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Traders of the Golden Triangle (Cognoscenti Books) Kindle Edition

by Andrew Forbes (Author), Cognoscenti Books (Author), David Henley (Photographer) Format: Kindle Edition
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36,500 words,70 historical images, 46 contemporary images, 5 maps, Bibliography

During the latter half of the twentieth century the little-known and often lawless region where Laos, Burma, Thailand and China meet has become known and widely romanticised as ‘The Golden Triangle’. Originally a Western designation applied to the region because of its wealth in jade, silver, rubies, lumber, rare animal products and, above all, opium, the name has stuck and is today accepted both in Chinese and in Thai.

By reputation, by very definition, the area is off the beaten track. The home of drug warlords, arms dealers, insurgent armies, latter-day slave traders and plain, old-fashioned bandits, it is also the home of an extraordinarily wide range of colourful ethnic minorities, many still only partly known and understood, and a veritable Tower of Babel linguistically.

In recent years the defeat of communist insurgencies in Thailand and Burma, coupled with the lowering of the Bamboo Curtain in China and Laos as both those countries slowly switched to free trade, has opened some parts of the Golden Triangle to the outside world for the first time in decades.

Other areas—most notably Burma's Wa States—have never really been open. Even during the British Raj the area remained sealed off, closed to outsiders. And for good reason: the ‘Wild Wa’ were head-hunters who lived in all-but-impregnable thorn-stockaded villages. The only way in was by a narrow, winding tunnel, pierced with narrow slots which ensured the uninvited could be pierced with spears as they wormed their way in. Heads were taken to ensure the abundance of the harvest, and prominently displayed near the frontiers of Wa territory. Hardly surprisingly, people stayed away.

People stayed away; yet there was one exception. The rugged, indomitable Yunnanese Chinese known to the Burmese as Panthay, and to the Thai and Lao as Haw, were—and to some extent still are—the Masters of the Golden Triangle.
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  1. Print length
    242 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    February 2, 2013
  5. File size
    6599 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B006GMID5K
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cognoscenti Books; 2nd edition (February 2, 2013)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 2, 2013
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 6599 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 242 pages

About the authors

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  1. Andrew Forbes

    Andrew Forbes
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    Andrew Forbes / Andrew D. W. Forbes graduated in Chinese Studies from the University of Leeds before completing an MA in Islamic Studies and a Ph.D. in Central Asian History. He lectured in East African History at the University of Khartoum (1977-78) and in Islamic Studies at the University of Aberdeen (1982-88). In 1983-4 he was Leverhulme Fellow at the British Institute in Southeast Asia, Thailand, and in 1988-89 he was a Senior Associate Member of St Antony's College, Oxford. He has traveled extensively in Asia and Africa, and is currently editor of Crescent Press Agency (www.cpamedia.com); Pictures From History, an online image library specialising in cultural and historical images of Asia (www.picturesfromhistory.com); and Cognoscenti Books, a publishing company specialising in eBooks on Asian Art, Culture, History & Travel (www.cognoscentibooks.com).

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  2. David Henley

    David Henley
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    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    David Henley is a professional photographer and travel writer based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where he has lived with his wife and family for more than 20 years. He has been published by Insight Guides, Berlitz, Dorling Kindersley, National Geographic, Frommers, Thomas Cook, AA Publishing and a wide variety of other publishing houses and publications. He has traveled extensively in Asia, and is currently Managing Director of CPA Media Ltd (Crescent Press Agency, www.cpamedia.com); Pictures From History, an online image library specializing in historical images of Asia (www.picturesfromhistory.com); and Cognoscenti Books (www.cognoscentibooks.com).

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