Tribasia Blog

(picture by Jurvetson)
We went walking along the long ugly paved road full of fast cars leading out of Chiang Rai, northern Thailand. The advantage of walking on a road full of traffic is that you can always count on finding a fresh bottle of water every couple of kilometres if you need to. That's about the only advantage.

The fact that our walk was not as scenic as the past ones was a warning sign of what we were going to witness later that day. A dozen kilometres away from Chiang Rai, we noted a signboard with 'Long Necks' and 'Akha Villages' plastered on it, which seemed weird as ethnic villages are not usually advertised on the road side.

We walked to 'the villages' in question. A poster by a wooden gate was boasting the place's trumps: '5 groups in one village'. We were by then very suspicious of the real nature of this so-called village: although minorities mix in modern urban Thailand, small villages remain pretty much ethnically segregated.

When we checked out more closely the hill tribes in question (Long-Neck Karen, Padong, Lahu, Akha and Yao-Mien) and witnessed a few tour groups pouring in with their guides and the entry fees (which we did NOT pay), we had no doubt about the real nature of this place: a refugee theme park!

We discussed this matter with a T.A.T. representative (Tourism Authority of Thailand), he mentionned that some refugees were initially relocated from the Mae Song area (border area with Myanmar, also close to China) but the Thai government later withdrew its support towards the project (most likely following complaints from Human Rights groups and sickened travellers). He added that the T.A.T. was now powerless in closing down the place as the lobbying of the tourism industry (read tour operators and travel agencies) was too strong. Basically, too much money is made on the back of these people for the authorities to backtrack...

Therefore, it's time for us to appeal to all of you out there who think of ever going to a refugee theme park (there are a couple more in the area), dont'! If you really want to go to one, triple check where your money is going as most likely you will contribute towards the rich becoming richer and the refugees becoming more trapped in their golden 'village' cage.

Tomorrow, we are off our feet and back on the bike to visit some real villages.

Labels: Chiang Rai, refugees, Thailand, theme park, Tourism Authority of Thailand