2006-2007

'Opening Borders: Reportage from Our Mekong' (237 pp, 2008), the fifth book in the Imaging Our Mekong series, is now off the press.

The phrase ‘Opening Borders’, which appears in this book’s title, also describes what the 21 journalists whose work appear here were doing while reporting on issues that link at least two countries in the Mekong Region.

 

From documentaries that delve into issues of ethnicity to transboundary roads and infrastructure projects, to television features on avian flu, the works compiled in the Imaging Our Mekong 2007 DVD set look at what links the countries of the Mekong Region together.
 
The Imaging Our Mekong 2007 DVD is the latest compilation of the works of the television fellows under the 5th cycle (2006-07) of the Imaging Our Mekong media fellowship programme.

 

KANCHANABURI, Thailand - Mornings at Don Ngiew, a village in Phanom Thuan district in this western province, are eerily silent these days. The clucking of chickens that used to wake farmers up, signalling the start of another day at the rice fields, has been replaced by the mechanical whirr of alarm clocks.

 

The first outbreak of avian flu in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic in early 2004 struck 45 poultry farms throughout the country, 38 of which were in and around the capital of Vientiane. The outbreak resulted in the loss of 155,000 birds, a third of which were infected by the disease.

PREY VENG, Cambodia - It was a wedding party without guests. The neighbours were afraid to come because they did not want to eat the food, especially chicken, served at the party. The hosts were being discriminated against, all because of an outbreak of bird flu.

Once referred to as the 'most hacked blogger of Malaysia', Jeremiah Foo moves around in the music, publishing and computer industry circles -- yes, all of those. He co-founded the eMuse Network, a pioneer in

 

POIPET, Cambodia – At 7.30 a.m., some 50 porters were already lined up in front of the border post here, fidgeting with their carts as they waited to be allowed to cross over to Thailand.

When the Poipet international gate finally opened, the bustling trade on both sides of the border between Cambodia and Thailand began for the day.

Different countries in the Mekong Region may have been affected by avian flu in similar ways, but their responses have been quite varied – shaped by trade concerns, diverse economies and types of poultry farming.

 

QUANG TRI, Vietnam – Ho Long’s family farm has 2,000 banana trees, from which they can pick some 20 bunches of the fruit each day. But unlike other families, Ho Long does not sell the harvested bananas in his mountain farm. Instead, twice a day, he hops on his Minsk motorbike and drives some five kilometres to the crossroads to sell their produce.

 

Breakfast in Thailand, a sumptuous lunch in Laos, and dinner before an overnight stay in Vietnam, with some shopping in between. Not only is this three-country tour drawing lots of curious tourists, it is also providing communities situated along the journey brisk -- and, for some, risky -- business.