On the western frontier lies a remote village in Tak with a zero crime rate, no drug abuse and where residents practise a strict code of conduct.
Border patrol police treat children to lunch at Letongkhu in the border district of Umphang in Tak. Police entered the remote Karen village on the Thai-Myanmar border with a mission to reduce crime and drug abuse and promote security. WASSAYOS NGAMKHAM
The village of Letongkhu in the border district of Umphang is being studied by the Border Patrol Police Bureau which is looking at hailing it as a drug- and crime-free model for other border communities.
The bureau entered the Karen village on the Thai-Myanmar border with a mission to reduce crime and drug abuse and promote security.
Their job was made easy by the villagers' worship of a hermit who sets strict rules against the consumption of alcohol and meat, drug use, gambling and infidelity. With the hermit's spiritual and moral guidance, the villagers are close-knit and became strong.
Letongkhu, about 3km from the border, is accessible by road only in the summer and cool seasons. During the rainy months, the village is cut off from the outside world.
Border Patrol Police bureau chief Suraphong Khemasingkhi said the bureau's officers first set foot in the village in 1989 and found the ethnic Karen people there spoke no central Thai dialect.
Suraphong: Won’t try to change beliefs
Police officers went back to the village a year later and offered to build a school there. Villagers initially resisted, saying it was against their tradition to have a school with outsiders as teachers.
The villagers agreed after police promised to learn the Karen dialect from them in exchange for setting up the school where the children will learn Thai.
Police said the villagers must understand their common problems and solve them together.
This is key to the eradication of drugs and crime, which helps strengthen the community and improve border security in the process.
"It is vital that we work with the villagers and not try to change their beliefs," Pol Lt Gen Suraphong said.
Pol Lt Gen Suraphong said it was important to avoid creating conflicts with the villagers.
Cooperation between police and villagers has resulted in no crimes being committed in the village in the past three years. It is also free of drug use or trafficking, which is a problem commonly found in many border villages.
Pol Lt Col Udom Inyu, deputy chief of the 34th Border Patrol Police unit and one of the officers running the Tor Chor Dor or border patrol police school in Letongkhu said villagers study morality at school, which complements what they already practise at home.
Despite a lengthy presence of police in Letongkhu, their lack of communication with the older generation of villagers remains a hindrance.
The deputy unit chief said the youngsters speak Thai fluently. The Thai language teachers now target the older villagers including the chairman of the parents' association and the village head.
If the senior figures attend the language class, the police hope other older people will follow suit.
At the school, the curriculum also includes the study of the life of the late Princess Mother and filial piety of Her Royal Highness Maha Chakri Sirindhorn.
They are also taught how to protect themselves against drugs through the US-based Drug Abuse Resistance Education, known as Dare.
Outside the village, there have been drug-related conflicts among people.
"That's why we have to instil good thoughts in children to keep them from following bad examples," Pol Lt Col Udom said.
The Border Patrol Police Bureau wants to establish more Tor Chor Dor schools in other far-flung villages where they could adopt the Lethongkhu model.
Mayura, a Matthayom 2 student, said she was glad to learn Thai and the arrival of her police teachers made her feel "secure and willing to cooperate with authorities".
Contact Crime Track: crimetrack@bangkokpost.co.th