Who is behind the abduction of an eco-lodge owner in remote Laos, asks edward loxton

Ecologists opposing the destruction of some of South-East Asia's last remaining primeval forest, in the remote, landlocked country Laos, have joined tigers, leopards and wild elephants on the list of endangered species.

Three months ago, the co-owner of the famous Boat Landing eco-lodge in remote northern Laos was abducted near his home by a group of uniformed men. He hasn't been seen since. His American business partner has left the country, reportedly for Thailand.

"The abduction has created a mood of uncertainty and even fear among Westerners working in the country," said a UN official employed on restoration work in the northern Lao city of Luang Prabang - a World Heritage Site - on the Mekong River.

The abducted man, Sompawn Khantisouk, and American Bill Tuffin ran an enterprise that has won many environmental awards, international praise, and recommendations in the major guide books. Their resort, on the banks of the beautiful Nam Tha river, sought to integrate with the local Lao community in a 'sustainable tourism' programme.

The Nam Tha river valley is destined for development, and inevitably Sompawn and Tuffin clashed with Lao officialdom - and, more dangerously, with Chinese business interests seeking concessions to replace the indigenous forest with rubber plantations. China is desperate for new sources of rubber to supply its rapidly expanding automobile industry. Northern Laos, just over the border, is a handy potential source.

Sompawn and his partner strongly and vocally opposed the plans. "It's whispered around that big Chinese interests in northern Laos have something to do with his disappearance," said the UN official.

Sompawn, Tuffin and others involved in environmental protection work in Laos had already tangled with the Lao government over its plans to build two hydroelectric dams in the area, in a joint project with India. The

dams will flood large areas of forest and lowland arable land, displacing thousands of villagers and perhaps threatening the existence of the riverside Boat Landing.

The Boat Landing is still open for business, although the mood there is sombre. Sompawn's Lao wife Joy runs the guesthouse with a loyal, locally recruited staff. "I'm very, very worried about my husband," Joy has said. "Nobody, not even the police, can tell me what has happened to him." Attempts to get information from police headquarters at the provincial capital, Luang Nam Tha, are met only with: "No comment".

Laos, a mountainous land where drug barons, bandits and oppressed hill-tribe people clash regularly with government forces, has a grim record of silencing voices of opposition to the socialist regime and its authoritarian policies. When the country's ancient monarchy was abolished by the communist Pathet Lao in 1975, King Sisavang Vatthana and his queen were spirited away and never seen again.

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