Page 71 - #51 English

Origin
Story and Photos by Darrin Daniel

Siam:

Land of Wonder and Specialty Coffee

1990-2015: Then And Now
It had been twenty - five years since my first visit in Thailand. Way back then
I had just finished a semester of study in Kathmandu, Nepal and had plans to spend
the month in SE Asia backpacking through (Thailand, Malaysia and Sumatra). Due
to a travel partner’s unfortunate loss of his Swiss Passport in a Bangkok taxi, we
chose to spend the entire month in Thailand. With in that month, I found myself
gravitating away from the southern beaches and the flood of tourists to the northern
region of Chiang Mai. I immediately fell in love with the city and the region.
The history, the food and the culture all spoke to me then as much as it does now.
This past December, I was fortunate enough to travel back to the neighboring
northern region of Chiang Rai to meet with coffee producers and be hosted by the
exporting group Beanspire and R Miguel Meza of Isla Coffee. Chiang Rai borders
Laos to the east and Myanmar to the west. A rugged mountainous region, known
then as the Golden Triangle, with multiple tribal groups who have migrated from
other conflict areas in Myanmar (Burma then), Laos and China. Tribal groups such
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