Villagers in Bokeo province's Huayxai district on Wednesday demanded
the right to catch giant catfish from the district governor, to make
them equal to Thai farmers.

The head of Bokeo's Fisheries Office, Mr Khammy Phidaphone, said he
had tried to prevent villagers from going as a group to the office,
but they did not listen, saying that Thai farmers had an advantage
over them.

“I really understand where they're coming from and want to help solve
the problem,” he said. “But our district governor has maintained his
decision to not allow villagers to catch the giant catfish, as this
will violate the regulation protecting the endangered fish.”

He added that Thai farmers had been catching the giant catfish for the
past two weeks. Lao farmers, mainly in Pha-oy and Thinthan villages,
were unhappy with the decision made by Thai authorities to allow their
farmers to catch the fish in the Mekong, along the border between Laos
and Thailand .

The real story is economic. The farmers are poor they need the meat
of the catfish to survive (eat) or for market (sell) to help
supplement themselves. If they were not so poor they would not need
to harvest the catfish for food. I think the whole country needs new
ideas to make sure that everyone in Laos have enough to eat. The
state has to plan better and distribute the wealth to needed
communities in Laos. Stop the 20%% corruptions that goes to high
ranking officials and their families.

No permission should be issued because those giant ones are
disappearing. Should teach farmers to invest in the fish farming
industries.

On May 4, 9:27 pm, dkj-ດກຈ gmail.com> wrote: