Solar powered electricity was installed by the government to almost all the villages in Northern Thailand, where hill tribe people are leading agricultural life of rice farming, fishing, cattle raising and textiles. It’s easier than to bring electricity from the plant by running the cable across the steep mountain terrain. Some argue that it’s another way of scoring local vote from this area where the ever-notoriously corrupted former prime minister Mr. Taksin is from.
In the last five years under Mr. Taksin’s ruling, Thailand has grown to be the world’s leading country in telecommunication. Everyone carries a high-tech mobile phone that can receive signal in any remote locations. Everyone knows how to use and work with internet, and everyone is aware of the power of media propaganda.As we made a Youth benefit project in Ban Mueng Noi, staff from the school and the village were always eager to take photographs, or even video footage. We were constantly lensed throughout the day up until the closing ceremony where we donated all those materials to the village.
Even the smallest village like Ban Huey Hok, where the school is shut down for the lack of teachers and the children have to commute on a long dirt road to come to the school in Ban Mueng Noi, the houses have solar panels, satellite dish and televishion sets. And more young individuals like Cha’s students in Chiang Mai are learning and engineering the system to get better, faster, cheaper and more capable.
Charlie from Charlie & Lek’s health restaurant, however, once taught me that satellite dish has became some kind of social status symbol, whether or not they work. Some family would install satellite dish just so that others in the village can see it in their front yard, thinking they must be rich and powerful. And Buddha knows if any of these dish is only serving to dry laundry on.
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