ad info




Asiaweek
 home
 intelligence
 web features
 magazine archive
 technology
 newsmap
 customer service
 subscribe
 TIMEASIA.COM
 CNN.COM
  east asia
  southeast asia
  south asia
  central asia
  australasia
 BUSINESS
 SPORTS
 SHOWBIZ
 ASIA WEATHER
 ASIA TRAVEL


Web-only Exclusives
November 30, 2000

From Our Correspondent: Hirohito and the War
A conversation with biographer Herbert Bix

From Our Correspondent: A Rough Road Ahead
Bad news for the Philippines - and some others

From Our Correspondent: Making Enemies
Indonesia needs friends. So why is it picking fights?

Asiaweek Time Asia Now Asiaweek story

OCTOBER 29, 1999 VOL. 25 NO. 43

'We Are Not a Zoo'
When tribes are turned into objects
By JULIAN GEARING

Manee Lataa, a handcraft seller in the village of Padua outside Chiang Rai, has not heard of eco-tourism. But she says anything that brings more visitors is good news. Thousands of hilltribe people such as Manee make a passable, if erratic, living from the visitors who come to peek into their homes and take photos of village life. Now, Thai officials are touting eco-tourism as a way to help preserve natural habitats while contributing to local incomes.

    ALSO IN ASIAWEEK
Seek and Ye Shall Find
Still lost in Cyberspace? It's time to look smart

Thailand: The Struggle for the Highlands
Accused of endangering the environment, Thailand's tribespeople face eviction and an uncertain future
• Searching for a Balance: Can minorities and forests co-exist?
• 'We Are Not a Zoo': When tribes are turned into objects

Theater: Butet's Royal Skewering
An actor with an irreverent take on presidents takes on Indonesia

People: She's Keeping the Baby
Jackie Chan's controversial new role

Newsmakers: Getting Around London
Jiang Zemin makes the rounds

  RELATED STORIES
Setting Thailand Right
A controversial work urges long-term change

Between Faith and Fund-Raising
A controversial temple provokes soul-searching in Thailand

CNN
Are 'giraffe women' prisoners of a human zoo or a boon to poor refugees?

TIME
Travel Watch | Detour | 9/13/99
Chiang Mai travel agencies hawk trips to 'undiscovered' villages in Northern Thailand

The trouble is that current set-ups still exploit the tribal people, argues Meeju Morlaeku, an Akha woman who is called on to represent ethnic minorities for the Tourism Authority of Thailand. "Eco-tourism uses hilltribes as a drawcard in the same way that tourism always has, if not more," she says. The industry is not all bad, she adds, "but for highland communities, there are more points of harm than points of gain."

Travel respresentatives like to portray the business as one in which all parties win: The extra income helps mountain communities improve their standards of living, visitors get to learn about a normally inaccessible culture and companies make profits. That's the theory. But an influx of visitors into traditional settlements brings problems too. The Lisu village of Ban Tonlong, just over an hour's drive from Chiang Mai, is a good example of how an attraction can be ruined. Development has brought not only paved roads, but also the demise of traditional architecture and the presence of rubbish in the streets. The "authentic" sights that once drew tourists to the hill country have vanished. In their place are inhabitants slowly losing their identity and relying heavily on being merely objects of curiosity for visitors.

Indeed, some villages are treated more like "human zoos" than culturally significant settlements. A stream of cash-rich visitors in search of illicit thrills can also tear into the fabric of poor communities. "In many cases, this phenomenon encourages drugs and prostitution," says Payom Dhamabutra of the Institute of Ecotourism in Bangkok. Images of foreign tourists in search of the fug of an opium pipe and cheap sex with young tribal girls may seem like stereotypes, but such problems have considerably worsened over the past decade.

Tribal peoples, who are often exploited because they are not recognized as citizens, should play a major role in running the tourism business, Meeju argues. As things stand, most tourist dollars go to outside travel companies rather than to the minorities. "Hilltribes need to be empowered in order to make their own decisions to protect their culture, their language and their way of life," she says.

This edition's table of contents | Asiaweek home

AsiaNow


Quick Scroll: More stories and related stories
Asiaweek Newsmap: Get the week's leading news stories, by region, from Newsmap


   LATEST HEADLINES:

WASHINGTON
U.S. secretary of state says China should be 'tolerant'

MANILA
Philippine government denies Estrada's claim to presidency

ALLAHABAD
Faith, madness, magic mix at sacred Hindu festival

COLOMBO
Land mine explosion kills 11 Sri Lankan soldiers

TOKYO
Japan claims StarLink found in U.S. corn sample

BANGKOK
Thai party announces first coalition partner



TIME:

COVER: President Joseph Estrada gives in to the chanting crowds on the streets of Manila and agrees to make room for his Vice President

THAILAND: Twin teenage warriors turn themselves in to Bangkok officials

CHINA: Despite official vilification, hip Chinese dig Lamaist culture

PHOTO ESSAY: Estrada Calls Snap Election

WEB-ONLY INTERVIEW: Jimmy Lai on feeling lucky -- and why he's committed to the island state



ASIAWEEK:

COVER: The DoCoMo generation - Japan's leading mobile phone company goes global

Bandwidth Boom: Racing to wire - how underseas cable systems may yet fall short

TAIWAN: Party intrigues add to Chen Shui-bian's woes

JAPAN: Japan's ruling party crushes a rebel ì at a cost

SINGAPORE: Singaporeans need to have more babies. But success breeds selfishness


Launch CNN's Desktop Ticker and get the latest news, delivered right on your desktop!

Today on CNN
 Search

Back to the top   © 2000 Asiaweek. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.