The Condition of the Hilltribes
  
 

Many upland communities are being squeezed by
the encroachment of large tangerine farms resulting in
decreasing access to farmland,forest products and water.
   Among the hilltribes of the Golden Triangle, many of the marginalized struggle against poverty, lack of citizenship and related rights as well as the loss of access to natural resources which result in:
 
 
  • Small,degraded hill fields that barely support adequate yields of food and cash crops needed for subsistence.
  • Meager livestock production as a result of prevalent livestock diseases and less available food sources.
  

Hilltribe communities with limited farmland face
challenges in producing upland rice,their staple crop.
 
 

Once self-sufficient, landless upland communities
now rely on food purchased from outsiders.
 
  • Decreasing access to traditional food, medicines and building materials from the forests
  • The need for supplemental income as farm self-sufficiency has diminished due to limited land resources.
 
 
  • Little or no access to clean, plentiful water and sanitation
  • Lack of citizenship or other legal residence as well as accompanying rights including land tenure.
  • Vulnerability to danger such as fires, seasonal hunger,drought and cold conditions during the winter.
  

Hilltribe people hired to work on fruit plantations
as well as the communities adjacent to the orchards are
often exposed to dangerous agricuitural chemicals.
 
P.O.Box 43, Fang, Chiang Mai 50110 Thailand,
Phone: 66-53-473-221
E-mail:uhdp@loxinfo.co.th