Learning about opium

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Before I hop over the border to Laos tomorrow morning (well, not hop so much as take a ferry since the border is the river here), I am making a stop in the northernmost part of Thailand. Yesterday I was in Chiang Saen, which is close to the infamous opium-poppy growing region at the convergence of Thailand, Myanmar (Burma), and Laos known as the Golden Triangle.

From Chiang Saen it was a pleasant little bike ride to Ban Sop Ruak where signs everywhere let you know that you have arrived at the Golden Triangle. Tour buses and minivans arrive from Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai to view it, but frankly it's not that interesting to see. It's more of a 'snap-a-couple-of-pictures-and-pedal-along-your-way' kinda place. What I did find interesting, however, was the Opium Museum in town.

I recently read a novel that was loosely based on the life of the author's grandfather in early 20th century Vietnam. There were a few characters in the novel who were opium addicts and I learned that a tell-tale sign of that addiction is a flattened ear on one side, from lying down to smoke it. Apparently opium is best enjoyed lying on one's side, using a hard block pillow, made of wood, or porcelain, if you are fancy. In the room in the museum where opium 'pillows' were on display, the caption said, ". . . although they are very hard, after smoking a few pipes of opium, the smoker feels as though his head is resting on a cloud." Reading it again now, that caption makes it sound rather nice and peaceful, but the museum also talked about the harmful social and personal effects of opium, at least a little bit.

Along with the pillows, the museum displayed photos of the different hill tribes in their traditional clothes, various pipes for smoking opium, and also weights that were used to measure out opium amounts when buying and selling it. The weights were usually in the shapes of different animals, especially the animals of the 12-year cycle-- rats, ox, tigers, rabbits, nagas (serpents), snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, roosters, dogs, and elephants.

There are nine hill tribes of minority people in Thailand, the largest of which are the Karen and the Hmong people. There are many origin legends about opium among the hill tribes and they have traditionally used opium for their enjoyment as well as selling it. The Thai government has cracked down on their cultivation of opium in the past 20 years or so and the royal family has created projects and worked with the hill tribes to develop (and market) other cash crops to take the place of opium. That's not to say that it has been completely wiped out in Thailand, and I don't think that the governments of Laos and Myanmar have cracked down as Thailand has. That said, 30 years ago, the Golden Triangle produced 70% of the world's opium, but now it has been eclipsed by Afghanistan and only produces about 5%. In the 80s and 90s, 45% of the heroin in the U.S. came from this area.

After the museum I dragged myself up to another wat at the top of a hill next door and had some peaceful time alone up there since it didn't seem to be deemed interesting enough for the tour groups and then I wondered over to the humongous gold buddha that is on a tall platform next to the river. After eating a late lunch, I biked back to my guesthouse, relaxed and began to read a little more about Laos and Vietnam in my guidebook.

Tomorrow I'll be boarding the two-day slow boat down the mighty Mekong River to Luang Prabang tomorrow and will meet up with Courtney there on Sunday afternoon/evening. I am curious to see in what ways the culture, food, and people in Laos will be different from Thailand. I am also curious if there will be 7-Elevens around every corner as there are here.

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Photos

Sign marking the tourist trap that is the Golden Triangle
Sort of like the Four Corners in the U.S. or the equatorial divide in Ecuador, but for some reason I just can't stay away!

This is the infamous Golden Triangle
I am standing in Thailand, Myranmar is the sandy part in front, and Laos is over to the right

Telling me that I am not allowed just makes me want to go even more
But I restrained myself and respected the sign

Some of the offerings include bananas and cheesy Cornae (like Bugles)
This Buddha's got my number