HILLTRIBE SITUATION

While tribal communities in the remote mountain areas of the north are being provided with increasing opportunities for schooling under the Thai System, such education rarely goes beyond the 6th grade level and often lacks the quality provided in the lowlands. As a result, tribal members who wish to progress further must leave their villages for the districts and towns. This is not an easy task. These prospective students not only lack the experiential background and Thai language capabilities reqaired in this new setting, they seldom have the financial resources to cover tuition, room & board, and basic living expenses. What is perhaps more significant is the fact that exposure to the new and " more exciting" larger Thai society, without proper guidence, often results in rapid loss of their own culture and consequent problems of self-identity. The outlook for the hill tribes grows more uncertain each year. Although official progress is being recorded among the general populace, their cultures are demeaned and their future is determined by others without their concurrence. Furthermore, they seldom have access to the social, political, or educational means to effect change. It was in order to address these problems that Bahn Ruam Jai was begun, and to ensure that tribal minorities need not remain second class citizens but enjoy the chance to integrate into the Thai society on a more equitable and self-selective basis.