Across the border region of northern Thailand and Myanmar, live the hill tribe of Akha people.
The Akha originate from Tibet, but following persecution, in the early 20th century they migrated to Yunnan province in south west China, Laos, Myanmar and northern Thailand.
An estimated 80,000 Akha people now live in remote Akha villages across the Thai provinces of Chaing Mai and Chaing Rai. They have no traditional written language, literacy among older generations is virtually no existent, with the people's history, folk tales, and traditions past down the generations orally.
The Akha live in hilltop villages of low stilt houses made from bamboo, where traditional Akha houses are sectioned by gender, females one side, males the other, with a communal area for both.
In 1994, Exploring the northern hills and border region of Thailand and Burma, both on foot, and by dirt bike, i stumbled across an Akha village. Nestled atop a mountain, overlooking a 'slash and burn' landscape cut into the jungle, the Akha had extensively farmed and hunted. Below their hilltop village lay fields of opium and marijuana crops carved into the fertile soil. These crops would be harvested, then, bundled for transportation, first, carried on the Akha's backs through the jungle landscape before being loaded onto log canoes, and make their way down the Kok river to Chaing Rai.
This Akha woman allowed me to photograph her marijuana crop, for a fee of course.
Camera Canon AE1, 35mm SLR. E6 Fujichrome
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