Our final day at the lodge was spent chilling in the hammock on our balcony and kayaking upriver to a waterfall. The river was beautifully calm and the temperature was perfect - the sun just nipping out from behind the clouds now and again.
If we go back in a couple of years, the scene may be very different. Some guys from China have apparently convinced the locals of the need for a hydro electric power station on the river. This seems to involve cutting down large amounts of forest and flooding large areas around the river. Apparently, the idea was originally sold to the locals on the basis that electricity would transform their lives. More recently, some people have twigged that the local villagers don't have any money for electricity, so it is unlikely to be sold to them. In fact, the plan seems to be to sell the electricity to Thailand and the profits for the first 30 or so years are going to the Chinese guys building it. Which all begs the question why the project got the go ahead in the first place. We were told that cash can be quite persuasive.
No comments:
Post a Comment