Well accustomed to working with communities in Thailand, Barry spent a good while with the fine folks of the village at the coffee shop, explaining to the assembled bemused what the kitchen sieve and the ziplock bags were for.We then headed into the mud to do an initial quick-and-sticky audit of what’s in the pond. This baseline data will help us to see if there are changes biodiversity over time and compare inside with just outside the pond. The process is tricky as there are no indicator beasties that allow us to see biodiversity changes on a sliding scale, as there are fresh water fish species in the UK, which indicate well the level of pollution in the water. And we wanted to keep it simple so other communities attempting the same thing could follow this example.
So with my breaking shovel (“Welded, na!! Really strong, jing jing!!” Phaa!) creaking like 1970’s garden furniture, we dug up various holes, crab casts, channel bottoms and sieved, photographed and noted. Sadly the pond snakes failed to make a gala appearance. But there was plenty to keep us occupied.Mid way through our study the pond’s major source of disturbance appeared and starting collecting snapper shrimp for us.
Thus we headed home with some bizarre polychaetes in a bag, for further study. After a feed at the night market and a modest beer we photographed what turned out to be a pair of spoon worms, performing stomach yoga. 
Finally, the ever-benevolent Bareee (as pronounced in Thai) released our exercise troupe into a nearby stream.
Thank you, Barry for your expertise and good humour. See you again soon.
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