1. 28 May


    At a puppet show, Xiang Khouang province, Laos

    At a puppet show, Xiang Khouang province, Laos

     

  2. 28 May


    Banana hearts, Vang Vieng, Laos, 2002

    Banana hearts, Vang Vieng, Laos, 2002

     

  3. 28 May


    Market day, Luang Prabang, Laos, 2002

    Market day, Luang Prabang, Laos, 2002

     

  4. 19 Apr


    ©Alan Dejecacion Luang Prabang, Laos, 2002 For centuries, the Mekong and its tributaries have been the lifeline to the southeast Asian nation of Laos with its life-sustaining role as trade and communication route. Carving a 900 km border between Laos and northeast Thailand, the Mekong continues its role as trade and communication route; a main highway for many where paved roads are virtually non-existent. Cut off from major markets by a lack of reliable surface transport, (the Mekong not all that navigable year-round) the provinces and nearby villages along the river banks have developed a small fragile and largely insular economy of local production and services resting on a traditional subsistence foundation. The Mekong river swells during the monsoon, bringing silt deposit and nutrients, thus allowing the area to thrive –rich soil for agriculture and fish multiply in great numbers. The richest soils of the country are on the river banks and inland as far as the river silt is carried. For landlocked Laos, the Mekong and its tributaries are the all-important source of fish. In mountain streams, in rivers small and large, in flooded rice fields, people cast their nets and set their traps. China’s ravenous appetite for hydroelectric power at home and its thrust southward into southeast Asia in search of trade is changing the very character of the Mekong. This is true not only in China itself, but also for the five nations and the livelihoods of millions of people living downstream in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. This complex ecosystem, and the livelihoods of millions who depend on it, is threatened by China’s plans to build eight large dams on the upper reaches of the Mekong in Yunnan Province. The plan will drastically alter the river’s natural flood-drought cycle and block the transport of sediment. Despite these serious potential impacts, construction of the upper Mekong dams has proceeded without consultation with China’s downstream neighbors, and without any real assessment of the likely impacts to the river and its people.

    ©Alan Dejecacion Luang Prabang, Laos, 2002

    For centuries, the Mekong and its tributaries have been the lifeline to the southeast Asian nation of Laos with its life-sustaining role as trade and communication route. Carving a 900 km border between Laos and northeast Thailand, the Mekong continues its role as trade and communication route; a main highway for many where paved roads are virtually non-existent. Cut off from major markets by a lack of reliable surface transport, (the Mekong not all that navigable year-round) the provinces and nearby villages along the river banks have developed a small fragile and largely insular economy of local production and services resting on a traditional subsistence foundation. The Mekong river swells during the monsoon, bringing silt deposit and nutrients, thus allowing the area to thrive –rich soil for agriculture and fish multiply in great numbers.

    The richest soils of the country are on the river banks and inland as far as the river silt is carried. For landlocked Laos, the Mekong and its tributaries are the all-important source of fish. In mountain streams, in rivers small and large, in flooded rice fields, people cast their nets and set their traps. China’s ravenous appetite for hydroelectric power at home and its thrust southward into southeast Asia in search of trade is changing the very character of the Mekong. This is true not only in China itself, but also for the five nations and the livelihoods of millions of people living downstream in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

    This complex ecosystem, and the livelihoods of millions who depend on it, is threatened by China’s plans to build eight large dams on the upper reaches of the Mekong in Yunnan Province. The plan will drastically alter the river’s natural flood-drought cycle and block the transport of sediment. Despite these serious potential impacts, construction of the upper Mekong dams has proceeded without consultation with China’s downstream neighbors, and without any real assessment of the likely impacts to the river and its people.

     

  5. 18 Apr


    Along the banks of the Mekong river, Luang Prabang, Laos, 2002

    Along the banks of the Mekong river, Luang Prabang, Laos, 2002

     

  6. 12 Apr


    Early morning along the Mekong river, Luang Prabang, Laos, 2002

    Early morning along the Mekong river, Luang Prabang, Laos, 2002

     

  7. 11 Apr


    Vientiane, Laos, 1996

    Vientiane, Laos, 1996

     

  8. 10 Apr


    Vientiane, Laos, 2002

    Vientiane, Laos, 2002