Booker: The Golden Triangle

There is an area where three countries meet: Thailand, Myanmar (used to be called Burma), and Laos which is called the Golden Triangle. It is about three hours north of where we are in Chiang Mai and we couldn't pass up taking a day trip there.

Opium Field

It got its name as a result of the opium trade which took place here. Opium was first grown in northern Thailand in the late 19th century by hill tribes who had moved in from China. Opium grows on poor soil in high altitudes and it was a very profitable cash crop for the hill tribes. By 1959, Thailand had outlawed the cultivation of opium, and encouraged crop replacement with cabbages, coffee, and tea. This was a successful replacement program, cutting the growth of opium by 80%. A few Thai hill tribes still secretly grow opium. Myanmar doesn't have a replacement program and it is the second largest grower of illegal opium (after Afghanistan) in the world today. That opium filters down into Thailand and the Thai government sets up road checkpoints to try to stop the influx of the drug.

The term "Golden Triangle" refers to the method of trade for the opium. It was traded ounce for ounce with gold on a triangular strip of land in the middle of the Mekong river which borders all three countries. No one country owns that land-it's called, "No Man's Land."

We passed "No Man's Land" when we took a boat trip up the Mekong, into Laos. We also found out the origin of the term, "Slow boat to China." It takes two days for cargo boats headed to China to get from the mouth of the Mekong in Viet Nam up to their destination in China.

Al getting off our river ferry in Laos

It is the world's 10th longest river and the 7th-longest in Asia. Its estimated length 4,909 km or 3,050 miles from the Tibetan plateau this river runs through China's Yunnan province, Burma, Loas, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam It was very cool to be on the Mekong River, which played such a big part in the Viet Nam war.

We got off our river ferry in Laos. What a sad place. Very poor. Their one big tourist attraction is they sell bottles of whiskey which contain snakes, or scorpions, or tiger penises. It was sad, and gross. We felt dirty that we were a part of this pathetic attempt to attract tourist dollars.

Laos hut selling tourist junk

Snakes bottled in whiskey and sold to tourists

Then we drove to the Burmese border. There is a small Thai village market right at the border with Myanmar. All the stalls sell goods imported from China. The packages were all in Chinese, but they did have some knock-offs.

Browsing the knock-off watches

We attempted to haggle. When a shopper shows interest in something, the seller punches in a number onto a calculator and shows that to the buyer. The buyer obviously says, "Too expensive", and the seller punches in their discount. When the buyer still waffles, the buyer is then encouraged to key in their price into the calculator. Well, I did this and apparently, my number was an insult because the seller ripped the calculator from my hands in disgust. Oops. I guess no sale today.