Khamtaan had never questioned the leaking thatched roof,the hard work in the felds,the simple and spartan village life until a stream of young woman came back from Bangkok with gold necklaces, modern clothes and money to build new homes for their famlies.
"All of a sudden,the sound of the train leaking in became intolerable. I was 18 and an only child. My parent didn't want me to go anywhere,so I ran away." Recalled the Tai Yai or shan woman Khamtaan,now 30,still retains much of the beauty of her youth.her oval shaped face is framed by long. Flowing hair. Her body is still slim albeit the protruding trummy from her three-minth pregnancy.