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THAILAND'S TROUBLED BORDER

67 images Created 10 Jan 2011

Thailand's Troubled Border.

Along Thailand's border we come across a series of issues, from the Burmese refugee camps along the western border with Burma, neglected hill tribes which not so long ago were involved in the illegal opium production of the Golden triangle at the north, Cazinos in the no-man's-land between Thailand and Cambodia on the east, to the Muslim insurgency in the south provinces near Malaysia. This photographic journey meets the people who live in those places and offers a glimpse in their everyday lives.


To see more images please email request to photo@androniki.com

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  • Esther Htoo (56) is ethnic Karen from Insei town near Rangoon. She came to Mae La refugee camp in 2004, together with her two sons. She hopes that her family will be accepted by the US government to relocated there as refugees..Burmese refugee camp "Mae La" is north of border-town Mae Sot and lies along the Thai-Burmese border on the side of Thailand. Approximately 50,000 people live there. 38,167 was the official number of registered people in November 2009, according to the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC), and the rest are unregistered or people who come and go.
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  • Pataw (47) has been living in the camp for 7 years. He used to live at the Karen State in Myanmar/Burma and  for 3 years he was fighting with the Karen Liberation Arm. He was injured when during an offence towards the Burmese army he fell on a landmine. Then he was helped to escape. He lives inside the building of the Karen Handicap Welfare Association in Mae La camp. He has 3 children from 9 to 20 years old still living in Myanmar. He hopes that one day there will be freedom so that he ca return to his country and his family. .Burmese refugee camp "Mae La" is north of border-town Mae Sot and lies along the Thai-Burmese border on the side of Thailand. Approximately 50,000 people live there. 38,167 was the official number of registered people in November 2009, according to the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC), and the rest are unregistered or people who come and go.
    04_THAILAND053a.jpg
  • Man who was blinded during the fighting between the Karen liberation army that he was fighting with and the Burmese army troups, in the kitchen of the disabled people's home inside Mae La. Burmese refugee camp "Mae La" is north of border-town Mae Sot and lies along the Thai-Burmese border on the side of Thailand. Approximately 50,000 people live there. 38,167 was the official number of registered people in November 2009, according to the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC), and the rest are unregistered or people who come and go.
    05_THAILAND054a.jpg
  • Karen girl reading a translated Japanese manga inside one of the library buildings of Mae La refugee camp. The library is supported by "Shanti Volunteer Association" (www.sva.or.jp), a Japanese NGO. Burmese refugee camp "Mae La" is north of border-town Mae Sot and lies along the Thai-Burmese border on the side of Thailand. Approximately 50,000 people live there. 38,167 was the official number of registered people in November 2009, according to the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC), and the rest are unregistered or people who come and go.
    07_THAILAND095a.jpg
  • Karen women doing their laundry and taking a bath next to a well inside Mae La refugee camp..Burmese refugee camp "Mae La" is north of border-town Mae Sot and lies along the Thai-Burmese border on the side of Thailand. Approximately 50,000 people live there. 38,167 was the official number of registered people in November 2009, according to the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC), and the rest are unregistered or people who come and go.
    01_THAILAND048a.jpg
  • Fields where te Burmese refugees of Mae La refugee camp grow their vegetables and rice. .Burmese refugee camp "Mae La" is north of border-town Mae Sot and lies along the Thai-Burmese border on the side of Thailand. Approximately 50,000 people live there. 38,167 was the official number of registered people in November 2009, according to the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC), and the rest are unregistered or people who come and go.
    10_THAILAND077a.jpg
  • Schoolchildren inside the refugee school in Mae La. Burmese refugee camp "Mae La" is north of border-town Mae Sot and lies along the Thai-Burmese border on the side of Thailand. Approximately 50,000 people live there. 38,167 was the official number of registered people in November 2009, according to the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC), and the rest are unregistered or people who come and go.
    02_THAILAND049a.jpg
  • Budhist temple build in a Burmese style, outside Mae Sot city near the Thai-Burmese border.
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  • Pastor Simon (60) in front of pictures of his family, in the Mae La refugee camp. Pastor Simon is a Karen refugee who used to teach theology at a university in Rangoon and has been living in the camp for 20 years. He is the director of Kawthoolei Karen Baptist Churches of the refugee camps along the Thai-Burmese border and he runs the Kawthoolei Karen Baptist Bible School & College, a theology high school and college that has been functioning in the camp for 20 years. .Burmese refugee camp "Mae La" is north of border-town Mae Sot and lies along the Thai-Burmese border on the side of Thailand. Approximately 50,000 people live there. 38,167 was the official number of registered people in November 2009, according to the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC), and the rest are unregistered or people who come and go.
    06_THAILAND055a.jpg
  • Karen couple: Ler Lay Kler (32) with his wife Shirley (29) and their child Cherry (14 months old), inside their house at Mae La refugee camp. Ler Lay comes from Mon state in Burma and has been to the camp since 1993. Shirley has been at the camp since 2005. They met and got married in the camp. .Burmese refugee camp "Mae La" is north of border-town Mae Sot and lies along the Thai-Burmese border on the side of Thailand. Approximately 50,000 people live there. 38,167 was the official number of registered people in November 2009, according to the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC), and the rest are unregistered or people who come and go.
    08_THAILAND073a.jpg
  • Woman waiting to cross the river via the illegal crossing of people and goods between Burma and Thailand on a inflated track-tire tube that is pushed back and forth through the river on a regular basis, a few hundrends of meters away from the bridge that is the official border crossing.
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  • Illegal crossing of people and goods between Burma and Thailand on a inflated track-tire tube that is pushed back and forth through the river on a regular basis, a few hundrends of meters away from the bridge that is the official border crossing.
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  • Illegal crossing of people and goods between Burma (oposit side) and Thailand (this side) on a inflated track-tire tube that is pushed back and forth through the river on a regular basis, a few hundrends of meters away from the bridge that is the official border crossing.
    12_THAILAND059a.jpg
  • Migrant workers that are working in one of the many cheap labor factories which are located along the border with Burma, on a day of strike because of delayed wages. .Around Mae Sot there are many textile factories, the majority owned by foreign companies, where legal and illegal migrant workers work long hours for very low salaries, or often no salary at all as their bosses often take advantage of their weak position to cut off months of pay.
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  • Evening street restaurant in Chiang Saen, a sleepy town on the banks of Mekong river. Laos can be clearly seen on the other side of the river and the town also has a port where the ships that travel along the river come to trade.
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  • Fishermen's boats on Mecong river between Thailand and Laos near Sop Ruak town
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  • At the point where Nam Ruak river meets Mekong river, the border of Burma (left), Laos (right) and Thailand (bottom) are meeting. That is the "official" center of the Golden Triangle. Sop Ruak is the Thai town located there and it is often called Golden Triangle.
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  • Akha child wearing a Santa Claus hat at the premises of the NGO "Children of the Golden Triangle", in Chiang Rai province
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  • Akha childred having their lunch at the premises of the NGO "Children of the Golden Triangle", in Chiang Rai province
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  • Akha girls Pratana (17) (left) and Aranya (17) (right) have both been living at the premises of the NGO "Children of The Golden Triangle" for about 9 years. They both want to become teachers so that they can go back to their villages and teach their people.
    18_THAILAND065a.jpg
  • Huei Naam Kun village is located in the mountains near Chiang Rai. There is no public transportation for going there and it's 51 families live a very traditional stylle. There was no electricity either until the World bank offered them a few years ago some sollar panels and now they can use electricity for a few hours every day. The village has always been peaceful but because of drug armies that were trying to force them to grow opium, the village had to relocate 6 times to escape them. It was originaly in Burma and it has been in the curent location in Thailand for the last 28 years.
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  • Akha woman resting on a balcony of a traditional house at Huei Naam Kun village that is located in the mountains near Chiang Rai.
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  • Akha women Milu (left - 55 years old) and Minee (right - 42 years old), near the rice-fields of the Akha village Huei Naam Kun that is located in the mountains near Chiang Rai.
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  • Abu (80 - left) and Miyou (50 - right) at the veranda of Miyu's house in the Akha village Huei Naam Kun that is located in the mountains near Chiang Rai.
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  • Akha women on their way to a festival at the Akha village Huei Naam Kun that is located in the mountains near Chiang Rai.
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  • Akha family. Father giving his son a wash at the Akha village Huei Naam Kun that is located in the mountains near Chiang Rai.
    30_THAILAND170a.jpg
  • Sunday morning church service at Akha village Huei Naam Kun that is located in the mountains near Chiang Rai. The village has become Christian during the last 10 years. Before that it followed the traditional animism Acha religion.
    24_THAILAND079a.jpg
  • Woman washing her hair at the Akha village Huei Naam Kun that is located in the mountains near Chiang Rai.
    32_THAILAND171a.jpg
  • Akha women dressed in traditional clothes, dancing a traditional dance during a festival at Huei Naam Kun village that is located in the mountains near Chiang Rai.
    23_THAILAND076a.jpg
  • Suda (18) was born in the Akha village Huei Naam Kun that is located in the mountains near Chiang Rai. She has been living at the premices of the NGO Children of the Golden Triangle for the last 8 years so that she can go to school, and hopes to go to University and become a mathematics or English teacher.
    28_THAILAND083a.jpg
  • Akha women dressed in traditional clothes, dancing a traditional dance during a festival at Huei Naam Kun village that is located in the mountains near Chiang Rai.
    22_THAILAND072a.jpg
  • Grandmothere and grandson at the Akha village Huei Naam Kun that is located in the mountains near Chiang Rai.
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  • Burned house at the Akha village Huei Naam Kun that is located in the mountains near Chiang Rai.
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  • Men playing a game at the Akha village Huei Naam Kun that is located in the mountains near Chiang Rai.
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  • Man cutting wood at the Akha village Huei Naam Kun that is located in the mountains near Chiang Rai.
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  • Morning light at the Akha village Huei Naam Kun that is located in the mountains near Chiang Rai. People in the village wake up at 4 am and go to sleep with the last daylight.
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  • Rohishamu (19) lost his legs when he was shot three years ago by a guy on a motorbike in a random shooting in Narathiwat. His mother Maresha managed to get them accepted in Rotan Batu village where they could find some peace.  .Rotan Batu, also known informaly as "Widdows village" started functioning in 2004 as a project that was funded and created by Thailand's Queen Sirikit, who donated 20m baht ($514,000) of her own money to purchase the land on which the village is now located. Its purpose is to give shelter and work to mainly Muslim widows who lost their husbands during the insurgency in the south of Thailand. They now live there about 450 people, the widows together with other members of their families. The village is self sufficient as there is enough farm-land where they produce the vegetables and fruit for themselves and sell the extra production in local markets. They also create handcrafts which are sold as souvenirs in other parts of Thailand giving them some extra income. The village is considered quite safe but it is guarded by solders 24 h a day to make sure no attack happens there.
    55_THAILAND118a.jpg
  • Rotan Batu, also known informaly as "Widdows village" started functioning in 2004 as a project that was funded and created by Thailand's Queen Sirikit, who donated 20m baht ($514,000) of her own money to purchase the land on which the village is now located. Its purpose is to give shelter and work to mainly Muslim widows who lost their husbands during the insurgency in the south of Thailand. They now live there about 450 people, the widows together with other members of their families. The village is self sufficient as there is enough farm-land where they produce the vegetables and fruit for themselves and sell the extra production in local markets. They also create handcrafts which are sold as souvenirs in other parts of Thailand giving them some extra income. The village is considered quite safe but it is guarded by solders 24 h a day to make sure no attack happens there.
    56_THAILAND-002a.jpg
  • Women farmng in Rotan Batu..Rotan Batu, also known informaly as "Widdows village" started functioning in 2004 as a project that was funded and created by Thailand's Queen Sirikit, who donated 20m baht ($514,000) of her own money to purchase the land on which the village is now located. Its purpose is to give shelter and work to mainly Muslim widows who lost their husbands during the insurgency in the south of Thailand. They now live there about 450 people, the widows together with other members of their families. The village is self sufficient as there is enough farm-land where they produce the vegetables and fruit for themselves and sell the extra production in local markets. They also create handcrafts which are sold as souvenirs in other parts of Thailand giving them some extra income. The village is considered quite safe but it is guarded by solders 24 h a day to make sure no attack happens there.
    57_THAILAND139a.jpg
  • Rotan Batu, also known informaly as "Widdows village" started functioning in 2004 as a project that was funded and created by Thailand's Queen Sirikit, who donated 20m baht ($514,000) of her own money to purchase the land on which the village is now located. Its purpose is to give shelter and work to mainly Muslim widows who lost their husbands during the insurgency in the south of Thailand. They now live there about 450 people, the widows together with other members of their families. The village is self sufficient as there is enough farm-land where they produce the vegetables and fruit for themselves and sell the extra production in local markets. They also create handcrafts which are sold as souvenirs in other parts of Thailand giving them some extra income. The village is considered quite safe but it is guarded by solders 24 h a day to make sure no attack happens there.
    58_THAILAND135a.jpg
  • 300-Years Mosque or Wadi Al-Husein Mosque is located at Ban Talomano, Tambon Lubosawo, 25 kms. north of Narathiwat or 4 kms. from Amphoe Bacho on Highway No. 42. As the sign outside it says, it was build in 1624 by Wan Husein, a pioneer of Due Lok Mano Village and an islamic teacher at Sano Village. The whole wood building is a combination of Javanese and local styles of art before the Arab influence.
    45_THAILAND112a.jpg
  • Men praying during the Friday service at the iner yard of the 300 mosque. 300-Years Mosque or Wadi Al-Husein Mosque is located at Ban Talomano, Tambon Lubosawo, 25 kms. north of Narathiwat or 4 kms. from Amphoe Bacho on Highway No. 42. As the sign outside it says, it was build in 1624 by Wan Husein, a pioneer of Due Lok Mano Village and an islamic teacher at Sano Village. The whole wood building is a combination of Javanese and local styles of art before the Arab influence.
    47_THAILAND125a.jpg
  • Men exiting the 300-year mosque after the Friday service. The mosque is concidered as one of the most important hard-core mushlim locations in Southern Thailand so non mushlim people are not allowed to enter the building.  .300-Years Mosque or Wadi Al-Husein Mosque is located at Ban Talomano, Tambon Lubosawo, 25 kms. north of Narathiwat or 4 kms. from Amphoe Bacho on Highway No. 42. As the sign outside it says, it was build in 1624 by Wan Husein, a pioneer of Due Lok Mano Village and an islamic teacher at Sano Village. The whole wood building is a combination of Javanese and local styles of art before the Arab influence.
    48_THAILAND128a.jpg
  • Men chatting outside the 300 year old mosque while waiting for the Friday service to begin. 300-Years Mosque or Wadi Al-Husein Mosque is located at Ban Talomano, Tambon Lubosawo, 25 kms. north of Narathiwat or 4 kms. from Amphoe Bacho on Highway No. 42. As the sign outside it says, it was build in 1624 by Wan Husein, a pioneer of Due Lok Mano Village and an islamic teacher at Sano Village. The whole wood building is a combination of Javanese and local styles of art before the Arab influence.
    46_THAILAND123a.jpg
  • Students at the Mushlim school of the 300-Year Mosque..300-Years Mosque or Wadi Al-Husein Mosque is located at Ban Talomano, Tambon Lubosawo, 25 kms. north of Narathiwat or 4 kms. from Amphoe Bacho on Highway No. 42. As the sign outside it says, it was build in 1624 by Wan Husein, a pioneer of Due Lok Mano Village and an islamic teacher at Sano Village. The whole wood building is a combination of Javanese and local styles of art before the Arab influence.
    50_THAILAND124a.jpg
  • Graveyard next to the 300-year mosque. There, are buried 22 of the 78 Muslim people who died from suffocation or dehydration while being transported in trucks under police custody after being arrested during the 25th October 2004 protests outside the Tak Bai police station. The mosque is concidered as one of the most important hard-core mushlim locations in Southern Thailand.  .300-Years Mosque or Wadi Al-Husein Mosque is located at Ban Talomano, Tambon Lubosawo, 25 kms. north of Narathiwat or 4 kms. from Amphoe Bacho on Highway No. 42. As the sign outside it says, it was build in 1624 by Wan Husein, a pioneer of Due Lok Mano Village and an islamic teacher at Sano Village. The whole wood building is a combination of Javanese and local styles of art before the Arab influence.
    49_THAILAND129a.jpg
  • Students and teacher in front of the Attarkiah Islamiah institute in Narathiwat. This private school is the biggest islamic school in Thailand. It has about 4000 students who go there to study from all over Thailand and 223 teachers. It has middle-school and high-school  and together with the normal lessons the students are also taught the Koran and the islamic rules.
    53_THAILAND116a.jpg
  • Class at the Attarkiah Islamiah institute in Narathiwat. This private school is the biggest islamic school in Thailand. It has about 4000 students who go there to study from all over Thailand and 223 teachers. It has middle-school and high-school  and together with the normal lessons the students are also taught the Koran and the islamic rules.
    51_THAILAND143a.jpg
  • Class at the Attarkiah Islamiah institute in Narathiwat. This private school is the biggest islamic school in Thailand. It has about 4000 students who go there to study from all over Thailand and 223 teachers. It has middle-school and high-school  and together with the normal lessons the students are also taught the Koran and the islamic rules.
    52_THAILAND115a.jpg
  • Solder guarding the local army camp in Narathiwat.
    39_THAILAND145a.jpg
  • Fishermen returning from fishing on their traditional hand-painted boats called Kolae. Most fisherment in Narathiwat live in a small fishermen's village that is attached to the city, on the banks of Bang Nara river. Kolae boats are mainly found in Narathiwat and Patani provinces of south Thailand.
    43_THAILAND161a.jpg
  • Man with birdcage in the fishermen's village that is attached to the city of Narathiwat, on the banks of Bang Nara river.
    44_THAILAND154a.jpg
  • Fishermen returning from fishing on their traditional hand-painted boats called Kolae. Most fisherment in Narathiwat live in a small fishermen's village that is attached to the city, on the banks of Bang Nara river. Kolae boats are mainly found in Narathiwat and Patani provinces of south Thailand.
    42_THAILAND111a.jpg
  • Solder guarding the local army camp in Narathiwat.
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  • Teerapol Pongsrapang (32) is the comanding officer of the Thai Royal Navy ship that is patroling the east coast of the south of Thailand. They are there to prevent smugling by sea and to help keep the peace in the troubled south of Thailand.
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  • Mushlim woman dressed in Malausian style clothes in a vilage near Narathiwat. In the south of Thailand the majority of the population is Mushlim and culturaly, many feel closer to Malaisia than Thailand.
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  • Mosque in a village in the south of Thailand where the majority of the population is Mushlim
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  • The local imam in frond of the mosque where he serves, in Karbi village. .Karbi village is a small mushlim village near the border with Malaysia. The main production of the village is rubber.
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  • Local men with gung, in charge of taking care of the protection of their village. Karbi village is a small mushlim village near the border with Malaysia. The main production of the village is rubber.
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  • Father and son having breakfast in their house in Karbi village, a small mushlim village near the border with Malaysia. The main production of the village is rubber.
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  • Small boat crossing to Malaysia in Sungai Klolok town on the south border of Thailand. Many people who live near the border in both countries have a special permission to cross back and forth through the border as they have family members in both sides or they need to cross often for their business.
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  • Between the Thai and the Cambodian border, men transporting goods from one side to the other on hand held carriages next to people who are crossing the border of foot. On the background the Khmer architecture style gate that lays in teh middle of the no-man's-land..In the no-mans-land  between the border of Thailand and Cambodia near the Thai border town Aranyaprathet, there is a cazino town where mainly Thai customers go for a day or two to visit any of the 8 fancy cazinos there. At the same time, every morning Cambodian people cross the border on foot to go to their jobs in Thailand and the come back in the evening. Goods are also transported on wooden handheld carriages from one side to the other, passing through the Khmer gate that lays in the middle.
    POIPET_9893b.jpg
  • Man that transports goods with a hand-held carriage smoking a cigarete during a breack.<br />
In the no-mans-land  between the border of Thailand and Cambodia near the Thai border town Aranyaprathet, there is a cazino town where mainly Thai customers go for a day or two to visit any of the 8 fancy cazinos there. At the same time, every morning Cambodian people cross the border on foot to go to their jobs in Thailand and the come back in the evening. Goods are also transported on wooden handheld carriages from one side to the other, passing through the Khmer gate that lays in the middle.
    POIPET_9773.jpg
  • Electronic rulete at the Cazino Holiday Palace. In the no-mans-land  between the border of Thailand and Cambodia near the Thai border town Aranyaprathet, there is a cazino town where mainly Thai customers go for a day or two to visit any of the 8 fancy cazinos there. At the same time, every morning Cambodian people cross the border on foot to go to their jobs in Thailand and the come back in the evening. Goods are also transported on wooden handheld carriages from one side to the other, passing through the Khmer gate that lays in the middle.
    POIPET_0049.jpg
  • Cazino sign and moto-taxi drivers. In the no-mans-land  between the border of Thailand and Cambodia near the Thai border town Aranyaprathet, there is a cazino town where mainly Thai customers go for a day or two to visit any of the 8 fancy cazinos there. At the same time, every morning Cambodian people cross the border on foot to go to their jobs in Thailand and the come back in the evening. Goods are also transported on wooden handheld carriages from one side to the other, passing through the Khmer gate that lays in the middle.
    POIPEK_9744.jpg
  • Moto-taxi driver displaying his tattoos..In the no-mans-land  between the border of Thailand and Cambodia near the Thai border town Aranyaprathet, there is a cazino town where mainly Thai customers go for a day or two to visit any of the 8 fancy cazinos there. At the same time, every morning Cambodian people cross the border on foot to go to their jobs in Thailand and the come back in the evening. Goods are also transported on wooden handheld carriages from one side to the other, passing through the Khmer gate that lays in the middle.
    POIPET_9918a.jpg
  • Goods that have just been transportrd through the border from Thailand to Cambodia in the Cambodian town Poipet. .In the no-mans-land  between the border of Thailand and Cambodia near the Thai border town Aranyaprathet, there is a cazino town where mainly Thai customers go for a day or two to visit any of the 8 fancy cazinos there. At the same time, every morning Cambodian people cross the border on foot to go to their jobs in Thailand and the come back in the evening. Goods are also transported on wooden handheld carriages from one side to the other, passing through the Khmer gate that lays in the middle.
    POIPET_9850a.jpg
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