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Elephant
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athaischool@hotmail.com This
is not the official site of the school,
although Doikum School has kindly given
permission for their e-mail address to be
included. Like
all schools everywhere, the teachers at
Doikum School are always very busy.
Please
help them by sending any inquiries on
visiting Thailand to the Webmaster, (who
will be happy to
assist),
and
not
the school.
Thank
you. Useful
Links: (www.fotopic.net)
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Thailand is not only home for the Thai people, but also for at least 10 different groups of people known as the hill tribes. These are people who have wandered into Thailand over a very long time from other near by countries like China and Burma. Many lived as farmers and hunters clearing jungle covered land on the sides of the hills and mountains, land which was jungle and not used by the Thai farmers. The land was not always very good and they often had to move to somewhere else because their crops did not grow after a year or two. This meant that few hill tribe people went to school or could read or write, as they were never in one place long enough or the nearest school was far away. There were no roads for cars or buses and the nearest small town was often 1 or 2 days walk away from where they lived. This kind of farming also damaged the land, because lots of trees and bushes had to be chopped down to plant crops on hill sides. Without the trees and bushes, there was nothing left to stop the soil being washed down the steep hill sides when it rained, and after the soil was gone, not even the jungle would grow. There were also other people cutting down lots of trees to make furniture and houses which made things worse. With a lot of help from the King of Thailand and Thailand`s Government, most hill tribes are now settled farmers, with land that is properly looked after and nearer schools and towns. Nobody is allowed to chop down the trees anymore and a lot of new trees have been planted, but they will take a long time to grow. The hill tribes now grow very good fruit and vegetables, including some we grow in our country like strawberries, apples, onions and potatoes. They also grow rice, garlic, sugarcane, peanuts and bananas and lots of other crops, much of which is sold to other countries like ours.
The Karen people are one of these hill tribe peoples. They have been coming to live in Thailand for over 300 years. The Karen come from Burma, there are now 270, 000 of them living in Thailand and they are the largest of the hill tribe peoples. The Karen are very peaceful, living in small villages in the lowland valleys. Most Karen live in the countryside surrounding a town called Mae Hong Son, North and West of Chiang Mai and very near Burma. Unlike nearly all the other hill tribe peoples, the Karen have usually stayed in one place for many years. The Karen have always been very careful farmers, always managing to grow crops like rice, beans, and vegetables in a way that does not damage the land. They also keep pigs and hens. Some Karen are Buddhist, like the Thais, others are Christian. The Karen children that go to Doikum School are Buddhists. Karen men are also very good at training elephants, ( have you noticed that the map of Thailand looks like an elephant`s head? ) and Karen women are very good at weaving coloured cotton cloth for making clothes and shoulder bags. They weave and make the dresses of the girls you can see in the photographs of Children`s Day and of Doikum School.
Children`s Day. Children's Day is a holiday in Thailand that takes place on the second weekend in January of each Year. It is like Christmas for children only. Schools may hold all day parties for their pupils with games, dancing and presents and prizes and food and ice cream - like Doikum and the other schools near by. On Saturday or Sunday, many children may also go on family outings to the nearest town. The roads are crowded with cars and pickup trucks full of grandparents, parents and children, going to parties or public events put on especially for children. In Chiang Mai, the Royal Thai Air Force opened one of its local bases to the public, among other activities, children got to sit in aircraft cockpits and watch an air display - and got lots of ice cream given to them as well. Another popular destination this year was Chiang Mai Zoo, which has recently become the home of two Giant Pandas, loaned by China - there were long traffic queues.
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