A priority for me is to get another book to carry me through the next week or two. (A book lasting me "a week or two" means I'm rationing it out to myself, ie. 20 pages a day, and if I feel I need to read more, I have to re-read what I've already read. Otherwise, I could easily disappear into book after book.) Pierre still seems to be content with the guide book as his only reading material.
Again, in Chiang Rai (sounds like "Chang Rye") we decide not to do any wats, and to instead check out the Hilltribe Museum. Mountain trekking is big business in many parts of Thailad, and one of the things almost all ads tout is Hilltribe Trekking - part of your walk includes "dropping in" on one or several hilltribes.
We aren't comfortable with the idea of this, especially since it isn't entirely clear whether or not these visits are really welcomed or of any real benefit to the tribes that get visited. The museum is our way around this dilemma.
Very good exhibit,and very educational - it covers the 6 main hilltribes of Thailand and includes a lot of pros and cons of hilltribe tourism. As suspected, hilltribes often get little from trek visits (ie/no share in the profits) and so their only choice is to hound tourists to buy their crafts.
One of the most disturbing factoids is about the "Long Neck Karen" (kuh-REN) women that appear in so many postcards here (they have the metal rings on their necks and arms):
"...a businessman has imported them for the sole purpose of tourism. The Long Neck Karen women who are living in these virtual human zoo's are seldom if [ever] allowed to leave the premises. The Hilltribe Museum objects to this exploitative kind of tourism." (<- quote from one of the museum posters)
There's one organization that has commuity-based tourism - the Ban Lorcha Project via an office called Population and Community Development Association (PDA). The PDA has done a number of projects in Thailand over the past few decades, one of which is their line of restaurants with the dubious name of "Cabbages and Condoms"; it's attention grabbing, as is their logo: "Our food is guaranteed not to cause pregnancy". Originally, they focused a lot on family planning and HIV/AIDS prevention, but now they are working to increase food security for people and "to make cabbage as easy to get as condoms."
The decor at the restaurant includes a 5'5" Santa Claus whose outfit, beard and hair consists of hundreds of unrolled red and white condoms (sorry, no pic).
After dinner, we stumble across a Saturday Walking Street night market, complete with breakdancers:
...and lovely lamps:
Before checking out, we get a picture of the view from our balcony, because during our stay it made us laugh (in a good way) every time we saw it:
photo credits: P, D, P, D
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