Mr Jackson should say that he is involved in a mining project in Laos if he is going to comment on resettlement to make way for a mine. The fact that he is making money from mining in Laos, or a company mining there, is not something that he should hide from people reading his comments. Thank you Mr Hall for pointing this out.

I think you are in touch with my partner Sean.. he may have maps in the office. Mike Callahan has an extensive library of maps and GIS data. Have you contacted him?

Ref the resettlement debate I am concious of the fact that farmers grow to know their land. I think planners assume that one parcel of land is as good as another but as non farmers they may not be cognisent of the time it takes for a framer to familiarise themselves with drainage patterns, sunlight, slope, local bugs, weather patterns etc.
There has been evidence of malnutrition in the new THPC site due to this. The health adviser is concerned about the extent of malnutrition. The same is true I gather of the NT2. where the people say they are happy with health centers and schools but not happy about being dependent on rice handouts. It’s worth mentioning that the Aheu (sp??) people I have been told by Monsieur Alton had a very important ancestral spiritual site located exactly where the dam wall is situated. Attempts to resettle in some approximation to the site to maintain some links with the ancestors have been refused. No one is prepared to say who made this decision. The proposed NT1 site will also submerge a few ancient caves and ancestral sites. Women in some minority groups are concerned that the placentas of their children which are usually buried around the houses may be abandoned with dire risk to the children. Ceremonies have to compensate.. so its all very complex as several writers have pointed out.

I would be interested if anyone has in their possession any maps which indicate the geographical extent of of state-sponsored upland resettlement or focal site development in Laos, or in specific provinces in Laos, over say, the past ten or fifteen years?

I have heard anecdotes of ‘empty districts’ in southern Laos due to state-sponsored resettlement schemes, but have not seen much real data on this issue.

A visual, cartographic representation of resettlement in Laos could serve as a very useful basis for debate and discussion.

Keith Barney

“a person who is or claims to be easily shocked by matters relating to sex or nudity.”

Khamtham is revealing his or her ignorance of the words he or she uses. Is there any reason to think I am easily shocked by matters related to sex or nudity? I think not. Khamtham’s comments really are laughable.

Clearly, the careful use of words is important, even if Khamtham seems to think otherwise. Khamtham, thanks for making my point for me.

This may be my final communication regarding this matter but maybe not “exactly”.

I appreciate Richard Jackson’s explanation. He makes some interesting observations, but it still appears that while he may be aware of other non-project resettlement going on in Vilaboury district, I doubt that he has been directly working on that resettlement, or with the people involved, as that resettlement does not relate to the Xepon Mine. So, in the end I can’t imagine that his experiences “exactly” parallel Holly High’s.

I think that those who post on this blog have the right to contribute whatever information they see fit, provided that they are polite. Khamtham should not try to impose rules on others. It appears that he or she is guilty of the exact thing that he or she has accussed me of. But I just asked for Richard Jackson to provide more information, as did Holly High. It was up to him to either respond or not. We all have that right. He didn’t have to respond.

One last comment: It is interesting that Richard Jackson refers to resettlement as either “voluntary” or “unvoluntary”. This is actually the type of dichotomy that Baird and Shoemaker warn against. They suggest that we need to examine our use of those terms more critically. I agree.

This will be my last communication regarding this matter.

I’ve tried googling you but with no success, unless you are the John Hall on the web that has been ’serving Arizona real estate since 1974′?!

Keith