Lao PDR - Nam Ou river - Boatman steers the boat using a bamboo pole

Local boatman Sengkham uses a bamboo pole to steer a small wooden boat along the Nam Ou river, Phongsaly province, Lao PDR. The Nam Ou river connects small riverside villages and provides the rural population with food for fishing. 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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Copyright: Tessa Bunney
Image Size: 4000x2999 / 1.5MB; Asia Bunney Lao Lao PDR Laos Tai Lue Tai Lue Nam Nam Ou Ou PDR Phongsali Phongsaly Southeast Tessa countryside ethnic minorities minority remote river rural traditional local boat boatman dry season Chinese corporation Sinohydro electric electricity hydropower reservoir Mekong tributary dam construction transport transportation job work occupation working navigate navigation bamboo pole steer steering wooden
Contained in galleries: Lao PDR - Nam Ou River, Tessa Bunney - All pics

Local boatman Sengkham uses a bamboo pole to steer a small wooden boat along the Nam Ou river, Phongsaly province, Lao PDR. The Nam Ou river connects small riverside villages and provides the rural population with food for fishing. 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.