The Hill Tribe School - Part 1

Side: Mudslide puts boys dorm in jeopardy


Below: A teacher and residence on school grounds












Before her death, the Kings' Mother made a request to Boonthan Mahavan to do anything necessary to improve the standard of living for the hill-tribe people in Northern Thailand. One of Boonthan's projects is a small school near Mae Chaem that houses and educates around fifty hill-tribe kids. The kids come from various groups such as the Aka, Lisu, and Hmong located near the Thai-Myanmar border areas.

After the death of the King’s mother, the vow help the hill tribe people was passed on to her beloved daughter-in-law Queen Sirikit. The Queen had forever been a humanitarian with a deep interest in the environment and the people who relied on it. The Queen fostered many royal projects around Thailand while creating new preserves in the mountains of northern Thailand – the land of the hill tribe people.

Shortly after settling on a location near Mae Chaem, the Sungwan Foundation purchased six ‘rai’ of land (approximately 2.5 acres) in the hills surrounding the lush valley. Doi Inthenon, the highest peak in Thailand, stands guard over the lush valley and the school.

The Sungwan foundation initially started in 1967 as a mobile medical unit dedicated to improving the health of the mountain people. Equipped with four-wheel drive vehicles, the team of volunteers travel to remote villages administering medical attention to the isolated people. Today, the volunteers consist of over 200 dentists and doctors from throughout Thailand. The mobile unit uses a laptop, linked through satellite, enabling the volunteers in the field to communicate directly with a doctor in Bangkok.

Back at the school, hill tribe children are taught how to farm various crops using organic fertilizer, raise animals such as catfish and frogs, create handy-crafts, and grow mushrooms. The kids are also taught music with a minimal amount of "traditional" school topics most of us are familiar with.

I will return the hillside school this week to double check my facts in this post and gather more information. I will also update you on efforts to retain a small mudslide that put one of the boy’s dorms in jeopardy during my last visit. The rainy season is flourishing in northern Thailand.