Laos 1990
I suppose this website could be entitled “The Rest”, since it will be a repository for various dribs and drabs. It is also a little self-indulgent, because I have dredged up written material from my distant past which may or may not be absolutely fascinating for those who have to read it. I have to admit that I hardly recognise the person who did the writing — but at least it left some sort of a record of some of the most invigorating times in my life. And if you don’t want to read it, skip it.
I do not know exactly what is going to end up here yet, but the initial element was ‘1972 photos from Mae Sam Laep’, a small village then as now in the middle of nowhere, but which has recently emerged as a flashpoint in the escalating conflict between the Myanmar Army and the KNLA (Karen National Liberation Army).
KNLA soldiers attacked and set fire to an MA post on April 27, 2021, and the Junta retaliated with airstrikes in which dozens of villagers were killed. It makes me very sad because I have such delightful memories of Mae Sam Laep as a haven of peace, and I felt a real sense of warmth and generosity from the Karen people.
I went to Mae Sam Laep in 1972 ‘on my way’ to Cambodia, and to Wan Khao, another Karen border village, in 1975.
The Karen are an ethnic minority, if rather a large one, and it is likely that other ethnic minority photographs — particularly of the Hmong in Laos — will dominate the offerings on this site. Most of the photos will be quite old, but I am plotting to put some more recent material here later — in colour!