Paradise only half lost

This is a small lagoon on the island of Koh Smach. I was whiling away some time pootling along the beach while my colleagues dealt with some work stuff with the village chief (7 families live here). We're working with the people on this island to inject some environmental responsibility into the activities of an agricultural company that has turned half the island into a coconut plantation.

Not as dire as it may sound as it gives the people, who used to depend on logging trees to make charcoal and fishing, a source of income for tending the plantation. Everyone seems to be happy with the arrangement.

The biggest challenge here is deterring the Vietnamese fishermen who come into Cambodian waters to take fish. The young fish in these lagoons and the crabs that scuttle all over the beach aren't too keen on this illegal fishing.