Supervisor: Assoc Prof Peter Vail
What is your team’s project about?
Our group's project is about elephant conservation and ecotourism. We are working with the Pakinyaw village of Huay Pakkoot in the mountains of Chiang Mai. We are working with a local foundation, founded by the villagers and mahouts of Huay Pakkoot. Specifically, in terms of direction, we are helping to record and document the culture and biodiversity of the village, which we are helping to integrate into their tourism model. To this end, we have helped to install signboards, create documentaries, food menus, and nature guides which the community guides can use to improve the tourist experience. Overall, our aim is to increase tourism footfall at the village to ensure they can become economically self-sufficient through the tourism industry.
What does your team enjoy most about the IEx project?
The people of the village are very welcoming and their culture is extremely unique. The nature there is also unbelievably beautiful, with opportunities to see highly charismatic animals like elephants, gibbons, and leopard cats.
What are some challenges that you think are unique to the project?
I think the village was quite isolated from technology and often had water and electricity supply cuts. So that was an experience for us. The village is also quite a tough place to live in with villagers often trekking up hill to find their elephants or harvest rice/ corn. I think my final solution would be to stay on my toes and be adaptable to whatever situations come your way, because the most unexpected situation can always come true. Take for example when a close relative of our community partner passed when we were in the village, it disrupted some of our documentary interviews but instead, we managed to experience and take part in a Karen funeral, and see how their culture embraced such tragic events. From there, we were able to formulate a documentary episode about religion in the village.
Any specific tips about working with your team’s community?
I think, just respect and try to understand their culture, and follow the instructions of the villager especially when it comes down to interacting with elephants.
Any fun stories to share with your juniors?
Yes, so my treasurer came along with us for our 24/25 winter trip, we decided to go trekking to look for medicinal herbs beside the river, which were full of leeches and stinging nettles. He fell and grabbed a stinging nettle plant and it hurt like hell but then laughed it off. Meanwhile, I had 2 leeches on me that I didnt know about until I sat down for an interview later in the day and felt my thighs were wet. I touched it and it was red in colour and thick. Apparently I squashed a leech that was attached to my inner thigh :). Trust me, out there, it's human vs wild