BootsnAll Travel Network



Tha Ton Thailand

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Supuat drove me to Tha Tan…right on the Thai-Burma border directly north of Chiang Mai to see several minority groups, Lisu, Lahu, Akha and Longnecks, that live there.

Last year in southern Yunnan China, I visited Lahu, Lisu and Mien mountain people many of whom had migrated into Thailand years ago. The Karen and Shan and Longneck people in and near Tha Ton have been forced out of Burma by the junta who took over the Burmese government in the early 90’s. They do not speak Thai and they have their own languages, but Supoat, my guide, being from the area, speaks the local Chiang Rai dialect that is common to all the people.

About seven years ago Thailand launched a program to pave the roads into the mountains, so instead of trekking dirt trails we are able to drive into the villages. We visit the Lahu first.

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Akha Woman

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The Longnecks are refugees from Burma and do not have Thai citizenship so they are confined to small areas where the women weave items in small thatched shelters to sell to the tourists and the men grow rice on the mountainsides. The Longnecks wear gold-colored metal coils around their necks that actually does not elongate the neck but they look long because over time the shoulders slope down. I buy some lovely woven scarves for $1 each.

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My driver with two smiling Longneck girls.

The last village is Lisu. We park in the schoolyard. Supoat knows the family we visit. The yard, with children, pigs and chicken running free is well-swept.

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I notice a chubby woman sitting in a nearby chair…looking miserable. Questioning her we decide she is passing a gallstone. Her husband is out looking for their pig he can butcher to sell to their neighbors so he can have money to take her to the doctor in Chiang Mai. I commiserate with her…I know how painful gallstones are. She kindly invites me to stay and eat with the family but Supoat carefully refuses…we don’t want to trouble the family at this time and we need to be on our way back to Chiang Mai.

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Slicing Palm for cooking

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Leaving the village we pass under a colorful arch…past small piles of old clothing that used to belong to villagers who have passed on. The clothes are there for spirits who might need them when they come back, I ask. Yes, he says. In the background you can see smoke from “slash & burn” fires that take place this time of year when the locals burn harvested fields.

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