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!
YAY!!!! My brother luuuvs me!!!
Thanks SG!!
:-)
oh - - - PICTURES????
Love you!
so.. now that you are officially Thai.. what do you miss most about the US?
Even though I am eating as much Thai food as possible, I am still not officially Thai! But what do I miss about the US the most? My friends and family. Other than that, I don't think there is much. Bangkok is a modern city and most anything I can get in the US I can get here. But I can't see my friends and family from here (unless they visit, hint hint).
Just read this today. Re: Golden Triangle,about 25-30 years ago this area where the 3 countires merged, used to be the bigest drug producing & trading in south east Asia. This is where the "Golden" came from. It was not safe at all for any one to be there back then.
Yeah, I finally read somewhere yesterday that only gold was accepted as payment for the opium. So now we all know.