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hill tribes

The Village That Said No to the Power Line

August 20, 2026 by Wataru Otsubo
A concrete power pole at the roadside of a Karen village in Lamphun, with the thatched roofs of Ban Nam Bo Noi just beyond it

A Karen village in Lamphun sits metres from the power line and has no electricity. Not because it cannot get it. Because it turned it down.

Categories Chiang Mai Tags ethical travel, hill tribes

What Karen Hill Tribe Silver Actually Is

August 21, 2026August 17, 2026 by Wataru Otsubo
Melting granulated silver in a crucible at a Karen workshop in Lamphun, northern Thailand

Karen hill tribe silver is sold worldwide as ancient tribal craft. I spent a day in the village that makes it and found two very different accounts of where it came from.

Categories Chiang Mai Tags crafts, ethical travel, hill tribes
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