hill tribes – Jconcetta's Journeys

Chiang Rai

Chiang Rai is the northernmost major city in Thailand, the capital of Chiang Rai Province, a “golden triangle” area between Laos and Myanmar (formerly Burma). Once a hub of opium production, it is now a transit point for Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. The city, founded in the late 13th C., was part of the Lanna Kingdom for centuries. It was conquered by and remained under Burmese rule for 200 years before becoming a vassal state of Siam, then finally incorporated into Thailand in 1933.

Several mountain ranges cross northern and western Thailand and extend across the borders with Laos and Myanmar; they are essentially the foothills of the Himalayas. In the higher elevations live a number of ethnic minority groups referred to as the “hill tribes.” They have traditionally been subsistence farmers of the “slash and burn” school, leaving when the land is depleted. These isolated communities are culturally and linguistically diverse. Following the pattern of hill people across the globe, these are poorer, disadvantaged groups compared with the dominate Thai who occupy the fertile valleys and they are often treated as outsiders, lacking rights in housing and legal status.

As part of World Spree’s “local connections program” we briefly visited a tiny hill tribe village outside of Chiang Rai spending most of the time at a preschool that was clearly in need of the support we indirectly provided. Cultural tourism has become an increasing source of income for the hill tribes. The village itself offered little in the way of attractions or shopping opportunity- the usual source of tourism revenue – but one enterprising woman donned traditional (Akha, I think) dress to pose for photographs and earn a few baht from the visitors. Click on an image to expand it.

At the other end of the spectrum is Wat Rhon Khun which Wikipidea describes as ” a privately owned art exhibit in the style of a Buddhist temple.” Popularly known as The White Temple it is a fascinating collection of modern Thai Buddhist architecture and art, the life long project of a wealthy Chiang Rai artist, but it is not clear whether it is a monument to Buddha or to the artist.

The Emerald Buddha

Thailand is about 95% Buddhist and there are many statues of the Buddha throughout the country: large and small, ancient and modern, simple and elaborate, private and public. Only one, however, is considered to be the sacred palladium of Thailand, a potent religious symbol that gives legitimacy to the king and protection to the nation. It is a relatively small (19” wide x 24″ high) statue of the meditating Buddha seated in the half lotus position, made of a semi-precious stone, perhaps jasper or jade.

The older a Buddha image is the more power it is believed to have. The Chronicle of the Emerald Buddha is a text that traces the mythology and fabled travels of the image from the beginning of the common era, but its emergence as a historical reality is dated 1434. After lightening destroyed the chedi (stupa) of a temple in Chiang Rai a Buddha statue was found among the ruins. An ordinary looking Buddha covered in stucco, it was placed in the temple along with many other such statues. Some months later the head monk noticed that under the chipped stucco was a brilliant green color and ordered the stucco to be chipped away from the entire statue. It was seen to be made of one solid piece of green crystal without marks or imperfection. The Buddha quickly became an object of devote veneration and was coveted by kings, moved from one capital to another as their fortunes rose and fell, warring with each other and neighboring kingdoms. It was taken to Bangkok by the first king of the current Chakri Dynasty, Rama I, in 1784 who built a temple to house it on the site of the Grand Palace. It still resides there, in Wat Phra Kaew, where it continues to serve as a significant religious-political symbol legitimizing the power of the king, its caretaker.

I did not see the authentic Emerald Buddha but a replica residing in Wat Phra Kaew, Chiang Rai, where the original image was found. (The name of the temple was changed from Wat Pa Yah, meaning bamboo forest temple, when the Buddha was discovered.) The copy, which is very close but not an exact replica of the original, was carved from Canadian jade in China and installed in 1991 in honor of the 90th birthday of the Princess Mother. The name of the new image translates to Chiang Rai Jade Buddha.

More images from Chiang Rai and the White Temple here.

Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai, in northern Thailand, is the country’s second largest city. In the 14th century it was the capital city of a powerful Lanna Kingdom, an Indianized state, which ruled the area from the 13th to the 18th century and left a strong cultural heritage in language, food, art, architecture and music. Most memorable were our visits to a sacred temple situated on a hill overlooking the city and the Elephant Conservation Center in Lampang.

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep

This temple is considered one of the most sacred sites in Thailand where “pilgrim-tourists” come from Thailand, Singapore, China and India at a rate of about 120,000 per month. According to popular legend the temple was built ~1383 to hold a relic of the historic Buddha. A piece of the Buddha’s shoulder bone was placed on the back of a white elephant who was then released into the jungle. The elephant climbed Suthep mountain, trumpeted three times at the top and then dropped dead. This was interpreted as an omen and the first stupa was built. Over time many more holy shrines, pagodas, statues and bells were added and it is now a complex and extravagant site. Phra implies Buddha and That means a relic. Doi is the Northern Thai word for mountain, so the name of the temple tells what is there and where it is located.

Architecture of Wat Phra That Doi Suthep

Elephant Conservation Center

Elephants have been ingrained in Thai culture for centuries: as weapons of war, symbols of wealth, power and moral authority, a key form of transport, and laborers in the teak logging industry. White elephants are considered sacred and may not work, be sold, given away or killed and are thus very expensive to maintain. Occasionally a Thai king would gift a white elephant to an enemy knowing that their expensive care would eventually bring financial ruin. This may be the origin of the idiom “white elephant” to designate something whose expense is out of proportion to its usefulness or value.

Elephants were used in war (left) and in the logging industry (right)

In 1900 there were an estimated 100,000 elephants in Thailand and the country had ~90% forest cover. In 1989, when logging was finally banned (the elephants were used to destroy their own habitat!) the forest cover was 28% and today there are only 3000-4000 elephants in the country half of which are living in captivity.

When logging was banned 70% of the domesticated elephants and their mahouts were out of work. Today tourism is the only viable source of income for them. Elephants require 300-500 pounds of food a day which, along with care and medical treatment, can cost their owners $500- $1000 a month. To make money mahouts offer elephant rides and elephant training classes to tourists. But carrying a human on its back is not natural for an elephant and for this to happen the baby elephant must go through a brutal process known as Phajaan (“crushing the spirit”) in which they are tortured until broken into submission.

There are a growing number of ethical sanctuaries in Thailand and other parts of the world. Unfortunately the one we visited was not among them. Although it was fascinating to watch the elephants bathing with their mahouts and trainees (tourists) and see them perform traditional logging tasks not to mention paint amazing images of flowers and other elephants, I felt sad at the realization that these magnificent creatures were reduced to vaudevillian acts to survive.