The Thai government is trying hard to eliminate opium cultivation, and encourages craft programs and tourism to give hill tribes a new source of income to replace their traditional cash crop. Authentic and reasonably priced tribal crafts from northern Thailand also are sold at the local Hill Tribes Crafts Center, one of several in the country sponsored by the Thai royal family. A useful place to visit before heading into the hills to visit tribal villages is the museum of the Tribal Research Institute, housed in a small pagoda-like building on the campus of Chiang Mai University. The museum has exhibits on each of the six main hill tribes along with displays of their particular costumes, jewelry, and handicrafts and explanations of village life and religious practices. The hill tribes speak different languages or dialects and are ethnically distinct from the Thais and one another.
Most tribes are semi-nomadic, and some originated as far away as Tibet and northern China.
They have been drifting south toward Thailand for centuries. But, the largest group the Karens, now nearly half the total hill-tribe population, migrated from neighboring Burma within the last 30 years, fleeing political repression and civil war. Because opium grows best at higher elevations, most hill-tribe villages are at an altitude of 3,000 feet or more. So, visiting them means lots of views and vistas as well as photo ops and a unique cultural experience. One of the highlights of my stay in Chiang Mai was a visit to the area of Chiang Dao.