Word: thai
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...China and Burma. They were gradually pushed south until, battle weary and demoralized, they sought sanctuary in neighboring Thailand. About 4,000 men, under General Tuan Shi-wen, settled in what was then called Mae Salong. After the lost army gave up its involvement in the opium trade, the Thai government, in an effort to symbolize the area's transformation, changed the name to Santikhiri, meaning hill of peace...
...Santikhiri?particularly from December until February when the cherry trees dot the slopes with their pink exuberance?but it wasn't always thus. As late as the mid-1970s, Doi Mae Salong was strictly off-limits to outsiders. Tuan and his men had struck an agreement with the Thai government that their presence would be tolerated, provided they helped fight the Thai communist insurgents in the region. The fiercest battle began in 1970 and lasted five years. Almost 1,000 kmt soldiers perished before they finally routed the guerrillas. For their efforts, they were given Thai citizenship...
...slopes below his Chinese-style villa. Further down, the mountain falls away in an undulating patchwork of tea, tobacco, fruit trees and stands of thick forest. Above, near the summit, the sun glints on the gilt-wrapped domes and spires of a Buddhist temple. "We are just ordinary Thai citizens now," Lue says. His passport records his name as Aroon Charoentangchanya, and under that alias he has slipped back into China several times. "I even went to Beijing a couple of years back," he says. "I wanted to have a look. It was dirty and there was too much traffic...
...Thai government cut off aid to the village in 1994, and its inhabitants now survive through tourism and farming. The crisp mountain climate is ideal for growing choice-grade oolong tea, and dozens of Chinese teahouses along the main road serve it up sweet and steaming. There are also strawberry, pear and corn plantations, not to mention a thriving industry in illicit firewater distilled from local fruit and grains...
...Thailand, too, has asked the wto for trademark protection for its famed variety of jasmine rice?the bright white, popcorn-flavored staple served in many Asian-cuisine restaurants. Thai farmers fear that a strain of the rice being developed for American climes by plant geneticist Chris Deren at the University of Florida will significantly cut into the $300 million worth of jasmine rice sold each year...