Fishermen

On the banks over the Mekong River, looking out towards Lao’s Peoples Democratic Republic (who openly display the sickle and hammer) I met Nut, a fisherman who spends his day on this little raft catching fish to sell at the nearby market. The day was coming to an end without a bite. We talked a little mainly about flooding, where he showed me a watermark four to five meters higher (despite it being rainy season and the water level already high) and explained that this happens when China opens its upriver dams, an issue that plagues the lower Mekong. We were only a few kilometres away from the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge and spitting distance from the town of Nong Khai. This was not a “rural” area. I look forward to adventuring further out and seeing first-hand the affects these Mekong dams are having on Isaan.