Saychai Phanthavong: building a greener future
Saychai Phanthavong, who contributes to Lines magazine, joined the Mekong: Sustainable News project in 2020 for which she produced her first video on innovative approaches to farming in Northern Laos.
Profiled by Éléonore Sok.
It’s not just down to journalists to inform the general public, I think everyone has that role, says the young architecture graduate.
The 26-year-old Laotian travelled alongside her group of volunteers to Xiangkhouang, a highland province to the north where agriculture reigns supreme. We met some crop growers who are experimenting with crop rotation, says the trainee who looks wise beyond her years with her round glasses and long hair swept behind her ears.
They plant corn during the first season and then switch to planting beans the season after. As she explains, this helps to replenish the soil, limits deforestation of new plots and the organic crops fetch a higher price, so everyone is a winner!
In her very first video, a brief report, Saychai interviews crop growers and a Chinese buyer with a fondness for produce from Laos that is more natural than that of China and which captures the majesty of the surrounding verdant hills. It was fantastic to discover the rural world from within and not just as a tourist.
The connection that the villagers had with nature impressed me and I became more aware of the environmental crisis, reports the curious and wilful young woman. Young Laotians enjoy video content, so I want to keep learning and create my own videos in which I am highlighting the topics that are close to my heart.
From avid reader to contributor
Coming from a family of teachers, Saychai had a good education. My parents encouraged me to read at a very early age and they support me in everything I do, she admits. With an affinity for writing and drawing, an artistic verve and a gift for maths, she was drawn towards architecture, which allowed her to combine her interests. She dipped her toe into the world of media one year before graduating from the National University of Laos in 2017.
We absorb a lot of Thai culture here in Laos because we can read Thai and the local market is much more embryonic. I personally bought every Thai architecture journal that I could get my hands on. So when I discovered Lines, a local architecture magazine, I wanted to be part of the adventure!, she explains.
Saychai started to get involved with the magazine while studying: she wrote editorials and about landmarks and also showed an interest in urban planning. I feel that the main point of architecture and design is to respond to problems. Having spent time in the countryside, I asked myself how I could develop houses with modern materials that are adapted to their environment and which comply with environmental standards, shares the woman who worshipsTadao Ando, the Japanese father of minimalist architecture.
She also claims to have been inspired by Hongkad Souvannavong – a prominent figure in modern Laotian architecture, a great aesthete and a designer of musical instruments and typefaces. Like Souvannavong, Saychai is a jack of all trades. She plays guitar and has started making wooden furniture.
My dream is to one day create my own architecture office where the media used are well suited, she concludes. We wish her the best of luck.