Where the Vam Co Dong River flows from Cambodia into Vietnam in Tay Ninh, people catch delicious fish like this.

The source of the river

One of the two branches of the Vam River begins to flow into Tay Ninh at Lo Go - Xa Mat National Park (Tan Bien District). After the first rains of the season, the water in the upper reaches of the Vam River rises and flows strongly downstream.

On the water surface, many patches of plantain and water lily were blooming. As the boat carrying us passed by, these river vegetables swayed with the waves.

The sound of the boat’s engine made the huge, black, naked gooses flap their wings and fly up from the water. On both banks, the forest trees began to sprout and grow green again after the long months of hot weather.

Occasionally, a few long-tailed warblers like arrow-winged ibises, lapwings, and junglefowls from neighboring Cambodia fly over the National Park or vice versa.

This is the river border between Vietnam and Cambodia, so occasionally, our group met a few people from the neighboring country working in the fields or a group of security guards from Lo Go - Xa Mat National Park patrolling to protect the forest.

Nearing the upstream, the river becomes narrower. Scattered along the bank on the neighboring country's side are two Cambodian dugout canoes parked along the river.

The boat is made from palm tree trunks, about 3m long. The size and load capacity of the boat, although a bit small, is very suitable for navigating the upper reaches of the Vam River - where there are many stakes and brush, caused by fallen forest trees, and suitable for the difficult economic conditions of the local people.

River fish net of people in the upper reaches of the Vam Co Dong River.

On this section of the river there are many giant fish beds of the Cambodian people. The beds on this section of the river near the forest are built with dozens of wooden logs.

In front of the wooden fence, there is a thick layer of netting, woven from many bamboo strips. The netting has the effect of forcing fish and shrimp to swim to the open space in the middle of the river - where the net mouth is waiting.

Above these rows of stakes, the people of your country put two other tree trunks across to create a wooden bridge to cross the two banks.

When the water from upstream flows strongly, Cambodian people will spread nets across the river to catch fish. The leaders of the National Park and the Border Guard here regularly urge Cambodian people to remove these fish traps, but during the flood season, some fish traps still secretly "grow up".

A fishing platform in the upper reaches of the Vam Co Dong River.

The further upstream, the narrower the riverbed, only about 4 meters wide, the deepest point is just over 1 meter. One side is still Cambodia, the other side is Da Hang Islet, dozens of hectares wide, located in the middle of the Vam Co Dong River.

After the border between Vietnam and Cambodia was unified, Da Hang Islet was located in Sub-region 27, Tan Binh Commune, Tan Bien District. On this islet, there are two holes about 32 square meters wide and 2.5 meters deep. Under the holes are many cement concrete blocks 10-30 cm thick, broken and lying upside down.

At the mouth of the pit, there are traces of a trench leading down to the Vam Co Dong river wharf. Many locals believe that this was the resistance base of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Dinh, former Vice President of the State Council. To this day, Da Hang Islet is still called by many people as “Mrs. Dinh’s Base”.

Where one rooster crows, two countries hear

From the National Park, downstream, this river branch meets another river branch at the Vam Trang Trau junction, in the territory of Bien Gioi commune, Chau Thanh district.

In this river section, we can see a few local people making a living. Near Phuoc Trung bridge (Bien Gioi commune), there is a hut with a fish net owned by Mr. Nguyen Van Dan and his wife, residing in Phuoc Vinh commune, Chau Thanh district, Tay Ninh province.

The fish net is 40m long and 30m wide, with an investment of 70 million VND. Each time they lift the net, this fisherman couple harvests about 3-5kg of various types of fish. Among them are many civet fish and toad fish - fish with fragrant, delicious meat, considered specialties of the river.

Fishermen only take large river fish.

What particularly caught our attention was that the fishermen only caught large fish, weighing about half a kilo or more, and the smaller fish were released back into the river.

Mr. Dan explained: “Leave them to grow and reproduce for the following seasons.” This fisherman added that during the dry season, there are few fish in the river, so he and his wife only cast their nets during the day. During the flood season like now, there are many fish and they have to cast their nets day and night.

The fish resource in the upper reaches of the Vam River is still quite abundant, so at this time, there are days when the couple earns millions of dong.

It is known that Mr. Dan is Vietnamese, his wife, Ms. Sara Phip, is Khmer. It can be said that this Vietnamese-Khmer couple is a typical example of the community and harmonious coexistence of two ethnic groups in the land where when a rooster crows, two countries can hear.

Mr. Viet makes a living by cutting water hyacinth stems on the Vam Co Dong River and selling them to traders in the West.

In addition to the fishing profession, in the upper reaches of the Vam River there are many other professions that follow the river to make a living, such as fishing, netting, picking water hyacinth, etc.

Mr. Phan Van Viet, a resident of Bien Gioi commune, was born and raised in this area. Previously, his family also owned rice fields, but due to illness, they had to sell the land to pay for medical treatment. For the past 6-7 years, he has made a living by setting traps to catch field mice and sell them at the market.

In his spare time, he rowed a boat on the river to cut water hyacinth stems to sell to people from the West who came here to buy them to produce handicrafts. “Every day, he cut 300-400kg of fresh water hyacinth. He brought them home to dry.

Traders in Long An province come to harvest the fish. They earn 180,000-200,000 VND/day, enough to cover their living expenses.

This water hyacinth cutting profession is very useful for the Vam River, because for many years this type of water hyacinth has always been a very difficult problem to solve for the river. Having diligent people, rain or shine, still cutting each water hyacinth stalk to produce handicrafts can become an economic development model that needs to be replicated.

Mr. Do Van Giao, a rice farmer in Tan Dinh hamlet, Bien Gioi commune, Chau Thanh district, Tay Ninh province, shares about the lives of people along the Vam Co Dong river.

However, the main occupation of people in the upper reaches of the Vam River is still agricultural production.

There are vast rice fields here; landowners own dozens of hectares of rice fields. Mr. Do Van Giao - Head of Tan Dinh Hamlet, Bien Gioi Commune, Chau Thanh District, Tay Ninh Province is one of many residents who have spent their whole life attached to the Vam Co Dong River.

Mr. Giao said that the residents here have no other water source for agricultural production. All the pumping of water to irrigate the fields, transporting rice and agricultural materials depends on the Vam Co Dong River.

“Later, thanks to the wells, we no longer used river water for daily activities. In the past, people used river water to cook food and drink,” Mr. Giao recalled.

The old farmer also added that the Vam River also contains many other natural resources such as shrimp and fish. “For us, this river is very precious. Because it has water for agricultural production and fish sauce to improve our lives. Without this river, people here cannot survive,” he confided.

Source: https://danviet.vn/noi-con-song-vam-co-dong-tu-campuchia-chay-vao-dat-viet-o-tay-ninh-dan-bat-ca-ngon-the-nay-day-20240820221915749.htm