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Stitchawl · 03-13-2015, 05:54 AM

Actually, our bigger problem may be gunfire. There have been sporadic shots exchanged between Thai soldiers and Burmese, and riding the smaller back roads through the jungle, it may be difficult to be sure that we haven't accidentally crossed a border. One of the roads we plan to ride follows the border quite closely...

We had this same problem about 15 years ago on our very first trip through that area. We were stopped by a very serious road-block of heavily-armed soldiers who mistook us for an International (American/Japanese) news team investigating a massacre of a small hill tribe village just inside the Burmese border by a rogue Thai general and his soldiers. When they saw all my photographic equipment, they were sure we were there only to report on their illegal actions, and thought they might be better off if we were to disappear in the jungle. We were completely unaware of what was happening at the time, only learning of it a few days later when a warning was sent out by the US Embassy, although we did notice the smoke (they burned down the whole village claiming it was a center for drug smuggling. It most likely was... Opium is STILL a major cash crop in this region,) just over the hill... They finally decided that we were just lost tourists and let us go, but it was pretty tense for a couple of hours.

Good maps really would be welcome.

Stitchawl

03-13-2015, 05:54 AM	#25697
Stitchawl Opsimath Posts: 12,344 Karma: 187123287 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand Device: Sony PRS-650, iPhone 5, Kobo Glo, Sony PRS-350, iPad, Samsung Galaxy	Actually, our bigger problem may be gunfire. There have been sporadic shots exchanged between Thai soldiers and Burmese, and riding the smaller back roads through the jungle, it may be difficult to be sure that we haven't accidentally crossed a border. One of the roads we plan to ride follows the border quite closely... We had this same problem about 15 years ago on our very first trip through that area. We were stopped by a very serious road-block of heavily-armed soldiers who mistook us for an International (American/Japanese) news team investigating a massacre of a small hill tribe village just inside the Burmese border by a rogue Thai general and his soldiers. When they saw all my photographic equipment, they were sure we were there only to report on their illegal actions, and thought they might be better off if we were to disappear in the jungle. We were completely unaware of what was happening at the time, only learning of it a few days later when a warning was sent out by the US Embassy, although we did notice the smoke (they burned down the whole village claiming it was a center for drug smuggling. It most likely was... Opium is STILL a major cash crop in this region,) just over the hill... They finally decided that we were just lost tourists and let us go, but it was pretty tense for a couple of hours. Good maps really would be welcome. Stitchawl Last edited by Stitchawl; 03-13-2015 at 05:57 AM.