Tuenjai Deetes, left, in a hill tribe village in northern Thailand.
Near the Myanmar
frontier, Akhas slash and burn the land before planting crops.
Thailand
An Akha woman
shops in Chiang Rai.
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A life in the hills
In 1973, university students
in Thailand staged mass demonstrations calling for democracy and an end to the country’s
military dictatorship. In response, authorities closely monitored all student activities
inside the country. Tuenjai Deetes’ work as a student volunteer teacher in the hill
village of Baan Pangsa in northern Thailand was no exception. Undeterred by intimidation
and surveillance, Deetes pursued her mission with determination.
In 1976 Deetes found herself in a similar situation following a left-wing inspired
student revolt in the country, which was brutally repressed after the military staged
a coup in October of that year. When authorities came knocking on her door, she recalls
telling them: ‘‘I believe in peace and non-violence and wish to continue with my
work for the hill tribes.’’ Though initially dubious, officials allowed her to pursue
her work and Deetes went on to win government support for her projects soon after.
On the other hand, she was always cautious not to take sides in ethnic conflicts
or to confront directly the drug lords in the sensitive border region. “We had to
operate with extreme care and tact without offending anyone.”
Deetes founded the Hill Area Development Foundation (HADF) in 1986 to assist hill
tribes in dealing with problems ranging from environmental management to social development.
Today, the HADF works in 27 hill villages in the watershed area of the Mae Chan and
Mae Salong rivers on the Thai-Burmese border.
Slightly built, the 48-year-old Deetes travels indefatigably from one hill village
to another. It requires extraordinary courage and conviction for a Bangkok-born-and-raised
girl to give up the comforts of the big city for the remote hill regions. Over the
years, Deetes has won enormous respect and admiration from her peers, who recently
elected her as a senator after she stood as an independent candidate in Chiang Rai,
the capital of the mountainous province in northern Thailand where she works.
Deetes’ dedicated and selfless service has won her many laurels, including the 1994
Goldman Environmental Prize, given annually to grassroots environmental activists.
During the 25th anniversary of the United Nations Environment Programme in 1997,
she was named as one of “25 Women Leaders in Action” for her role in protecting the
planet.
Despite her achievements, Deetes remains modest and down to earth. In the coming
years she wants to train more volunteers to work with the hill tribes and create
a network of organizations in the region. ‘‘I cannot change the governments of the
world on my own. With small groups, we can change the world and steer it in a positive
direction,’’ says the soft-spoken Deetes. Married with two children, she now lives
in Chiang Rai.
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At a time
when many Thai people viewed the hill tribes1 in the north of the country
as a security risk, you started working with them. Why?
In the early 70s, I was a university student in Bangkok where I heard all kinds
of stories about the hill tribes, many of whom had fled from ethnic conflicts and
hardships in neighbouring Burma, Laos, China and Cambodia. The hill tribes were accused
of drug trafficking, prostitution and destroying forests with their slash and burn
cultivation methods. I decided to see for myself through a student volunteer programme
to teach the Thai language in the hills. It didn’t take long to see that there was
very little truth in those allegations.
I first went to stay with the Lizu people in Chiang Rai province. Here was this city-girl,
born in Bangkok, who had never before climbed mountains, stumbling along trails for
four hours. I’ll never forget how refreshing it was to find the village and its tidy
winding paths sheltered by an enormous forest. Despite all of the negative things
that I heard, to my great surprise, I found the hill tribes living in a pure environment
leading a simple traditional life. I couldn’t understand their language yet I could
feel the people—they were so pure in heart. Their spirit inspired me. I wanted to
understand their philosophy, their way of life in harmony with nature. I was enchanted
by the songs and folklore through which the elders passed on their knowledge and
wisdom to the young.
The headman of the first village I visited was like a father to me. He invited me
to stay, and even offered to build me a hut, in exchange for teaching the children
and adults the Thai language. Even though the Lizu and many other groups have lived
in Thai territory for generations, very few spoke the language. They were so far
removed, geographically and culturally, from the mainstream. We made an agreement.
Until they could speak for themselves, I would serve as an intermediary, a bridge
between the hill tribes, the Thai government and wider society.
What kind of problems were the hill tribes facing?
At that time, nearly half of the hill tribes didn’t even have Thai citizenship.
As a result, they didn’t have any legal rights to the land they had been cultivating
for years. The increasing demand for forestland was pitting them against Thai authorities
who were declaring a growing number of forest regions as nature reserves in order
to protect the environment.
There were no roads, schools, hospitals or public services in the hill regions. The
illiteracy rate was about 90 per cent and the birth rate in the highlands was almost
three times higher than that of the lowlands. Infant mortality was almost double.
In short, they were the most disadvantaged among the disadvantaged in the country.
And yet, even though they were deprived of basic amenities, the hill tribes never
thought that they were under-privileged because nature provided for all their needs,
including medicine.
Weren’t there accusations that the hill tribes were involved in opium cultivation?
For generations, tribes like the Lizu, the Hmong and others grew opium as part
of their cultural tradition. Elders would sometimes smoke during family or community
gatherings. It was also used for a variety of traditional medicines. These people
rely on their own resources. But I can assure you that a hill tribe never got rich
by growing opium for outsiders.
However, the situation changed when increasing Western demand for opium (to produce
heroin) triggered illegal trafficking of the drug from the so-called Golden Triangle,
the area bordering Thailand, Burma and Laos.
Individuals and groups with vested interests exploited the geographic advantage of
the region for opium production. But the blame fell on the hill tribes, leading the
United Nations and the Thai government to massively introduce the cultivation of
cash crops like fruits and vegetables. These projects have had little success in
improving the life and dignity of the hill tribes and have taken a heavy toll on
the environment.
The Hmong tribe, for example, have been among the worst affected. To grow vegetables,
they diverted more and more water from the rivers and began using fertilizers to
increase their yields. By reducing and polluting rivers, they came into conflict
with the Thai farmers living in the lowlands.
Wasn’t this also linked to the problem of deforestation? Weren’t the hill tribes
accused of causing great damage by clearing forest for farming and then burning the
fields after a harvest to rejuvenate the soil?
Traditionally, the hill tribes used slash and burn tactics in a limited way—just
to produce food for their families. But in trying to produce cash crops and satisfy
the demands of the market, the tribes surpassed the natural capacities of the land,
degraded by deforestation and erosion. The Akha tribes, for example, began cultivating
rice in steep areas, which caused soil erosion. They are now trying alternative methods.
However, I do not think that slash and burn cultivation alone caused the deforestation
in the northern region. Timber companies and other commercial groups from the south
should be held responsible for the large-scale problem. I do not deny that a country
like Thailand needs more timber and other natural resources for its economic development.
But at what cost? Today, no one appears willing to publicly discuss this problem.
You started out as a ‘spokesperson’ for the hill tribes. How has your role changed?
By studying their language, history and kinship system, I gained their confidence.
This enabled me to introduce some basic education projects which later led to the
creation of the Hill Area Development Foundation (HADF, see box). Since then, with
the help of donor agencies, and the Thai government we were able to establish schools
for children as well adults in the hill regions.
The general aim is to offer access to the formal education system. However, we also
try to instil the children with a deep sense of pride in their history and culture,
so that they won’t blindly assimilate the ways of mainstream society but change in
a positive way, based on their culture. For example, we very carefully developed
a new syllabus integrating the knowledge of the ethnic tribes with that of the Thai
curriculum for the HADF-run schools.
We also concentrate on offering training in sustainable agricultural methods so that
hill tribe farmers can abandon slash and burn tactics. The new techniques, apart
from preventing soil erosion, revitalizes the land.
The environmental groups were right to highlight the problem of deforestation. However,
instead of offering alternatives, the government just began evicting the tribes from
forest areas.
Our aim isn’t simply to introduce new or foreign techniques but to adapt and revitalize
traditional agricultural practices. For example, the Karen tribes continue to follow
an age-old rotation system. Instead of clearing land entirely, they simply cut the
branches from the bottom of trees. They then rotate between swathes of land to grow
a single crop, which gives the soil a chance to rejuvenate.
This kind of training project seems to be part of a larger struggle to strike a balance
between various groups depending on the same limited resources. Can you describe
the ongoing conflict between the hill tribes living in the region’s watershed area
and those in the lowlands?
In tropical countries like Thailand, we depend on a delicate natural process
whereby forests absorb rainwater and release it into the rivers. If you reduce the
forest, the rain just runs off the land and is wasted instead of flowing into the
rivers. So we must take immediate steps to preserve the remaining forestland in the
watershed area. Apart from being the main sources of water, the watershed area is
also very supportive of many ecosystems.
Unfortunately, only the hill tribes living in the watershed region are expected to
preserve the forest while those living downstream in the lowlands and cities are
not showing any signs of changing their ways. In fact, they use more water than people
living in the upstream areas. It is totally unfair on the part of the authorities
to impose restrictions on the hill tribes and force them to relocate far away from
their region in an effort to save forests.
How can we expect the hill tribes alone to make all the sacrifices? Preserving the
environment is the duty of everyone and if we do not want the hill tribes to use
the forest, we have to provide them with alternatives. That’s why I insist on a harmonious
relationship between the two sides.
In recent years, the Thai government has been investing in development projects for
the northern region. What are the results so far?
There are more roads, electricity and other basic infrastructure in the hills
now. But far less has been invested in education or environmental projects because
politicians derive few benefits from them. When companies bid for a contract to build
a new road, for example, a commission is usually given to the politician involved.
As a result of the construction projects, there is increasing contact between the
hill tribes and lowland Thais which has led to a new set of problems. The insular
life of the hills made it easier to create a shared vision of life in harmony with
nature. Now the hill tribes must deal with the symbols of materialism. In a way,
they face the same problems as many developing countries.
Greater exposure to advertising creates more greed. Young people in particular want
to wear blue jeans, drive a motorcycle or a car, just like city people. They no longer
want to work the land but simply make money. So many are migrating to big cities,
which creates a lot of social tension. In the cities, they often get involved in
prostitution, for example, and then return to the hills carrying diseases like AIDS.
Little by little, cultural identity is eroded by materialism. If this continues,
I am afraid that the culture of the hill tribes could be lost forever. So we—the
hill tribes, NGOs and government—must find ways of improving living conditions and
assuring the people similar rights to lowlanders while retaining their specific cultural
identity.
You mention the need for land rights, yet many of these people don’t even have a
Thai passport. Why is citizenship such a problem?
Due to political and economic reasons many hill tribes from neighbouring countries
have been migrating to Thailand for centuries. You must understand that indigenous
people in general don’t feel bound by national borders. To begin with, they are often
forced to move because of political conflicts and environmental needs.
Up until 1992, it was relatively easy to obtain some kind of identity papers if you
were born in Thailand. But the government changed the laws, after large-scale migration
into the area for both political and economic reasons. According to new rules, applicants
should prove that they and their parents were born in Thailand. But few of these
people possess birth certificates. We must also consider the plight of those not
born in the country. How can we send people back to Burma where there is no justice?
It is very complicated. The Thai government cannot grant citizenship to everyone
and is doing its best under the present circumstances. The cross-border migration
also brings friction within the tribal communities. For example, Hmong ethnic tribes
in Thailand are finding it difficult to secure enough forest for their own families.
So when ethnic conflict began driving Hmong tribes from Laos across the border, the
Thai Hmong association told them that they should go back to their country once the
situation stabilizes.
The hill tribes of Thailand are a major tourist attraction. Have they profited from
this?
Eco-tourism and cultural tourism should improve understanding between people
from different parts of the world. On the contrary, the travel industry is exploiting
the hill tribes in Thailand without even realizing it. While the government earns
revenue by promoting tourism in the north, hardly any of the money is invested back
in the region. Only the tour operators and a few middlemen profit.
The tourists tend to treat the indigenous people as some kind of exotic specimen.
Instead of coming to the hills to take photos, they should learn to respect the local
people and their culture. In northern Thailand, boats carrying foreign tourists often
stop at Lahu and Karen villages along the Mekong River. Whenever a boat arrives,
children start running in hope that the tourists will throw them chocolates or money.
Some foreigners also come to the hills looking for sex tourism. The international
community should take serious steps to ban this.
What is it like to work in Thailand for an NGO championing the cause of indigenous
peoples? What contacts do you have with other NGOs abroad and what are the issues
involved?
Many people are questioning non-governmental organizations in general. They are often
regarded as being in perpetual opposition to the government. Some groups and newspapers
in Thailand accuse the NGOs of selling the country’s misery abroad in order to get
foreign funding. In a country like Thailand, I think the main role of the NGO should
be to offer a voice to the disadvantaged. By offering a different viewpoint, we can
offer alternative perspectives on our society. I am certain that most NGO workers
realize that they alone cannot achieve the mission. They need co-operation from other
parts of the society.
I have learned a lot from working with indigenous groups internationally, particularly
through the Rainforest Action Network. From Malaysia to the Philippines and even
Nigeria, the struggle is in many ways the same. People need the rights to their lands
and resources—the right to earn a living with nature. They need protection from the
multinationals, which plunder areas for resources like timber, oil and minerals.
In the name of research, companies make millions by patenting the traditional knowledge
and medicines of indigenous peoples. Now the tribes themselves are being used for
genetic research. In return, the tribes get nothing. In Thailand, we have had some
well-known cases of exploitation of tribal medicines by Western companies. But due
to legal complications we could not do anything about the abuse.
We must also question government policies for managing resources. For example, countries
often declare forest regions as protected areas, ignoring the rights of indigenous
peoples who have been living there for hundreds of years. Up until recently, the
major environmental campaigns and treaties did not look into the problems of the
indigenous people. In the early 1990s, the United Nations declared the International
Decade for the World’s Indigenous Peoples (1995-2004), yet so far, it has not been
successful. Only a few countries have taken concrete steps to recognize their rights.
The positive side, however, is that groups internationally are co-ordinating their
efforts and learning from others’ experience. But the time has come to sit down with
bodies like the World Trade Organization and the World Bank to frankly discuss the
world’s future.
1. According to the Hill
Area Development Foundation, approximately one million hill tribe people live in
Thailand’s mountainous northern and western border regions. About 65 per cent of
the hill population belong to two major ethnic groups–the Karen and Hmong tribes.
Other tribes like the Lahu, Akha, Mien, H’tin, Lizu, Lawa and Khamu make up the rest
of the population.
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