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CASE STUDY
BCTFN Visit
to the Princess Mother Foundation Projects in the Mae Chaem
District
Thursday 16th
January 2003
10am left the Border Patrol Police Centre in Chiang Mai by
helicopter. Present were; Liam, Carolyn, Fiona, Stig (a Dane
involved in the tourist industry), Khun Boontan (of The
Princess Mother’s Foundation), 2 students from Mae Chaem, 2
pilots and an engineer. From Chiang Mai we flew north and
west over wooded hilly country side. Visibility was not
great due to the early morning mist, which did not lift
until about 10.30. Looking down as we flew over villages we
could see ribbons of farmed land that would hug the edge of
a river or steeply terraced paddies that worked their way up
the steep slopes.
During the course of the day we visited 4 Hilltribe
villages; Baan Bokalong, Baan Kun Mae Hoo, Tuang Pra Porn
and Huay Way Luang
Baan Bokalong is 6km from the nearest road. There are 143
people in the village with 50 children at the school. 6
families are Christian and 20 are Buddhist. The teacher was
a very impressive lady, Khun Kingkarn, who has been at this
village for 9 years. If she goes to Chiang Mai she has to
walk and it takes a day to get there. Only the village
headman has any transport, a bicycle.
When we arrived there was a meeting with the village heads
to discuss what is happening in the village, the crops they
are growing and any problems they are encountering. The
village has a rice bank, which has been going successfully
for three years. The village has water, which is piped, from
the hills. The current rate for rice is Baht 50 for a
20-litre drum of unmilled rice. The teacher introduced the
various village heads, who were responsible for such things
as; development, herbal medicine (he looked like a witch
doctor), basket work, protection, politics, Christian
representative and Youths. Khun Boontan complimented the
villagers on the appearance of the village, which was very
clean and tidy. The issue of this village being on a route
for eco tourists was raised. Khun Boontan is very aware that
this has to be approached very carefully, as it would be a
disaster to flood the village with a trail of the wrong type
of tourists. He advised the villagers to apply for a medical
bank but also advised that they would have to contribute
towards it and it would not be free – they were crestfallen
at this news.
Baan Kun Mae Hoo This village seemed well organised and
relatively well off. There was a path from the helicopter
landing site to the village. At the presentation with the
youth group, led by the animal husbandry teacher, farming
issues were discussed. Mushrooms are grown here. Chickens
cost Baht 44 per kilo to produce, without including labour
and yet they make only Baht 60 per kilo when sold. They have
some cat fish ponds of earth not concrete. There had been
some problems with the fish not eating during the cold
weather and they had found that they ate better
when fed at night during this time of year. Pig farming had
been abandoned as they were losing money doing that.
Tuang Pra Porn This village was rather depressing.
Apparently there was a big drug problem here a few years ago
and it seems the repercussions continue. The reception from
the villagers was not so welcoming as elsewhere and they
were very negative in their reports and reactions to any
suggestions from Khun Boontan. The helicopter had landed in
a field of rotting cabbages. These villagers referred to
themselves as “slaves” as they grew the cabbages for the Mon
people. Khun Boontan later resolved to visit this village
more frequently as they definitely need lots of support and
encouragement.
Huay Way Lueng A very precarious hilltop landing here and
then a steep descent and walk along a narrow path to the
village squeezing past lots of excited villagers heading in
the other direction running up the hill to see the
helicopter. No one left to make a report at the village
except the teacher, another impressive young man. This man
had been through the Princess Mother’s project in Mae Chaem
and was now back teaching in his village, fulfilling the
goal of the project.
We met a young villager, aged 19 with a three year old and
one year old twins being carried one in front and one
behind.
In the evening back in Mae Chaem we visited the Princess
Mother’s Community School Project. A small school of 32
students from the Hilltribes aged from 12 to 18. The
students were selected from those who had graduated from
Year 6 in the Hilltribe Schools. They were being taught
farming techniques and animal husbandry with the intention
that they should return to their villages with these skills.
They grow mushrooms, salad and leafy vegetables and rice. We
were shown how the rice is
milled and sifted. They are farming frogs for which they can
get Bht 50 a kilo. In the lower fields there were some pigs,
chicken and cattle. That evening we saw the students’ full
dress rehearsal of a show that they were going to do in
Chiang Mai on the 25th for Princess Galiani. They sang some
wonderful songs, mostly composed by themselves, and were
accompanied by two very talented guitarists. The showstopper
was the bamboo dance at which they were so skillful and yet
so elegant. It was delightful to see these young people, who
are such a close knit group and obviously great bonds of
friendship have been built up between them. Whatever else
the school achieves, these children will now have a
wonderful network of support.
Friday 17th January
One village was inaccessible by helicopter so we set off by
car to
Baan Mae Ning Nay It took almost 4 hours to reach the
village having been up and down some of the most alarmingly
steep hills. The road ran out after about 40 minutes and
thereafter we were on a path. It was a real lesson in
understanding how remote these villages are. The weather was
glorious and the scenery stunning. One pit stop was at a
Forestry Commission Watershed station on a hill top with a
view for miles. There were bougainvillea, roses and
hydrangeas and several of us would have been happy to stay
there.
We arrived at the village. It has a population of 170 with
22 houses, thus an average of 8 per house. One house was
being constructed at the time. The entire village is
Christian. It was a very steep walk up the hill to the new
school building, which had been funded by the Princess
Mother’s Foundation. It was hard to imagine how the children
would manage to clamber up that hill in the rainy season.
The children were all very young and were patiently waiting
for their lunch, which was being cooked in a huge saucepan
over an open wooden fire on a raised platform in one corner
of the classroom. The older children, aged 6-12, go to
another village to school. They leave on Monday mornings for
the 16km walk to the other village and return on Fridays. We
tasted a berry that they use instead of lemon grass and then
tasted the bark of that plant, it was like eating a
peppercorn. |
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