While thousands of Swedes and Norwegians winter or retire in sunny Thailand, Thais form the second largest ethnic group in the Arctic territory of Spitsbergen. What draws people from the Land of Smiles to the land of chattering teeth is the prospect of earning as much as US$3,000 a month.
LONGYEARBYEN, Svalbard - It's hard to imagine two places more different than tropical Thailand and the Arctic Norwegian territory of Svalbard, or Spitsbergen as it is more commonly known after the main island in the frozen archipelago. But ironically Thais are the largest ethnic group here after the Norwegians.
The total population of the main settlement Longyearbyen is only about 1,800, of whom 70 are Thais. Most of them are female cleaners and chambermaids in Longyearbyen's hotels and restaurants. Apart from Longyearbyen there are only a few other settlements: the scientific station of Ny Alesund to the north - mankind's northernmost habitation - and the Russian mining town of Barentsburg to the west.
Ing-Ing is from Phitsanulok and Duanjai from Petchabun, two northern Thai provinces where green rice paddy fields billow in the warm breeze and coconut trees dot the landscape. They have been in chilly, snowy Longyearbyen for more than a year. "It's cooold," Ing-Ing lamented. "I want to go home, but the money is too good here." She and Duanjai work as chambermaids at Hotel Spitsbergen, along with five other young Thai women.
Full Story : Asia Times Online
Thais in the land of frozen smiles
Thais in the land of frozen smiles
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? - Hunter S Thompson
I'm sure they'll find something to warm them up!
