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One of six major hill tribes in Thailand that include
the Lahu, Karen, Hmong/Miao, Mien/Yao and Lisu, the
Akha have traditionally engaged in subsistence farming in
a region stretching from China to Thailand, Laos, and Burma. They have come into
conflict with governments and other interests over engaging in slash-and-burn agriculture
and living in areas with protected ecosystems or forestlands. During my visit, I noted thatthe Ahka engaged in small-scale banana and rice cultivation.
I spoke with
one Akha woman
about life in her
village. She said in
English that her two
children attended a
public school in
Mae Chan for “a
better life” and that
she worked to help put them through school. She did notlike living there but could not move because she did not
have a permit to live elsewhere. She said that life there was
not easy. I was touched by her story and wondered what, if