By Augustine Anthony
The Karen community of Mae Klang Luang living half way to the summit of Doi Inthanon (tallest mountain in Thailand) located south-west of Chiang Mai is an impressive group of indigenous people who are not only warm and friendly but also very industrious and self sustaining lot .
My recent visit to their village with my friend Jaspal Singh taught me much about how a community that is united and firm in it's belief, can protect it's culture and heritage and at the same time maintain a self sustaining lifestyle that can be a great lesson to other communities striving to improve their lifestyle and living conditions.
The Karen people, whose ancestors can be traced back to Tibet and who are a settled group of people here for more than 200 years, engage in padi planting, fish breeding, vegetable growing, poultry and other animal breeding for their personal and communal needs.
For cash, they engage in knitting various types of their traditional wear (most of their traditional wear are beautiful art work) that can be bought at the village itself. They also produce coffee that is usually bought by large coffee outlets in the cities directly from them under a direct and fair price deal.
The community also provides home stay facilities for those who may wish to stay with them and experience their warm hospitality. Rest assured that even if one decides not to stay in their simple home stay, one will be pleasantly surprised to know that accompanying the Karen’s broad and genuine smiles is the free of charge and unlimited amount of freshly brewed coffee which has a wonderful aroma and taste especially in the chilly evening that one is certain to experience in this village located in this beautiful mountainous region.
And if anyone intends to visit the Karens here, make sure that you do not forget to go all the way up to Doi Inthanon to enjoy a special type of sweet smelling grass and some of the most breathtaking views there.
