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Travel Sekong: The Triang Tribe in Dak Jung Town (Dak Jung, Dak Jung)
Project gen by hotsia
The Triang tribe in Dak Jung Town (Dak Jung, Dak Jung) http://www.hotsia.com > Travel Sekong > The Triang tribe in Dak Jung Town (Dak Jung, Dak Jung). They are not Karen people; their spoken language is different. The Triang people use the Dak Kang language. From what I heard, it has some words similar to Thai, but I couldn’t understand what they said. The Triang tribe is numerous in Sekong Province, Laos, especially in Dak Jung Town where almost all are Triang (though there are three other tribes as well).
I was lucky to visit Dak Jung Town. I got information from Lao people that this town is very hard to reach, possibly requiring several nights sleeping in the forest before arrival. This made me eager to come, and finally, I succeeded in traveling there (see travel details to Dak Jung Town here). The village where the Lao Department of Advertising and Culture officials took me is Ban Dak Suang, about 4 kilometers from Dak Jung Town. It takes about 40 minutes by motorcycle on a somewhat difficult road crossing four or five streams.
However, it is accessible by a regular motorcycle, not a dirt bike. Ban Dak Suang has about 30 households with several hundred people. Next to the village is a natural water source essential for drinking, bathing, washing clothes, cooking, and raising animals. They farm cassava enough for daily sustenance, living simply by pounding their own rice, which provides full nutrition for longevity. Someone there told me they live up to 150 years old. I’m not sure because they don’t record birth years, just an estimate.
They grow their own rice, round grains like mountain rice or Japanese rice. Every household must pound their rice themselves, threshing and removing husks repeatedly until clean, then cooking it into nutritious rice. There is no rice milling machine like ours. Their staple food is boiled vegetables with salt and chili. They eat meat about once a week, usually chicken or pork they raise.
They have no income. Their clothes come from selling vegetables at the market; with the money, they buy clothes. Other necessities are gathered from the forest or grown. Clothes are very important to them. This was told to me by a Triang person who accompanied me. The Triang eat only two handfuls of rice daily, morning and afternoon. They eat little because food is scarce. From what I saw, children often don’t wear clothes; only older kids wear them.
The Triang tribe I visited has never had tourists before. Once, six Japanese researchers came for a study. The Triang houses are wooden with grass roofs, similar to hill tribe houses in Kontum. The houses have high roofs and feel cool inside. Dak Jung is a highland with cold weather. Triang houses have indoor stoves and they build fires inside for warmth and cooking.
A well-known charm of the Triang in Sekong is their use of large smoking pipes called "Krabung." The name clearly means pipe or bong. I learned from Professor Phupan, who teaches geography in Sekong, that around the fire circle they smoke these pipes, which make a "gok gok" sound like water. They share the pipe in turns around the circle: men pass to women, women to men, sharing and courting. This is called "Pan Gok," meaning sharing and courting.
I strolled around the village for a while, chatting with locals and playing with Triang children. I had the chance to eat hot steamed rice with boiled vegetables served in a traditional Khantok tray as a Triang welcome. I was invited to smoke Pan Gok but I declined, just enjoying the delicious rice and vegetables. This story about the Triang is probably the first to be published on the internet.
Anyone visiting Dak Jung will gain a deeper understanding of living simply despite hardships. Amid difficulties, you see the pure smiles of every Triang person. I don’t want many tourists to come, fearing their lifestyle might be destroyed. But I want to help ease their hardships because when I talked to them, they said in the dry season there is no water here; they must walk several kilometers to get water. Mr.hotsia December 2010.
mr.hotsia recommends hotels in Sekong. Video clip of Triang children pounding rice, one child carrying a younger sibling on the back. Mr.Hotsia at Ban Dak Suang, Dak Jung Town, enjoying a Khantok lunch welcome from the Triang. Dak Jung Town 15°31'30.84"N, 107°15'26.928"E. See the photo location on the globe at Triang children threshing rice in Dak Jung Town (Dak Jung, Dak Jung) 15°31'30.804"N, 107°15'26.765"E. Such a small child must carry a younger sibling on the back while pounding rice 15°31'30.611"N, 107°15'25.938"E.
Behind my camera setup 15°31'30.714"N, 107°15'26.531"E. Triang children in their village 15°31'32.652"N, 107°15'27.185"E. Smiles of the Triang 15°31'31.23"N, 107°15'27.149"E. An elderly Triang woman didn’t understand why I gave money; I told her it was to buy eggs. Among Triang children 15°31'31.038"N, 107°15'27.347"E. The Triang village is beautiful, with houses built with grass roofs and high ceilings in the Triang style.
This photo was taken by my camera while eating rice with the Triang in Dak Jung 15°31'30.114"N, 107°15'26.802"E. In the yard of the Triang tribe in Dak Jung Town (Dak Jung, Dak Jung) 15°31'30.33"N, 107°15'26.645"E, 15°31'30.665"N, 107°15'26.873"E, 15°31'30.762"N, 107°15'29.003"E. Three Triang children helping to pound rice 15°31'25.548"N, 107°15'28.349"E. Their method of washing clothes, Triang tribe in Dak Jung Town (Dak Jung, Dak Jung) 15°31'25.548"N, 107°15'28.332"E.
Bathing and washing clothes from a natural water source near the village, but today it is starting to dry up 15°31'25.752"N, 107°15'23.459"E. Triang houses in Dak Jung 15°31'30.642"N, 107°15'26.262"E. Children at Ban Dak Suang, Dak Jung Town 15°31'30.9"N, 107°15'26.897"E. Houses of the Triang tribe in Dak Jung Town (Dak Jung, Dak Jung) 15°31'30.881"N, 107°15'26.825"E. Houses of the Triang tribe in Dak Jung Town (Dak Jung, Dak Jung) 15°31'30.528"N, 107°15'26.37"E. Behind the video shoot
15°31'30.552"N, 107°15'26.453"E. All village children watching 15°31'31.925"N, 107°15'27.275"E, 15°31'32.862"N, 107°15'27.263"E. They raise horses too 15°31'31.332"N, 107°15'26.849"E. Smiles, can you see their ears? 15°31'31.116"N, 107°15'26.993"E. Mr.Hotsia at the Triang house 15°31'31.014"N, 107°15'27.047"E. Beautiful Triang houses 15°31'31.038"N, 107°15'27.185"E. Inside a Triang house in Dak Jung 15°31'31.056"N, 107°15'27.149"E.
