In early 2019, we started to know about Liep waterfall, Thanh Son border commune (Thanh Chuong) through the social network Facebook. Liep waterfall is described as having beautiful natural scenery, with clear, cool blue water... Also through Facebook, we learned that some officials and people of Thanh Son cherish the aspiration of turning Liep waterfall into an eco-tourism destination, thereby creating more livelihoods for the people here.
To make their dream come true, through the promotional images on Facebook, we can see that their method is simple: clearing vines, grass, planting some flowers, setting up a few temporary camps to serve drinks and food to people who come to the waterfall to enjoy the scenery of Liep waterfall when needed. Just that, but many images show that on hot summer days, Liep waterfall is crowded with visitors; and there are also foreign visitors. Then around the beginning of September 2022, we heard that the "test" tourism business activities at Liep waterfall had to stop. The reason is because the government did not allow it.
Concerned, we asked the person who often promotes Liep waterfall (owner of the Facebook account Hoa Xuong Rong), and learned that there were some opinions on social networks that Liep waterfall had been illegally built on protected forest land. According to her, the person who spread the information misunderstood, but "since the government has given its opinion, we must comply". A few days later, Facebook Hoa Xuong Rong sent us a report about "encroachment on protected forest land for illegal tourism at Liep waterfall" sent to Thanh Chuong District People's Committee and Thanh Chuong District Tourism Development Steering Committee.
The person whose name is on the report is Ms. Lo Thi Theu - Vice Chairman of the Thanh Son Commune Fatherland Front Committee, who is also the owner of the Liep waterfall sales establishment. Here, she affirmed that the information on social networks about the encroachment of protective forest land at Liep waterfall to open an illegal restaurant is not true. According to Ms. Theu, in 2019, when she was still the Deputy Secretary of the Thanh Son Commune Youth Union, she often went to Liep waterfall with other members to collect waste discharged by people in the commune when bathing in the waterfall. Realizing that there was potential for tourism here, she had the idea of going to Liep waterfall to raise livestock and open a restaurant to serve customers in the area. Near the waterfall, there is forestry land of Thanh Son households that was assigned by the State to grow acacia. Therefore, she rented land for farming, raising livestock, contributed money to widen the road to Liep stream, and at the same time reclaimed and cleared bushes along the stream. In early 2020, Ms. Lo Thi Thin and Ms. Luong Thi Canh Ngo (both residing in Thanh Duong village) asked the leaders of Thanh Son Commune People's Committee, Thanh Duong Village Management Board, and Ngoc Lam Border Guard Station to allow them to build a camp to test community tourism services.
The camp was set up, but by June 2020, the Covid-19 epidemic was complicated, so they just stayed there to protect their property. In March 2022, when the Covid epidemic subsided, she was encouraged by the district's Department of Culture and Information and sent to a training course on tourism and food safety. After that, together with members Lo Thi Thin and Luong Thi Canh Ngo, they repaired and upgraded the camp, promoted the image of Liep waterfall, built the image of culinary culture, and the culture of the people of Thanh Son land. With these specific activities, the nature, culture, and cuisine of Liep waterfall have become more widely known, as an eco-tourism destination of Thanh Chuong district.
Regarding the boundary of the protective forest land located inside, there is a boundary marker about 50m from the service camp. Therefore, in the report, Ms. Lo Thi Thin affirmed that the reflection on the encroachment of protective forest land to build a restaurant is not objective, not true to the nature of the matter. She wrote: “We are in the early stages of experience, very new and somewhat subjective, have not applied for a business license, nor have we registered for tourism because we have not seen enough infrastructure and accompanying services. We do it with the desire to spread an attractive tourist destination. For the past 3 years, I have not received any feedback from the people about environmental pollution or distortion of the space of Liep waterfall. I pledge that what I write is true. In order to continue to develop in the right direction and comply with the law, I am very open-minded and respectfully hope that the leaders of the authorities at all levels and related departments will create favorable conditions and pay attention to help.”
With the above information, we contacted Mr. Trinh Van Nha - Chairman of Thanh Chuong District People's Committee. Over the phone, Mr. Nha said that some officials performing public duties were rigid and lacked understanding of the practical situation of the facility when stopping service activities at Liep Waterfall. According to him, although the service activities at Liep Waterfall are still spontaneous and experimental, they should be recognized because they have contributed to spreading a place with tourism potential of the district, and more or less changed the mindset of people in the resettlement area. The Chairman of Thanh Chuong District People's Committee said: "The district has developed a tourism development project. Liep Waterfall is determined to have investment in infrastructure to become one of the key tourist destinations of Thanh Chuong, and there are orientations for methodical exploitation in the near future to help the difficult land of Thanh Son develop...".
Nearly 3 months later, on the last day of the year, we went up to Thanh Son to learn about the backlog in the site clearance and resettlement of Ban Ve hydropower plant. We were led by Thanh Son commune officials, Party Secretary Lo Van Nguyen and Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Luong Duc Thong commune, to visit Liep waterfall. From the commune headquarters to the waterfall is only about 3km, there is a flat, quite wide concrete road leading to the place.
Liep waterfall is not as high as Kem waterfall (Con Cuong), not as big as Bay Tang waterfall (Que Phong)..., but it is natural, wild, and has its own beauty. The waterfall is about 100m long, part of Ly stream, with flat, large, flat, stacked stone blocks with beautiful liver-colored swirls, forming beautiful, strange shapes. Clear streams of water flow through the crevices of the rocks, overflowing on the surface of the rocks, forming waterfalls, splashing white foam. Under the waterfalls, there are depressions forming clear lakes. Along the waterfall, there is a production forest area connected to the protective forest, with many green trees, adding to Liep waterfall a natural beauty that always has a cool space...
Near Liep waterfall, service camps are still there, but they are temporary, true to the spontaneous and experimental nature. Observing the location of the camp system, quite far from the boundary of the protective forest, but not suitable because it blocks the view of the waterfall. Talking to Mr. Lo Van Nguyen and Mr. Luong Duc Thong about this, they acknowledged it and expressed their wish for the district and relevant agencies to help Liep waterfall become a tourist destination. Party Secretary Lo Van Nguyen said: “Mr. Nha, Chairman of the district, also told me that Thanh Son has such potential, so we must exploit it, the commune must try to make Liep waterfall a tourist destination as planned by the district, so that the people here can develop. The commune will make efforts. But I hope that the superiors will guide and help, especially in the process to do it right…”.
At Liep waterfall, we met two women, Lo Thi Theu and Lo Thi Thin. These are Thai ethnic women, like most of the Thanh Son people, who came here to resettle from remote villages in Kim Da commune, Tuong Duong district. Recalling the unhappy story in September, they said that before, both sides of Liep waterfall were just swampy forest land along streams and deep ravines. Because the people could not grow acacia trees, they agreed to lend them to build a hut. During the service operation, they ensured the hygiene of the bathing area, kept it private, and fully participated in training courses when requested; and also signed a commitment with the Commune People's Committee to ensure food hygiene and safety, as well as comply with local regulations and conventions. Therefore, "when we heard the news that our service operations were suspended, we cried and did not know what to do."
Recalling the discussion with Mr. Trinh Van Nha - Chairman of the District People's Committee in September, Ms. Theu said that a week ago, she submitted an application to establish the Liep Waterfall Agricultural Tourism Trade Cooperative. At the same time, she also called the District Chairman to ask for his opinion and received support. Asked about the future plans of the Cooperative, Ms. Lo Thi Theu said: "The Cooperative will be built according to 3 trends, including a system of on-site and mobile food service; a system of homestays in villages outside the waterfall and famstay; a system of stalls selling and renting agricultural services + trade...".
As journalists, we have been to many highland areas with community tourism and eco-tourism activities. For example, in Hanh Dich (Que Phong), where there is an ancient Thai Muong Dan village associated with Bay Tang waterfall and Pu Hoat Nature Reserve, the people organize tourism services very systematically and effectively. Outside Bay Tang waterfall, there are many camps built according to sample designs, using environmentally friendly bamboo, bamboo, and thatch materials; on both sides and inside the waterfall, there are walking paths for sightseeing created with a system of iron ladders with railings to avoid impacting the forest ecosystem... Expressing the hopes of Thanh Son cadres and people, telling about what they saw at Bay Tang waterfall to the leaders of Thanh Chuong Protective Forest Management Board. They said that the unit also has a function in the field of tourism, so they are ready to help Thanh Son if the district joins in...
We also contacted Thanh Chuong district to access the Thanh Chuong district Tourism Development Project for the period 2021 - 2025 and the following years. Here, Thanh Chuong district identified the resettlement areas of Thanh Son and Ngoc Lam communes that still preserve many unique cultural features of ethnic minorities. Therefore, in the project, the People's Committees of Thanh Son and Ngoc Lam communes were directed to build community cultural spaces and community tourism at Liep and Mua waterfalls. As for Thanh Son, relevant units were assigned to review and plan the route "Ethnic minority cultural experience tourism in Liep waterfall area in Thanh Son commune" to invest in tourism infrastructure... And this year, Thanh Chuong district has invested in a new concrete road leading to Liep waterfall.
We forwarded this information to the leaders of Thanh Son commune and Ms. Lo Thi Theu and Ms. Lo Thi Thin. They were very happy and said that they would organize a trip to Hanh Dich to “learn from other communes”. Ms. Lo Thi Theu also confided: “By maintaining tourism services, we will have the opportunity to generate income, contribute to the consumption of local products, spread the tourism image of Thanh Chuong district, and help resettled people have more livelihoods, to make the border area safer and more stable…”./.
