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The Boloven Plateau in southern Laos forms part of the highlands of South-East Asia and is traditionally divided into two parts: on the western side, small coffee plantations inhabited by multi-ethnic groups, and on the eastern side, the Nya Heun, a marginalised, isolated forest people. From the mid 1990's onwards, economic liberalization on the Boloven Plateau triggered a natural resources rush, boosting coffee cultivation, hydroelectric plants and deforestation. The resettlement of indigenous people and Boloven's increasing integration into the peninsula's economic networks are the major changes analysed in this paper.