If you are a traveler interested in history, culture and heritage, then Bangkok and its many diverse states is a perfect vacation spot. If you have opted to stay at the Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort then you can’t miss out on visiting the hall of Opium at the Golden Triangle Park.
It is the best hotel Chiang Rai in which to stay to indulge in the best of what Chiang Rai has to offer. The Golden Triangle refers to the triangular area bordering Thailand, Laos and Burma which were fertile ground for fields of poppy from which the dreaded opium drug was produced. The immense financial gain from this plantation caused severe hardships, and tragedies both locally and Internationally.
The Mae Fah Luang Foundation, a project of the late Princess Mother, began a series of research and planning which culminated 10 years later, in 2005, in the establishment of the hall of Opium. Although the initial reaction to this project was one of skepticism, visitors who have taken the time to visit the hall and experience all it has to offer, walk away from the hall of Opium with a profound and lasting impression of the history of Opium, its trade, and its vicious tentacles.
Walking into the building, visitors are taken through a long, dark tunnel filled with muted moans and wailing, with outstretched skeletal arms begging for help. With this vivid and highly realistic feel of the effects of Opium on all who use it, visitors are then led into an area filled with the pretty poppy flowers but which reveals ugly facts.
The trade aspect shows the growth of the industry to what it is today – an almost 400 billion dollar industry. What began as a pain killer moved on to a fashion habit but quickly escalated into an expensive habit that was literally a silent but sure killer. Opium and its refined product of heroin still continues to wreck havoc in trade but the Hall of Opium hopes to bring a realistic jolt to all those lackadaisical on the subject. The almost 10 million dollar venture is a lasting, memorable and responsible project that truly reaches out.
Intrigued by history, art and food, Shazzana Hamid is a writer who is passionate about the extraordinary. Disguised as Lavinia Woolf she writes of the exhilarating and enchanting.
