The water of the Xihe River flows quietly, winding through the village. Amidst the crisp chirping of birds, Banc Village in Banc Township, Kongjing Province, northeastern Thailand welcomes a bright morning. The sunshine shines on the pink lotus flowers, and small fish swim back and forth in the shadows of the leaves. The air is filled with the fragrance of rice. I dug up lotus roots and sold them at the market, along with fish and shrimp caught from the river, as well as rice grown on both sides, for my own consumption and for sale. "Shandi, a farmer living by the riverbank, started chatting with reporters while tidying up his fishing net. Kongjing Prefecture is an important rice and cassava planting area in Thailand. Local farmer Qi An introduced to reporters, "I planted 5 lei (1 lei is about 1600 square meters) of rice and harvested several thousand kilograms of rice. In the dry season of 2025, there was less rainfall, but fortunately, a water dam was built, otherwise the production would have been reduced." Qi An said that the water dam is located in Banc Village and is a poverty alleviation project funded by the Chinese Consulate General in Confucius. It was officially completed and put into use in January 2025. The water dam is 4 meters wide, and a 30 meter protective embankment has been built along the coast. I heard that the reporter came to interview, and the former governor of Kong Jingfu, Gaisong, specially came to Shuiyan to tell the reporter about the construction process of Shuiyan. The northeastern part of Thailand lacks water resource management and irrigation systems. Kongjing Prefecture and the Chinese Consulate General in Kongjing have conducted multiple on-site surveys on the site selection and construction plan of water dams. Water weirs play an important role in managing local water resources - storing excess rainwater during the rainy season and reducing flood risks; During the dry season, stored rainwater is released for irrigation. On the day of the completion of the water dam, surrounding villagers spontaneously came to thank them, and students sang and danced on the dam. ”Gaisong said. After the construction of the dam, the river water became cleaner and there were more fish, sometimes more than 20 can be caught in a day. ”Villager Ba Ping, who is fishing, told reporters. Water dams help reduce the impact of droughts and ensure food security. ”Bankang Town Mayor Jiakapeng said that in the next step, Bankang Town will expand planting varieties such as tomatoes, watermelons, eggplants, bitter melons, etc. "We hope to further strengthen cooperation with China in seed cultivation, agricultural technology, and machinery," said Liu Hongmei, Chinese Consul General in Kongjing. The water dam project is another dynamic manifestation of pragmatic cooperation between China and Thailand in the field of people's livelihood, and these "small and beautiful, beneficial to people's livelihood" projects are the results of China Thailand's continuous poverty reduction cooperation. In recent years, the Chinese Consulate General in Kongjing has provided funding to Kongjing Prefecture for the implementation of projects such as "poverty alleviation in lower counties", and has helped farmers lift themselves out of poverty through donations of daily necessities and vocational development training. Gaisong said, "Many officials from Kongjing Prefecture have gone to Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou and other places in China to learn poverty alleviation experience. China's concept of 'teaching people how to fish is better than teaching them how to fish' has provided new ideas for poverty reduction in Thailand. We thank the Chinese government for its contributions to poverty reduction in Thailand and hope to further strengthen cooperation with China in infrastructure such as irrigation systems, roads and electricity." Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Tamana, said that China's development experience has provided useful inspiration for countries around the world, including Thailand, and Thailand hopes to learn from China's experience to achieve economic and social development goals. (New Society)