Thai soldier
7 March 1986
The army were around in force in northern Thailand. This is waiting for a bus headed to Fang near the Elephant training school north of Chiang Mai.
Kids smoking
12 March 1986
Day 3 of the hill tribe trek and we passed through a village where the kids were smoking locally grown tobacco.
Brother & sister twins? Possibly from the Karen tribe.
Elephants and a Gibbon
7 March 1986
Travelled north of Chiang Mai and got off the bus at the Chiang Dao Elephant Camp. The elephants in Thailand are Indian elephants, Elephas maximus indicus, they were listed as endangered that same year.
Evi was there. Not many other tourists, but a nice display of washing the elephants in the river and dragging logs. People fed them bananas and took 20 baht rides. Bought strawberries – delicious, and played with a docile gibbon.
Here’s Evi with an endangered Lar, or white-handed gibbon. You can just see the chain that tethered it to a spike in the ground.
Sunset over Big Buddha Beach
Koh Samui Island, Thailand. 24 February 1986
Walked to the point where the Big Buddha sits. Certainly big. Came back towards sunset. I took 16 shots of a beautiful sun going down, its reflection in the sea cut by an anchored fishing boat & luckily in the foreground – a fisherman throwing a net.
Hill-tribe trek, northern Thailand
The first day of a “hill-tribe trek” run by the Chiang Mai Youth Hostel. Stayed at a village of the Meo tribe, originally from southern China.
Journal excerpt:
Up quite high when a village hut appeared out of the thick monsoonal forest. It was like stepping into a medieval village with a grindstone for corn, thatch huts and basic stone tools – fascinating. Most adults were away tending cattle and kids were at school. Just before sunset the village came alive with everyone arriving home. Joined in an enthusiastic soccer game, also took photos of the kids who didn’t mind at all. After a good filling meal we went out to a level area near a fire and joined in various dances. About 30 little kids were in hysterics laughing and mimicking the ‘hokey-pokey’. We all slept on a rattan floor side by side. What a day!