The big attraction in this area are the hill tribes, the Long Neck Karen Tribe, the Palong with the big earrings and the Akka tribe with their interesting head gear often seen for sale 0n tourist Khao San Road in Bangkok As we drove in to the tribal area, there was a big road sign that said, hill tribes… this way( in Thai, of course). My first feeling was that this was a zoo and my last feeling was, what have we done in the name of tourism? If we did not visit these tribes and spend our money to enter as well as buy their goods, would they survive?
Of course, the answer is yes, since they have been surviving for hundreds of years without us. However, would they have their television sets, cell phones and other modern gadgets? I almost felt that I was entering a movie set with all of the ‘players’ playing their roles. As you can see from the pictures, they are in their huts (homes) cooking, weaving, and creating tourist ‘stuff’ and in the common areas, as soon as there is even a whiff of a tourist they beat their drums, do their dance or pound their bamboo sticks. When we tourists leave at 6 pm, I can almost imagine them packing their nightclothes and off they go to the modern village down the street where they live with running water, indoor plumbing and TV as opposed to a bedroll, a picture of the king, and a pot in their village home. However, I know this is not the case.
If we weren’t there, would they be in a modern village home? Would their children be going to school in the village with ordinary dress? Would they be better off? Are we, as tourists, perpetuating these historical practices whichm to the modern world, make no sense? Are we helping them or holding them back? Needless to say, I think we are probably doing a bad thing. On the other hand, who am I to say that wearing a 5 pound ring of chains around your neck and knees is a bad thing?
Of course, I wonder about the same thing when I go to Burma tomorrow. Do I want to support a corrupt regime with my tourist dollars (or more precisely my Singapores’ company’s dollars ) or go anyway and ensure that some my tourist dollars go towards supporting a few Burmese, however modest it may be?
Now, I know, by the way, why this area I visited is called the ‘golden triangle.’ From a vantage point in a restaurant high above the confluence of two rivers, you could see Burma to the north and Laos to the east across the Mekong River. We had just come down from a bustling border town, Mae Sai, in the north where people seemed to be going freely in and out of Burma as you can see from the pictures. I actually like the town quite a bit. It had a jostling feel to it with a very active market. We did not go into Myanmar actually but I later read it had a few casinos. Again, in retrospect, I wonder what we are doing for the Burmese people as the Thais cross the border to gamble. (Remember, gambling is illegal in Thailand) The same thing in Laos. We decided not to take the boat over to Laos because they had a casino and, what else, another market.
We drove through many dusty villages with not much in the way of modern amenities, but up in the hills we could see many fine looking homes, obviously of the war lords or drug dealers who do not seem to be suffering. As an amazing coincidence, Sylvia left a book behind called the Burma Effect which I am reading now. Don’t know where the book came from( I presume Alana) but isn’t it amazing that I just happened to find it and I am within minutes of Burma now and will be going in tomorrow. What a strange world.
I now have to take off my tourist hat, review my pedagogical ‘stuff’ for tomorrow and pull a tie out of the closet as I change roles and become a consultant. Ain't life grand!
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