Golden Triangle

Historically known for its rampant growing of opium, these days the Golden Triangle is primarily a massive tourist attraction. Located at the intersection of the Mekong and Ruak Rivers, the Golden Triangle itself provides little other than the view of Myanmar (left in above photo) and Laos (right), endless options to pay for kitschy souvenirs or river boat rides, and an odd assortment of statues that range from a giant Buddha on a ship and elaborate shrines to massive elephant statues and dozens of signs and maps indicating that you are, in fact, at the Golden Triangle.

However odd the glittery bauble of Golden Triangle Park may be, its original intent was to educate. As part of the late Princess Mother’s efforts to empower the impoverished hill tribe regions and to end the hold of opium in Thailand, the Golden Triangle Park was encouraged to blossom into a huge tourist attraction. The hope was to turn curious tourists into drug opponents.

In this same vein, the Royal Doi Tung Foundation established the Hall of Opium. Costing $10 million and taking 10 years of research and planning, the museum first opened its doors in 2005. From ancient uses, through the East India Company, to the Opium Wars, and straight on up through present day, the multimedia experience outlines opium use and production throughout 4,000 years of history, as well as documenting the tragedy of drug addiction, its societal implications, and modern attempts to battle illegal drugs.

Though a bit campy at times, the museum attempts to look honestly at the history of opium production, including the drug’s history in Thailand. Impressively enough, this includes a timeline of things within Thai history like the establishment of opium taxation, legal/licensed opium production, and a breakdown of how much government revenue came from opium (quite a bit), even during times of concerted worldwide efforts to end the opium trade.

Though still burdened by its past as part of the infamous Golden Triangle, Thailand has demonstrated enormous progress in ridding itself of the influence of opium. Thailand’s crop replacement programs, spearheaded by the Doi Tung Foundation and the Royal Project, have been particularly successful. Fields that once grew poppies, now yield tea, coffee, and macadamia nuts. Farmers who may have once been drawn to the income of opium have been taught to cultivate cash crops like decorative flowers, lettuce, apples, peaches, and herbs.

Obviously, Thailand’s production isn’t at complete zero and many opium farmers may have simply moved farther afield, pushed into Myanmar and Laos, historically much more active members of the Golden Triangle opium trade. The Golden Triangle countries may have given way in global opium production to Afghanistan, Mexico, and Colombia, but production within SE Asia is still a major concern. So, while the education about the opium trade may be less relevant within the borders of Thailand (though by no means irrelevant), the gaudy, tacky, tourist trap that is Golden Triangle Park holds merit in its attempts to educate.

*To give credit where credit is due, all photos from inside museum are borrowed, as they do not allow photography inside the Hall of Opium. 

And Burma Makes Ten

For our first “visa run” (when we pop into and out of another country to renew our entry stamp) we spent a week in Laos for Christmas. The second time around, we were off cavorting around Southeast Asia for two months. This time, given our proximity to Burma, and the fact that we are practically out of countries to see, that was the clear choice.

Crossing the border at Mae Sai, the northernmost point of Thailand, is relatively simple. We hopped a bus from Chiang Rai, took a tuk-tuk to the border, and walked through customs checkpoints. On the Burmese side, things are a bit strict. They take your picture and give you a temporary pass. Your passport is left at the border. At this border crossing, tourists are given permission to stay in Burma for up to 14 days, but only to enter a specific string of villages, and you’re required to check in at checkpoints along the way.

As soon as we stepped foot on Burmese soil, with its relative lack of tourism, we were immediately inundated with offers from tuk-tuk drivers to drive us around the town at moderately steep prices. Some of them literally came running at us. Our plan, however, was simply to have lunch and head back, new entry stamp in hand.

The border town on the Burmese side, Takhilek, is practically Thai. They use Thai baht as currency since it is more stable. So many Thais come through there for shopping or immigration that many of the town’s residents speak at least functional Thai. However, in Thailand rarely do you see pickup trucks full of uniformed men carrying machine guns.

Over lunch, we were even more of a spectacle than we have come accustomed to. Especially me; I was the only female in the restaurant who wasn’t serving food (and without my face painted in a tribal fashion, white squares and circles blooming across cheeks and foreheads). 

As we were finishing up our Myanmar beer, one of the many staring men walked past our table, did a double take and sat down, striking up a conversation. He was a non-government tour guide (which may or may not be illegal there). He was also adamant in using only the new name “Myanmar” for both the people and the country, no “Burma” for him. And he was exclusively pro-Myanmar; shushing Win whenever he asked a slightly critical question of the government or the country. His fear of being overheard daggled in the air.

Clearly, we hired this illegal tour guide. We stopped by several temples, many of which were similar to what we see on a regular basis in Thailand; the only exceptions being a Chan temple (more ornately carved and decorated), a meter-tall Buddha made from weaved bamboo, and a Chinese temple. Also, our tour guide got so drunk off the one beer we bought him that he forgot his shoes at a temple.

Interestingly enough, the Burmese people are some of the nicest we have come across, generally speaking. They also speak some of the best English we've heard outside of the English-speaking countries like Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. They are gearing up for a full tourism explosion in the near future. 

Now, it might not have been a full-scale, in-depth exploration of Burma/Myanmar. But it was what we could do with a small time frame and while avoiding giving excessive amounts of money to the government there, of which no one is in favor.

More impressive, Burma marks a milestone in my career as a traveler: country number ten. Double digits. Now, I know that ten isn’t the biggest of numbers, but for a girl who has yet to go to Canada, Mexico, or Europe, I’d say it’s not too shabby. And, it's not everyone who has a Burma/Myanmar stamp in their passport.