The Moei river - Mae Naam Moei
The Moei River is the Thai-Burmese border on many kilometers, in the West of Thailand. Like everywhere else, like in Mae Sai... people cross the river quite freely. Smuggling people and goods from Burma. The police close its eyes, it also gets money out of it.
Most of the smuggling is done at night, on the Thai side of the river. Teak wood, drugs (opium, heroin, mesamphetamines) and gems (saphirs, jade, emerald...). Wealthy buyers from Chiang Mai or Bangkok, from China or America, sellers from Burma, everyone meet at the river between midnight and 5am. It's an open secret, everyone knows about it, everyone can go... but I didn't.
I would have liked to see how it's going on, the extent of it. But I told myself "Westerner, girl, alone, amongs smugglers and illegal traders. Yeah, sure, it's a brilliant idea !" So I stayed in my GH and slept. You see, i'm not foolhardy...
Even in the daylight, the atmosphere was... uneasy. When I arrived at the river side, at 9am, one guy on the other side of the barrier asked me if I wanted cigarettes. When I said No, he took a tablet out of his coat and held it to me. Small orange pills. No need to speak Thai or Burmese to know it's drugs.
At the market, along the river, many waved to me, saying "Hello sister", letting me passing by without problem, smiling. They were the only people smiling in Mae Sot...
I went away from the Friendship Bridge, following the path along the river. I didn't go far away, I knew it wasn't safe. I saw people sitting at a turning of the river and I stopped well before them. The River Moei... It's not really a No Man's Land any more... It's an All Man's Land, nights and days. People pass by, live or survive.
Friendship Bridge. On the Thai side, a promenade, a barrier, a "No Man's Land" and then the river in itself
Smuggling along the barrier
No Man's Land ? Yet they live on it
Later on, after searching among the plastic bags, he'll climg up the barrier to find a small booty on the Thai side. I saw a kid, 10-12 y/o, shirtless and wearing a longyi, searching among the rubish. He had such an air of nobility on his face that you just wanted to respect him. He had the face of a prince...
Burmese crossing to Thailand... or Thai going back home...
On the Burmese side, a woman does her laundry in the river
Rough camp and working place. The trash is picked, sorted, piled and put into bags to be sold.
Most of the smuggling is done at night, on the Thai side of the river. Teak wood, drugs (opium, heroin, mesamphetamines) and gems (saphirs, jade, emerald...). Wealthy buyers from Chiang Mai or Bangkok, from China or America, sellers from Burma, everyone meet at the river between midnight and 5am. It's an open secret, everyone knows about it, everyone can go... but I didn't.
I would have liked to see how it's going on, the extent of it. But I told myself "Westerner, girl, alone, amongs smugglers and illegal traders. Yeah, sure, it's a brilliant idea !" So I stayed in my GH and slept. You see, i'm not foolhardy...
Even in the daylight, the atmosphere was... uneasy. When I arrived at the river side, at 9am, one guy on the other side of the barrier asked me if I wanted cigarettes. When I said No, he took a tablet out of his coat and held it to me. Small orange pills. No need to speak Thai or Burmese to know it's drugs.
At the market, along the river, many waved to me, saying "Hello sister", letting me passing by without problem, smiling. They were the only people smiling in Mae Sot...
I went away from the Friendship Bridge, following the path along the river. I didn't go far away, I knew it wasn't safe. I saw people sitting at a turning of the river and I stopped well before them. The River Moei... It's not really a No Man's Land any more... It's an All Man's Land, nights and days. People pass by, live or survive.
Friendship Bridge. On the Thai side, a promenade, a barrier, a "No Man's Land" and then the river in itself
Smuggling along the barrier
No Man's Land ? Yet they live on it
Later on, after searching among the plastic bags, he'll climg up the barrier to find a small booty on the Thai side. I saw a kid, 10-12 y/o, shirtless and wearing a longyi, searching among the rubish. He had such an air of nobility on his face that you just wanted to respect him. He had the face of a prince...
Burmese crossing to Thailand... or Thai going back home...
On the Burmese side, a woman does her laundry in the river
Rough camp and working place. The trash is picked, sorted, piled and put into bags to be sold.
Publicité