Students Travel to Vietnam and Thailand to Learn About Water Conflict and Development

The Water Conflict and Development in Southeast Asia global learning course took place over a period of two weeks during the January term at Middlebury. Ten students from the Institute along with faculty travelled to Vietnam and Thailand to learn more about water conflict in the region as well as development initiatives. 

The trip started in Hanoi, Vietnam with a briefing at the U.S. Embassy on the Mekong-U.S. Partnership. Students had the opportunity to visit with embassy officials and learn more about the Lower Mekong Initiative dealing with integrated sub-regional cooperation among Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, with support from the United States. There were meetings with government representatives regarding the National Power Development Plan, along with visits to the Temple of Literature and the Hanoi Night Market. 

Felix Naim (MPA/ITED), one of the MIIS students who attended the trip said: “…the trip was incredibly insightful. In Vietnam, I learned about how they are using hydropower projects to facilitate national development”. Students enjoyed the culture, food, and architecture of the places they visited in Vietnam and Thailand. Through visits to hydropower sites, they learned more about development in the region and how water conflict can impact a country’s growth. 

In between visits with government officials and meetings with NGOs, students also had the opportunity to visit museums, temples, and gardens and learn more about the history the place. In Vietnam, the trip also included a visit to the rural village of Sapa to meet with the local community, including the indigenous Hmong, Dao, and Tay peoples. Students learned about the impact of water conflict and development on these rural communities. 

At the conclusion of their visit to Vietnam, students departed for Bangkok, Thailand where they met with local university students from Chulalongkorn University’s Energy Research Institute. They also had the opportunity to visit several dams in the area and went on a Mekong River cruise. There were meetings with the Waterkeeper Affiliate as well as visits with local fishermen to learn about the impact of the hydropower sites on their livelihoods. The trip to Thailand also included a visit to Chiang Mai and a meeting with a U.N. representative. Tom Short (ITED), another student from MIIS who attended the trip mentioned that it was a great trip and he was glad that he had gone. 

These experiential learning global courses provide unique opportunities for students to travel around the world and see the practical implementation of the concepts covered in their courses at the Institute along with the possibility of conducting field research, visiting key sites, and meeting with representatives from governments, the United Nations, civil society organizations, and local people that are being directly impacted.