Lao PDR - Rural life - Nam Ou river

Two Laoseng ethnic minority boys, Sone (13) and Sengpheth (10) push a boat through a channel made by the local boatmen to assist navigation of the Nam Ou river during the dry season when the river level is low, Phongsaly province, Lao PDR. The Nam Ou river connects small riverside villages and provides the rural population with food for fishing. It is a place where children play and families bathe, where men fish and women wash their clothes. But this river and others like it, that are the lifeline of rural communities and local economies are being blocked, diverted and decimated by dams. The Lao government hopes to transform the country into “the battery of Southeast Asia” by exporting the power to Thailand and Vietnam.

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Filename: A0024713cc_1.jpg
Copyright: Tessa Bunney
Image Size: 2828x2121 / 832.3KB; Asia Bunney Lao Lao PDR Laos Laoseng Nam Nam Ou Ou PDR Phongsali Phongsaly Southeast Southeast Asia Tessa countryside ethnic ethnic minorities ethnic minority minorities minority remote river rural traditional village boy boys local boat boatmen dry season channel riverside roadless Chinese corporation Sinohydro electric electricity hydropower reservoir Mekong tributary dam construction
Contained in galleries: Lao PDR - Nam Ou River

Two Laoseng ethnic minority boys, Sone (13) and Sengpheth (10) push a boat through a channel made by the local boatmen to assist navigation of the Nam Ou river during the dry season when the river level is low, Phongsaly province, Lao PDR. The Nam Ou river connects small riverside villages and provides the rural population with food for fishing. It is a place where children play and families bathe, where men fish and women wash their clothes. But this river and others like it, that are the lifeline of rural communities and local economies are being blocked, diverted and decimated by dams. The Lao government hopes to transform the country into “the battery of Southeast Asia” by exporting the power to Thailand and Vietnam.