Meo Hilltribe, Chiang Mai

The next morning, Sompop and driver picked me up for a full day tour. We drove about an hour up to the Meo Hilltribe, one of the many tribes in Thailand. These people look very Mongolian, Sompop told me bc they originated in China/Mongolia area. Historically, hilltribes have caused trouble for Thailand bc they have been agriculturists for opium and had large fields of this crop. Bc hilltribes have been a troublesome with drug trade, they get more attention from the King. Sompop said the tribes are very, very poor and this is a great revenue source for them. Anyway, they have a gov't funded school program for the children. I got to view the childrens' classrooms. There is a teacher shortage so one teacher will handle two or more classrooms at a time. The kindergartners have supervision, but the other grades 1,2,3 seemed to just be given an assignment then left alone to complete their work. For the most part, this seemed to work and the children were well behaved. I was able to take pictures of the boys, but the girls were very shy and would scamper off, then peek around the corner. I could have stayed there all day! I think they were as curious about me as I was about them. Once I would take their picture, all the kids would swarm me in order to see themselves on my digital camera and they would laugh and smile and point at each other. It was wonderful. They were so sweet and just regular children. I loved it.

There were a few women who were selling their handmade goods. I usually buy at least one item from each place. It doesn't feel right to just come visit their village, take pictures and leave.

One man with the instrument had some disease similar to Downs Syndrome, he played his flute all the way down the drive behind Sompop and myself, sort of like we had our own parade....

The women weave wonderful crafts and sit outside their primitive home, of which is pictured. Dirt floors and they string a rope of bamboo around the outside, this is usually done by the "medicine man" type of person that sort of blesses the house.

The Meo Hilltribe seemed to be the most real day-to-day functioning village of all the hilltribes I visited. I got to see how they really worked and lived.

I appreciated the one-on-one tour from Sompop, I didn't sign up for a private tour, it just worked out that way due to his company's schedule. Therefore I got all of my multitude of questions answered and more in depth insight into these local people.