HOWEVER...”. – Kaushik via Amusing Planet. Photo: Maeklong Railway Market (Photo by Trent Strohm)