Four days, three countries
Hey there! I have finally sat down to catch my breath after an incredible four days traveling through Chiang Rai, the northern most city of Thailand. Every day was full of activity, from sightseeing to museums, to visiting NGOs to exploring the landscape of the Golden Triangle (Thailand, Laos and Burma). Since the extent of information I gathered on this trip could probably fill an entire novel, I'm just going to highlight some of my favorite parts and offer some links where you can access further information on any topics that sound particularly interesting. Also don't forget, google is your friend! Anything I talk about here will produce a bagillion results on the internet -- yes, thank you technology.
Our first stop on the trip (Wednesday) was at Wat Rong Khun, known to tourists as the White Temple. It's definitely the most visually stunning temple I've seen in Thailand thus far, and frankly, probably one of the most beautiful structures I've ever seen in my life. The artist who designed it, Chalermchai Kositpipat, is known for his psychedelic Buddhist style, so there was a lot of abstract and cartoon-esque imagery depicted through the architecture and within the painted interior walls. For example, you can find Star Wars characters, minions and devilish figures situated within an outer-space type world as you look around the inner walls. Above the entrance there is a monstrous creature painted with big eyes; if you look closely, George Bush is painted in one and Osama bin Laden in the other - hence my reference to dark humor. We also walked through a gallery of Chalermchai's work and it was so beautiful and intricate, I could have gone through five times. I bought some postcards with a few of my favorite paintings - if you're lucky you may just get one!
Next we visited an NGO called The Sold Project that works to prevent child trafficking. Rather than focusing on the rescue of exploited children, The Sold Project helps kids who are at risk of being trafficked due to their socioeconomic status by offering a space where they can take classes, learn crafts and receive scholarships to pursue their education. We spoke with the director and the organizations international coordinator as there weren't actually any students on site that day. It definitely seemed like a genuine, inspiring place, but it was an interesting experience for those of us taking the Human Trafficking and Sex Work class at CMU because we were definitely more critical of certain aspects of the presentation - primarily, the use of unreliable statistics and the way all children were painted as voiceless and choiceless victims. I won't delve into the controversy around this issue, but if you're interested in better understanding the Sex Work as Empowerment Movement, check out Laura AugustÃn or watch this 18 minute Ted Talk given by a former sex worker: Toni Mac: The laws that sex workers really want. - its really informative and easy to follow!
The highlight of the second day for me was visiting a Chinese tea planation in the mountainous area of Mae Salong, where poppy plants used to grow to supply the illegal opium trade. A little
background of this area: the reason it is so Chinese is due to the 1949 civil war in China between the Nationalists (Kuamingtong, or KMT) and the Communist party (CPC). Between 1928-1949, the KMT was the ruling party in China until the CPC barged in and forced many KMT soldiers to flee into Taiwan. However, some of the nationalists refused to surrender and fought their way through Yunnan, in the south-western province of China, while living in the jungle of Myanmar (Burma). The army grew, and many fled to Taiwan under international pressure. Those remaining soldiers, led by General Tuan Ti-wen, were eventually forced to seek asylum in the Mae Salong area where they helped Thailand fight against the Chinese communist insurgency until 1982. In exchange for their allegiance, the Thai government granted citizenship to most of these KMT soldiers and their families. The economic demands of this war were fueled by opium production, as the climate was perfect for growing poppy plants, whose sap could be packaged tightly, and disguised fairly easily once opium became illegal. It's addictive properties maintained a high demand for the product and made it a lucrative and favorable trade crop for villagers who had little other economic options.
In the past few decades the cultivation of tea has replaced that of opium for this small town, however many villages especially in Myanmar are still growing poppy to support their families. According to a documentary we watched, some villages have now begun growing coffee as a substitute for poppy, but demand for opium coming from areas of the United States and Asia, specifically China, is so aggressive right now that it is understandable why many villagers wouldn't want to stop growing, especially those living in extreme poverty.
Anyway, as you can see I enjoyed the history behind day two and the beauty of the tea plantation (we got to partake in a tasting too - delicious!) We also visited the Chinese Martyrs Museum and the tomb of General Tuan. One of Gen. Tuan's descendants who also fought in the war against the Chinese communists is currently the keeper of Tuan's tomb, meaning he stands in front of it every day making offerings and sharing information with tourists about the legend of his ancestors leadership during the war. He is not paid for this job, but instead supports his family through donations by visitors; very valiant I must say.
That night we stayed in a beautiful guest house in the town of Mae Salong where we took a sunset hike up to the local temple - a total of 3,000 stairs - and looked out over the ridge where miraculously, an entire civilization has been built. Even though the van ride both up and down the mountain was less than ideal, the scenery and the history were totally worth it.
Our first stop on day three was at the old military hideout of Khun Sa, who is the second most well-known drug lord in the world after Pablo Escobar. He was a major contributor to the civil wars in Myanmar because he led an army in protection of the Shan State (a huge region of Myanmar) and used opium smuggling as a way to afford this fighting. Even though he was known to many as a self-interested man only involved in the Opium trade for his own personal profit, he was incredibly respected by the Shan people who viewed him as their leader and as an icon of hope for independence and democracy from the Socialist state. He has since past away, but his legend lives on in Mae Salong.
That afternoon we went to the Opium Hall, which is a beautiful museum that illustrates the origins, history and current uses of opium. All I can say is a lot of money has definitely been put into this place because the artwork, exhibits and video clips were all spectacular. We even got to see what an opium den looked like, and the varying types of pipes and materials used for smoking. The only weak aspect of the museum in my opinion was the prevention section because it focused too heavily on curbing supply rather than demand, and put the act of willpower on a pedestal over other forms of rehabilitation for drug users. Then again, this "willpower" prevention approach is more in line with Buddhist philosophy than Western medical-scientific thought, making it a relevant and appropriate component of a museum located in Southeast Asia. Furthermore, the theme of each exhibit was grounded much more in the history of opium production and consumption than in the manifestations of addiction today, so I can understand why the final "prevention floor" felt slightly less captivating - after all, museums can't show everything! These critiques aside however, I was very impressed with the museum and probably could've spent an entire day in there.
Prior to the museum we traveled to an elevated area where the Golden Triangle can be seen (as I've said - Laos, Myanmar and Thailand). The three are connected by the Mekong River, which is a skinny but incredibly long body of water that flows from Vietnam all the way to China's Yunnan province. We later hopped on a boat and got to cruise along the Mekong for a bit, which offered a refreshing breeze and reminded me of home in a very "same same but different" kind of way.
Technically, we crossed into Myanmar on the boat, which we knew because the clocks on our phones changed (Myanmar is 30 minutes behind Thailand), and then we stopped at an island in Laos for some shopping. The best part of this hour -- trying Scorpion and Cobra infused whiskey and buying some unique gifts for those back home. The worst part -- being approached by child beggars who linger around the dock waiting for tourists.
The oldest children couldn't have been more then ten, and one kid who looked to be five but was probably closer to eight, held an infant in his arms supported by a satchel tied around his neck. Riddled by heat, exhaustion and hunger, this boy kept stumbling around and readjusting the baby's makeshift bundle, as if at any moment he would drop it. I made the mistake of offering money to one of the boys who approached us, granted it wasn't very much, but you're probably wondering - why was this a mistake? The truth is as I later learned, most of these children have been recruited by the mafia, who have groups throughout Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. Each day the boys must reach a certain quota in how much money they can wean off tourists, or they will likely be beaten upon return "home". According to my professor, there is usually someone from the mafia watching over the boys discretely, making sure none of them try to escape or pull anything out of line. So really, when you're giving these children money its not actually going to them or even their biological families, it's just supporting a ruthless and powerful group of immoral people. Just writing this it has dawned on me that all the child beggars we saw were boys. Of course this doesn't mean there aren't girls involved doing the same work, but I'm unsure as to their role or whether females even play a part in the mafia at all here in Southeast Asia. More to come on this topic if/once I'm able to get more information.
So this whole child beggar situation really pulled on my heartstrings (no doubt, a purposeful tactic on the part of the mafia), leaving me in a bit of a funk that evening as I questioned how much more of this I would see over my next few months here. However, my experience the next morning - our final morning in Chiang Rai - was the most memorable of the whole trip, and had my mind spinning through a whole new conception of reality.
At 5:30am on Saturday, four of us got up to cross the Thai/Myanmar border which was just a ten minute walk to our hotel. The town we crossed into is called Tachileik, located in Shan State, which is a huge province in the Southwest of Myanmar. It is quite small and known for its tourist-oriented attractions, i.e. the Shwedagon Pagota, street market and local tourist village, which is literally a community that has been turned into a tourist attraction to fuel the economy (you have to pay to visit). So naturally, we visited these first two locations, as well as a temple populated by female monks (bihkkunis) making offerings. For those who don't know much about Buddhism, it is much less common for females to become ordained, however in this specific village the monks we witnessed were known as "temple sleepers" or older women who spend one night each week sleeping at the temple, as many of them no longer have families and wish to embrace their impending death in a spiritual manner. Interestingly, it was young novice monks who were preparing everything for these women, or perhaps just looking after the temple - I've learned that temple chores are a very important component of a novice monks education.
Anyway, the highlight of this trip was a Burmese man we met upon arrival who works as a tour guide and taxi driver in Tachileik and offered to show us around for a cheap price. After our tour, which was conducted by tuk-tuk (a wagon type seating arrangement strapped to the back of a motorbike - not the safest transportation especially in a hilly town), we went to a cafe to try a Myanmar beer per the insistence of our professors. Our new friend, Mike, who had disembarked back to his job site next to the border entrance, noticed us entering the cafe and decided to join. We all expected him just to show us to our seats and make a food and beverage recommendation, but he proceeded to sit down and chat with us for the next hour and a half. Wow - all I can is I've never learned so much in such a short period of time. It's amazing how much information you can obtain just from talking to locals, especially those who are eager to share stories. Mike had grown up in a very poor region of Southern Shan State during the heart of the civil war (if you don't know much about the ongoing civil war in Burma now is the time to look it up!) He had ten brothers and sisters and his village was one that grew poppy plants to survive economically. Due to the dangers of his home, Mike and the majority of his siblings were sent off to different Christian missionary schools at a young age. His father had already passed away at this point, but while he was gone his mother also died, which he did not find out until three years later. He spent time in various countries before returning to Myanmar and starting his own family. He has not seen or been in touch with any of his siblings since their separation. He now works full time as a taxi driver for tourists, which he considers the best job he's ever had because for the first time, he is in charge of his own money. Staying on the theme of opium, we also talked a great deal about drugs in Tachileik, to which Mike was very open about his previous drug use. Specifically of interest to me because of its unfamiliarity in the US, was a drug called Yaba, which is essentially methamphetamine and cocaine mixed together. Many truck drivers as well as lay people use yaba to stay awake when they must work for nights on end, or as a way to make elephants work harder as the drug - according to Mike - has the effect of making you feel invincible. Yes, you read that right. Yaba is fed to elephants, in addition to opium which is used to mellow them out. I don't know how common these practices are now, but they definitely still exist. We also got to see another drug firsthand called beetle nut, which is basically the equivalent of chewing tobacco. All of the truck drivers chew it throughout the day and its very addicting and rots your teeth and gums. Indeed, Mike's teeth were turning black in areas.
I could go on and on about this day but I don't want to overwhelm you with information! Moral of the story is i had an incredible time, and learned way more in four days than my little head could handle. So if you've made it this far along the post thanks for reading, and if you're curious about anything I've mentioned please don't hesitate to contact me! As you can see I'm eager to share.
I'm now winding up my last two weeks in Chiang Mai - I can't believe its almost half way over. Life is very busy but every day is a new adventure, both happy, sad and eye-opening, and I'm continuing to love it all!
And for rhyming's sake -- I hope you all are having a great beginning of fall!
Warmly,
Amy <3
