Our guide Lin has provided a wealth of information and it is unfortunate that I cannot remember it all. I am also writing these blogs out of order and when I have access to internet, so they may not be the easiest to follow. Internet here is okay, but many places limit the time and I am unable to edit.
On our second day, we walked through a tribe where women hold all the power. In this tribe, it is never the man who asks for a woman's hand in marriage, rather the other way around. Danny was warned he must keep his hands in his pockets for if he touches a woman wearing white, he must marry her. Fortunately, this was of little issue since we did not see many people. Most likely it was too early. However, in the mountain tribes nobody marries outside their tribe for fear that they will make their ancestors angry. This tribe has raised houses with stairs leading to the door that are not permanent. When someone passes away, they turn the stairs around in fear that if they do not, they will invite the spirits inside their home. Typically, they will cook under their houses and keep chickens under them as well. When there are heavy rains and flooding, their houses stay dry.
On to the next village. There were few houses, if any, but there was a cemetery where the village leader lived and looked after his people. In the cemetery, people must be buried with their feet facing away- the tribe does not want the spirits walking back to their village. Instead, they point them to other tribes! In this village we picked fruit off of one of the trees and shared it amongst the three of us. SO delicious. I cannot remember the name, but it resembled a bumpy apple. Inside, the fruit was very soft with large black seeds. I will be sure to Google this and hope to eat more in Phuket.
On we walked as Lin described more of the farming methods and pointed out various plants. Pesticides and weed killers are rarely used. Those who do use them are lazy! Weed killer kills all nutrients in the soil and makes it difficult to farm and pesticides ruin the fruit and their natural abilities to adapt and fight off disease. A lot of work is done by hand, but ox and elephants are used as well for the harder work and if the tribe can afford them.
As we walked, we entered our final tribe. The dogs here were not friendly and very protective. We were warned to stay away and not look at them. About twenty years ago, this tribe was moved down from the mountains where they originally planted and watched over opium fields. Opium is very tricky and must be grown at an even twenty degrees celsius year round. Many of the areas we walked through were once opium fields but it is now too hot to grow and farms were forced to move higher. However, in recent years, the monarchy of Thailand has sent soldiers into the hills to stop the opium business in an effort to clean up the trade. They do not want to be involved with the drug (or any drug) and in an attempt to stop this, moved the farms down and gave them incentive to sell other things in which could help the country. The King would provide money for this while making a very small profit for himself (one to two baht in most cases). He would not provide, nor make profit on opium.
As we walked, we entered our final tribe. The dogs here were not friendly and very protective. We were warned to stay away and not look at them. About twenty years ago, this tribe was moved down from the mountains where they originally planted and watched over opium fields. Opium is very tricky and must be grown at an even twenty degrees celsius year round. Many of the areas we walked through were once opium fields but it is now too hot to grow and farms were forced to move higher. However, in recent years, the monarchy of Thailand has sent soldiers into the hills to stop the opium business in an effort to clean up the trade. They do not want to be involved with the drug (or any drug) and in an attempt to stop this, moved the farms down and gave them incentive to sell other things in which could help the country. The King would provide money for this while making a very small profit for himself (one to two baht in most cases). He would not provide, nor make profit on opium.
With that said, this tribe, although they were growing corn and other things, most likely stayed in the business and became middle men helping to move drugs and possibly help make it into heroin and meth. Cocaine as we learned is a drug that is mostly down south and meant for the rich since it is very expensive. This tribe was building a house made of teak wood- very expensive and rare, even by American standards. It was a beautiful home, two stories. Gorgeous, even if it were in the U.S. Other homes were simply made from bamboo. Our guide said there is no way they are making enough money for such a house selling corn...very questionable. Overall, the drug trade still exists in Thailand. Every vehicle is checked coming out of Chang Dao because a neighboring country, Burma, is very involved in the business. If you look Burmese, you are always stopped and searched.
