Quick trip to Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai
Trip Start
Jan 08, 2004
1
19
167
Trip End
Ongoing
Chiang Rai,
Thailand
Thursday, October 14, 2004
A Lahu boy in Baan LaFu
. The very stuff that made it such a fascinating place with so much to offer the world. Anyway back to the main story. Chiang Mai is a very old city and the old capital of what was a separate kingdom. The Lanna kingdom. A moat and a thick stone wall surround the oldest part of Chiang Mai town. I did some work in Chiang Mai and stayed there 1 night. As usual I visited the night bazaar, which is full of all sorts of colourful and interesting stuff, often at a very low price. The next day I got a bus to Chiang Rai.
The bus to Chiang Rai was packed with an assortment of Thais, hill tribe people and a few monks. No other Westerners. The bus from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai takes about 3 and half hours. Chiang Rai is another beautiful and old city. At first it seems like a smaller version of Chiang Mai although in reality it is quite different. It is a reasonably quiet place and has a nice feel to it. People are not rushing around and there is no pollution. But it has all the modern stores and conveniences mixed in with the temples and street stalls.
I was met by Guitar's sister. We had lunch a drove about 15 km out of Chiang Rai to the HQ of Mirror Art Group (http://www.mirrorartgroup.org/)
A. Tuk Tuk in Bangkok
. MAG is a Thai NGO that helps the hill tribe people in this area. Although just 15 km from Chiang Rai, MAG is based amongst the hills, streams and small villages of a variety of different ethnic groups. These groups are not "Thai" in that they have arrived in Thailand over the past few hundred years from the North and West. In the past the Thai people have not been concerned by these arrivals and these nomadic people were allowed to live in the hills and mountains of Thailand without much interference to their culture and way of life. In fact, without much contact with many other outside people. Over the last 50 years things have changed. Missionaries have come in, tourists have arrived, the Thai people have spread out, the hill tribe populations have increased, logging has had it's effects and now National Parks have been declared. The result is that the hill tribe people are now in contact with the rest of the world and are living in-between the two very different ways of life. They are generally very poor - monetarily speaking and also in terms of the farm land they have. They now have limited land available to them and their old way of life has become much harder. Hunting now is now much more difficult as there just aren't that many animals left in the small pockets of forests that remain. Some, but not all of the hill tribe people have been given Thai citizenship, but the ones that are still waiting, face hardships in getting medical care and education etc
Akha ladies in Chiang Mai night bazaar
. Anyway, the upshot of all that is, that there is a lot of work for an NGO to do in the North of Thailand to help the hill tribe people.
I had a meeting with the MAG staff (mainly Khun Moo (look at the website)) and then I went off to visit two Lahu villages with a Lahu guide called Surachai. We visited his village (Baan Jalae) on a motorcycle and then walked up the steep hill to Baan La Fu. Soon after getting to La Fu I was introduced to Khun La Fu himself. The 90-year-old headman that, 70 years ago had brought his people to this village site. He seemed about 50 or 60. Very fit and active. Hmmm, this hill village life has some benefits. I had a night in the village and the next day we traveled back to MAG via a school and a Akha village.
Oh - on the way back to MAG I spoke to Surachai's father-in-law. "The other Lahu live in China and Burma, far away. They are not the same as the Thai Lahu. They are not happy. They eat a little bit and little farming and rice. The Thai Lahu are happy."
I asked him where his mother and father came from
B. Hualompong Train station
. "China - far away"Although the Thai hill tribes are poor and things could still improve, they are better off than they could otherwise be.
Anyway, finished with MAG, back to Chiang Mai for a couple of days. Saw Phra Boun Thavee and had a look around Wat U-Mong (maybe I will be a monk here?). Met up with Stu, one of the volunteers that have been working here for the last 3 months. I traveled with him back to Bangkok in a sitting, not sleeper train and that was the end of my 1 week North Thailand adventure.
Paul
Oh, this week since the recon to North Thailand I have mainly been doing admin, but also I caught up with my friend Mark Dominick and his Thai girlfriend Nat. They were passing through Bangkok and Nat is about to go to live and study in Australia for 6 months. We had a fun and interesting night at a local Bangkok club. And also Mark reminded me that he should have been mentioned in the Travel Pod entitled Australia Part 3. I apologise for this and hope this makes up for it.
