Picture this: Its around 10,000 years ago. You and your fellow Homo Sapiens group are strolling along, looking for some berries, leaves, and what not and you come across a beautiful river. Perfect, you think (in 10,000 year ago language), I am thirsty and we all love a good fish fry. You giddy on over there and begin looking down at all the lovely fish and different plants that are moving with the waves. What a wonderful time to be alive, you think, just as a giant historic butterfly flaps by you in the wind.*
*I am not a historian. Therefore, the scene I have laid out may be ripe with false ideas about what life was like 10,000 years ago. Please do not cite me in any research papers.
Bodies of water hold so much wonder, life, and necessities. This week, I was able to travel to the Mekong River in Chiang Rai and hear from some communities impacted by development along the Mekong.
First, we heard from the Mekong River School, which educates community members and creates campaigns and movements to raise awareness on development issues relating to the Mekong River. The two issues P'Kun and P'Kru Tee, two teachers at the school, discussed were rapid blasting and hydropower dams.
P'Kru Tee said the goal of the Mekong River School is to raise awareness of what is actually happening and help up-land and low-land communities work together to save the environment. When up-land and low-land communities experience water changes, P'Kru Tee said, it can create conflict between the different communities. Each think the other is to blame, so the Mekong River School works to be a "hub of knowledge" and emphasize the similarities the communities have.
The real culprit for the communities water issues are the dams being built on the Mekong. Dams change the level of water and ecosystems downstream and resettle villages.
When we arrived at the place we were sleeping, we could see the huge Mekong River. It of course looked normal to me, but we later learned it should be much higher. It is wet season and the level of the water is that of the dry season. And during the dry season, the dams release water and make the water level that of the wet season. This has *messed up* the livelihood strategies of the locals.
There is also the impact of rapid blasting that communities along the Mekong have to worry about. This is when the part of the river that is fast moving and has rocks is blown up to allow large barges to move through. Specifically for the Mekong, the rapids are blasted for commercial barges from China to go to Thailand and Laos.
Rapids have sub-ecosystems, where communities can find food and medicine and where animals can thrive. So, when rapids are destroyed communities loose these resources because the parts of the ecosystems are also lost. The dams also create problems for the ecosystems in and around the river. When we were looking over the part of the river that acts as the border between Thailand and Laos (I could see the windows of buildings in Laos), P'Tang Su, the now retired village leader of the Baan Huay Luak village, said there use to be many boats fishing on this part of the river. However, as we looked down then, we could see how drastic a change the dam had created for the fishermen. There was one boat on the river. During our whole four day trip, I never saw more than two on the river at the same time. There are simply a lot less fish to catch.
During our four days, we also visited the Bun Rueng forest that was going to be turned into a Special Economic Zone, but the community was able to stop this from becoming a reality. The community relies on this forest for some of their food, medicine, and livelihoods. So, the community independently raised awareness of all the value the forest provides through documents and campaigns and they were able to save their land. It was an incredible feat.
Another incredible thing was the forest was ordained. Many of the trees throughout the forest had the orange sashes wrapped around them. Ordaining a forest is usually done in an attempt to protect it from destruction. This ordination did help, however as I asked other students about their own experiences with ordained forests, one from Cambodia said it rarely works as a solution. Thus, the community's other efforts were much needed, but I guess every little piece helps.
After the trip to the forest we went back to the Mekong River School for dinner and a "culture exchange." When we got there the band was already playing. And after a while the students were invited to sing. Each country did their own songs. Luckily, Billy played for America, so Angela and I did not have to curse everyone with the horror of our voices. All the students were incredible!
We were all sad to leave these incredible people, but, not going to lie, Angela and I were more than happy to sneak out without having to sing.
On Friday, Angela, I, and six others headed to Phayao, Northeast of Chiang Mai and South of Chiang Rai. Everyone else went back to the school. We stopped at the White Temple, Blue Temple, and a Sighna (company famous for their beer) owned tea plantation. Then we arrived at our homestay in Phayao and ate hotpot. Deeelicccous. Though it was late, four of us wanted to walk around Phayao Lake. It was a beautiful late night with stories of monkeys trying to hold the moon up and some stories of life in China.
On Saturday, we woke up early and did some biking. Also beautiful! Then, exhausted, we loaded onto the bus and headed back to school. On the way we made another stop at a hot spring to dip our feet in and eat some ice cream (which I am craving as I write this).
It's Sunday and I am still tired from this long long week. There was so much brain work.
Thailand is so wonderful. It is full of new knowledge and strong people. I am so happy I am here. However, I really want a hamburger.
Be well,
Annika