dams. these enormous works of engineering. ah, what the buddhist country is hoping would allow it to catch up with its wealthier neighbors. but during a debt crisis, can the country break out of isolation? the me cone river is where the fisherman, so hood grew up, he knows it inside out the 25 year old has deployed up bottom set gil net. he lives in a small village in laos further upstream. a huge hydro power plant is being built on. the me kong fishermen are concerned about fish migration roots spawning grounds . and fishing is on asia's most important waterway. the rad. if the dam is built, i might not be allowed to fish here any more bad though. this whole section of the river could be declared a nature reserve because we are right behind the future power plant. here for my family is fishing rights only for this section. the fishing times can also change the marks is lennon is government of laos, wants to see the country become the battery of southeast asia, building around 100 dams, by 2030. so far, 78 have been built. one of them is located on the num, oh, a tributary of the me, con river, the num 0 one power plant, one of 7 on this river alone was built by china 3 years ago at a cost of 2700000000 euros. in return, the chinese state owned company power. china will sell electricity to the country for the next 29 years after which the power plant will be taken over by louse. the village lieut. our hair located directly behind the dam, had to give way for the plant. the only trace the old village temple by now mostly submerged in the reservoir. buddhist monk, buncha. so to mano is now worshipping at a newly built temple, farther up the mountain. god, number one, what nigger that all girls that see a die, you know the old temple was a gift around says to hasten the guy. the government really had no choice in what put we'll have to go on land man up up and see my land to do something. they make the population better, only feel put up them to am. the dam brings import the make foreign exchange. the country sang. luckily hm and and it was okay with a donation of about 14 euros per mural. the villages can bring color to the new building piece by piece. the painter has been working tirelessly and the monk seems pleased with the result. he is content with the change, but not every one in the village below shares his stoicism. the state gave every resident the same compensation when they were re settled. with each household receiving $600.00 euros and a 400 square meter plot of land. the farmer suit amps, sun dried chill is once dried on a larger porch they need but me and i all good. what my house was twice the size of this one with 2 floors either ring or it boomer. whole number is the new place. and just so small and i started to extend it myself piece by piece, and then i would, there's hardly enough space for that. what can color zuni with the identical partition? plots the village as lost it, so the residents say, and the soil up in the mountain is no match for the fertile ground by the river, where animals thrived and crops flourished. the meek on river is the vital archery of laos spanning along its western border. the communist ruled country is one of the poorest in asia. 7000000 people live here, most of whom work in agriculture. downstream, the quality of the soil is degrading thanks to the hydro power plants further up by slowing the flow of the river itself. the dams limit the supply of valuable nutrients to more fertilizer has to be used in the fields to compensate. but fertilizer prices, as soaring, says farm upon the collapse of the lowest currency. the camp can be felt nationwide as i've also i am. and that is a home still buying the say and things at the store. okay. they can they, how well can i save on with their now they're on powdered milk for my baby. perhaps it be anger, they say the gower or alkaloid as i and i've had to start using up my savings account and borrow money from reality as well. i buy di hm. ally, how about all last 2 is borrowing money from china. the number one investor in the land of the temples high amounts of foreign debt a largely to blame for the currency decline. the situation only exacerbated by the coven pandemic. like many places in the capitol, the vienne chan shopping mall has seen a huge decline in commerce. miss news boutique on the 2nd floor is only just starting to draw customers again. the rent has doubled rent. she pays in dollars. got to some kind of government get inflation on troll soon. hang line before the currency can opt out, i could buy 10 pairs of pants for about 50 euros, fatigued and be 9. now i get fine and utilities have grown up too many small bucket . couldn't get dowman and could not at one store. however, customers are lining up train tickets have been sold on the 1st floor since late 2021. china has built a 414 kilometer railroad line from the chinese border to now says capital vienne chand. during the day, high speed trains hurt all through the country. at night, freight trains bring goods over the border the train speed through dozens of tunnels and valleys. in the next few years, the line will be extended to bangkok in thailand and to vietnam's deep sea port. laos is the only land long country in southeast asia. so the new rail line could improve things for many, especially farmers will benefit according to alex kraemer of the world bank. what laos often uses the phrase, moving from land locked to land linked. and we've looked at the numbers and we think that that actually is a very realistic vision for that country. we're ready. seeing farmers, particularly in the north of the country, take advantage of the proximity to very fast growing markets for agricultural products. and in fact, this has really lifted the poverty rate in the north of the country. we are now running long instead of a treacherous day, long john, me by boss on muddy tracks. the trip from the capital to the world heritage site long pro bang. now only takes a few hours at the destination, a modern train station, the likes of which are usually seen in china. the new railway has opened the door for tourism, which brings new opportunities for the city. if you take a walk here in the morning, you might think that time has stood still. buddhist monks performed their daily morning arms round 20 years ago, a quarter of lotions lived below the poverty line. today that number has fallen to just 7 percent but if that number is to continue improving now is the time for action, the communist party of laos must find a better way to finance itself than through additional debt. according to the world bank, new dams cost money that laos does not have, and money from hydro power must be invested properly. for example, in better roads and bridges. for a long time, there was only a single bridge over the me call to thailand. to day, there are 4, and the 5th will open in 2024. at the market in vienne chan, the hope is that prices will sink. most of the products here are imported. so faster delivery would be an advantage. the war in ukraine has seen energy cost to explode even here. how might that lack? hello. the rise comes from loud solemnity that has a long transport route. so i have to charge twice as much heads up that one. hey buddy, i didn't get any bill. i glance like these on turn here, these ones from viet nam, a bigger and have gotten much more expensive. i almost pumpkins come from the south, so they cost around 30 percent more. and my night falls in the capital and the streets come to life. louse is a young nation, but also a patient. one young people here don't want to hear about protests, despite the high prices and corruption in the country. there is hope that the end of the pandemic will bring about change. the hope that the many takes the form of a hydro, electric power plant for many lotions, green hydropower and tourism of the light at the end of the tunnel. and the potential is huge electricity from hydro power alone could bring the country foreign exchange earnings about to 2600000000 euros annually. but opposition to too many dams is growing in neighboring countries. studies worn of the impact on fishing, for example, sold more fit fishermen to herd calls it a day for the time being. he's glad that he can fish at all. yeah, no ma'am. the guy who don't like the one a few months ago, the gasoline was so expensive that i couldn't go out at all honey. that was a real blow. our whole village depends on fishing, hadn't the catch this afternoon? was modest. it's hard to say for sure. what will come of the me kong? it's incredibly diverse wildlife or it's fisherman, when the dances are completed. but for now, the river flows, his source of life and livelihood. for some 60000000 people. ah ah, eco india sand mining up the coast near. mm hm. by the thriving bus and legal $1000000000.00 business with the devastating impact on the environment. to this, to my abdulla lead stood up against the stand. matthew andrew threatened and attacked multiple times. he go india. next on d, w. in good shape. food is about love and enjoyment, but some times it's complicated. why is it so difficult to be satisfied? healthy and fit with st. delusions. detox promises and dubious trends enough with the diet miss. finally good shape. in 30 minutes on t w. o. and it's avalanche are my welcome to my podcast, love matter by and by celebrities influences and experts to talk about all playing loved effect from day to him. yet today, nothing less because all these things and more and then you know, season off the pot come, make sure to tune and wherever you get your pot path and join the conversation because you know it love matters in journalism. help us in overcoming divisions. save the date for the d. w. global media forum 2023 in bonn, germany and increasingly fragmented world with a growing number of voices, digitally amplified. we see where this clutter can lead what we really need, overcoming divisions into vision for tomorrow's journalism. save the date and join us for this discussion at the 16th edition of d, w. c. global media forum. ah, this is dw news, and these are our top stories. the u. s. government says it will not bail out silicon valley bank. it's the 2nd largest bank failure in u. s. history. regulators in the united states shut it down on friday after a loss of assets prompted a run on de.