My original thoughts were to do something on hill tribe villages we have visited but on hunting down photos I realized I had few and there is more of interest, to me, than just villages so. Off the tourist trail.
I will say from the start that this is not my major interest and I have not taken nearly enough photos and am having trouble finding them. We have probably visited more than 50 national parks and protected areas and going through camera cards and finding something that fits with this topic I am having to look up diary entries to see where they were taken and even to look back to see where some of the places are.
Kiri Wong, Nakhon Si Thammarat , part of Khao Luang NP.
My first stop is a place I visited many moons ago not long after I came to Thailand (no camera then) I had heard of their unique (?) method of farming and was interested. Back then it was rarely visited but now I see they feature on tourist web sites and are on the tourist band wagon.
Instead of the usual slash and burn they had for many years gone into the forest looking for any small clearing, only needed 2 or 3 meters, and planted fruit trees, mostly Durian with some Jackfruit, in these small clearings within the forest, not only did this preserve the forest but took advantage of the natural fertility.
When I went there I followed a trail up the river bank into the forest where there was a narrow concrete strip just wide enough for a motorbike, this would prevent the track getting cut up and eroding when it rained.
I followed this up to where 2 motorbikes each with a bin hung on either side were parked. I could hear some noise along a side track and went to look where I saw 2 men, one with a curved knife on a long pole and the other with a large sack. The one with the pole would cut a Durian from the tree and the one with the sack caught it and laid it gently aside.
I watched for a while then carried on up looking along any side track I found, they all led to trees similar to the one the men were harvesting from. When I went down the motorbikes were gone, bins full I presumed.
I thought and still think this is a great way to live in harmony with the forest and make a living from it at the same time.
I will attempt to carry on with this most days as long as I can find photos to complement my words.