This photographic report, shot in the village of Ban Pa Khaolam, in Mae Taeng district, Chiang Mai province, in northern Thailand, tells the story of the daily lives of the Karen and Lahu people, originally from Burma. Fleeing persecution, they settled here in seclusion, determined to preserve their dialects, customs and agricultural way of life.
The first images show the children having fun and playing football in the school playground. The school, built with the help of the Border Patrol Police, illustrates the Thai government's desire to encourage these villages to become more integrated into society. Then the eye falls on the church, a gathering place for the Christian part of the village, which coexists harmoniously with the Buddhist community. The elephant donated by a neighbouring village embodies collective pride and the bonds of solidarity between communities. Further on, the rice paddies and farmland are a reminder of the autonomy of a people who still live largely off what they grow. Finally, the cohabitation with the water buffalo, who spend their days in the river, testifies to the harmony between the inhabitants and their natural environment.
Ban Pa Khaolam is virtually self-sufficient. The villagers express deep respect for Thailand, happy to be recognised and protected, but refusing to blend in completely with the dominant model. The only Thai-speaking man in the village, Eid, becomes the indispensable bridge between this community and the outside world.
This report also looks at a generational divide: the elders, attached to their culture and autonomy, reject any outside influence. Young people, on the other hand, see other horizons. Every day, during the brief passage of the satellite that brings the internet, they connect to social networks and discover the West. These virtual images and stories fuel their desire for emancipation and gradually distance them from the traditional framework that their elders are trying to preserve.
Between unchanging traditions and new aspirations, Ban Pa Khaolam embodies a fragile balance: that of a community torn between attachment to its identity and the influence of the outside world which, even from a distance, manages to transform it.
