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Answering Beth's Questions

Posted by Stuart at 12:35 PM on September 02, 2002

As you might have read, my sister Beth has been asking a lot of questions. Good ones too. So I will take some time here to try to answer some of them.

Why "Golden Triangle"? You were right that the "Triangle" part comes from being the border of three countries: Thailand, Loas, and Myanmar. I have no idea why they call it "Golden" though. Does anyone else know?

Why is the border closed? Well, I am not sure exactly. I believe that it has something to do with fighting that has been going on in Myanmar. There is a group of people who are fighting with the Myanmar goverment, and sometimes that fighting spills over into Thailand. Keeping the border closed is (I think) an attempt to stop that. And yes, the border crossings were defintely illegal. Why would people come over? Perhaps to work (illegally) or to sell goods to the tourists?

Why Myanmar and not Burma? The old name was Burma, but the new government renamed the country Myanmar.

On the Prince's Mother's Gardens: Yes, I visited the gardens that are next to the Royal Villa. Also, after asking a few more people, I think that the correct name is "Grandmother Princess".

How is the north different than the rest of the country? The north of Thailand is very mountainous and more rural. The towns are much smaller and are, for the most part, found in the valleys. It is also much cooler up here, but it's still pretty darn hot!