Cash and chemicals - for Laos, Chinese banana boom a blessing and curse

Workers select bananas in a packing line at a banana plantation operated by a Chinese company in the province of Bokeo, Laos April 25, 2017. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

BOKEO, Laos (Reuters) - Kongkaew Vonusak smiles when he recalls the arrival of Chinese investors in his tranquil village in northern Laos in 2014. With them came easy money, he said.

The Chinese offered villagers up to $720 per hectare to rent their land, much of it fallow for years, said Kongkaew, 59, the village chief. They wanted to grow bananas on it.