The Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP) is doing well. We are in a transition phase of establishing a small southern nongovernmental organization (SNGO) that will coordinate, facilitate and provide capacity building initiatives for small development projects. This SNGO will be called the "Northern Thailand Integrated Tribal Development Programme" (NTITDP).

The activities implemented by the various projects are in the areas of community development, economic development, sustainable development, educational development, agricultural development and social development. Next year there will be an emphasis in assisting villagers in issues of basic civil rights.

Background Information on Thailand

The large NGOs and GOs did much to improve the overall status of the hill tribes. The hill tribes are now much more politically stable but there still is a lot of discrimination taking place. These large organizations helped tremendously to develop Thailand's infrastructure. There are roads throughout the mountains for the hill tribes to use for markets and travel to towns and cities. Hill tribe production of opium was the original focus for these organizations. The first large GOs and NGO's came to Thailand to assist the Thai government in helping the hill tribes to grow other crops for a livelihood other than opium. Without their assistance, Thailand would not be as developed as it is today.

As a result of their work, more people all over the world began to hear the name "Golden Triangle" (Thailand, Burma and Laos) and more agencies wanted to help Thailand. As more information reached the rest of the world, tourism started to build. People wanted to go to an exotic country, people wanted to visit the "Golden Triangle" and see the hill tribes. Business people in other parts of Thailand and the world went up north and bought lots of land from the hill tribes and northern Thai to established guesthouses, restaurants, resorts, and other business. The hill tribes were exposed to a whole new world. They were making money in ways that they never thought of, tourism, selling handicrafts, prostitution, selling drugs, and having access to large markets. With all this going on, Thailand’s status moved from a "Third World Country" to a "Developed Country" quite rapidly in a short amount of time, leaving many areas not able to cope with the change. It is true that Thailand may be much better off than its neighboring countries in many ways. However, there is still a large gap between the rich and poor, with many of the poor being minority ethnic groups, the northern hill tribes are an example.

Assisting hill tribes at the source of problems

It is through the Integrated Tribal Development Programme (IDTP) that many ethnic hill tribes have a chance to make their own decisions and an opportunity to live sustainable livelihoods. If the ITDP is able to assist the resource-poor hill tribes, which over 90 % are involved in areas of agricultural development; to help themselves, then there will be less needs for development assistance in the low lands and cities. If ITDP activities target the sources of problems, which in many cases have to do with economics and social issues, the rate of prostitution and drug addiction will decrease therefore reducing AIDS. It is through holistic village development actions that slow down the migration of villagers to cities and towns.

The ultimate answer to sustainable development, Christ

It is through the implementation of ITDP’s Christ-like development activities that the villagers are able to receive "True Sustainability". A village can receive all the development assistance given to them but if they do not receive Christ, their livelihoods will not be truly sustainable because the villagers will not receive the eternal life that Christ has waiting for them. Therefore, the main goal of the ITDP is to put Christ love in to action by bringing Christ to the resource-poor. ”'Let the poor say, "I am rich" because of what the Lord has done for us.”