“Off with your head” opulence! When I was growing up in Asia, the enchanting movies of Anna and the King of Siam and The King and I had become worldwide sensations. The “exotic” land e Siam, now Thailand, intrigued millions of people worldwide. A land of gold, gold and gold palaces. With the beauty, charm and elegance of exotic royalty. Opulence is clearly the right word.

“生杀予夺”一般的奢华和权柄！在英文的童话故事里皇帝都喜欢说“要砍掉你的头”（“off with your head”)一句话来表达他的这种权威。
当我在亚洲长大的时候，《安娜与暹罗王》和《国王与我》这些迷人的电影引起了全世界的注意。世界各国的人对“异国风情的”暹罗，就是现在的泰国，充满好奇感。一个遍布黄金和黄金宫殿的地方，还带着异国王室具有的魅力与高雅。显然，用奢华一词来形容再合适不过了。

Siam’s King, however, had great ideas for modernizing his country, even though he was clearly a dictator! After all, he was King! Though no actual heads rolled on the movie sets, similar threats were obviously executed.

即使暹罗的国王明明是一个独裁者，但他对现代化自己的国家有很大的野心。他毕竟是国王！在电影的拍摄片场上虽然没有真的砍掉人头，但影片里却出现类似的“生杀予夺”情景。

In modern-day Thailand, the recently deceased King was thoroughly modern and well educated. He was revered and loved throughout the kingdom as a demi-god, with huge, impressively elegant photos of him in every home and institution! Few people outside of Thailand know that he was actually born in the USA, where kings aren’t normally born, and that he was also a fine musician on the clarinet, a key instrument for early 1900s jazz, which isn’t that popular in Asia. A fascinating king in a fascinating country.

在现今的泰国，最近去世的国王是完全现代化的人，也受过高档的教育。他以半神的身份享有全国人民的爱戴和尊重，每个家庭和事业单位里都挂他的既巨大又典雅的照相！泰国之外很少人知道，他其实出生在美国，一个国王平时不会出生的地方。而且他还很会吹单簧管，在亚洲不怎么流行的第20世纪初的爵士音乐中作为关键的乐器。一个神奇的国家里的神奇的国王。

The power of the throne. The throne is still immensely powerful today and is the wealthiest ($90 billion) in the world. Plus, there is the infamous les majeste law, which means that any offense (even verbal) against the king means practically off with your head consequences!

王室的实力。当今泰国的王室依然非常有实力，而且是世界上最有钱的（900亿美元）王室。还有著名的《欺君法》，意味着任何对国王的冒犯（即使是口头上的）带着“砍掉他们的头”一般的后果！

Off with your head for fun. Where else would you applaud “Put Head in Crocodile Jaws”? There are few places in the world where a brave man gets a huge admiring audience cheering him on when he willingly shoves his head into the gaping jaws of a crocodile. And where the same semi-naked agile man grabs the tail of the crocodile, or wraps his arms around the cold- blooded reptile with a hug and clamps the gaping jaws shut. All for fun and fascination! That’s Siam for you.

玩“砍掉你的头”。还有什么地方可以为“鳄鱼嘴里探头”而鼓掌？一个勇敢的人因为自愿把自己的头挤到鳄鱼张开的巨口里而得到一大群人的围观和欢呼，在全世界很少地方才有。还有这同一个半裸的男士灵巧地抓住鳄鱼的尾巴，或者一边把这只冷血的爬行动物拥抱起来一边夹住它的嘴。就为了取乐和吸引人！这就是暹罗。

Where else can you get snake venom squished from live poisonous snakes 5 feet before you? At 15 years of age, I remember watching in awe from 5 feet away, with no protective glass separation, as a snake handler expertly clamped the jaws of different poisonous snakes and deftly squished out the deadly venom onto petri dishes, to the amazement and applause of all onlookers. All for a great cause, at the Pasteur Institute in Bangkok, to produce precious anti-venom snake antibodies, literally for the world. Exotic crocodiles and exotic snakes, in an exotic land.

还有什么地方可以在两米之距观看活的毒蛇身上取蛇毒？我记得，我15岁的时候有一次在两米的距离敬畏地观察一位老练的驯蛇师，当时也没有什么玻璃屏的保护。他把各种毒蛇的嘴夹住，灵巧地取出致命的毒液并接到培养皿里，令观众惊奇得鼓起掌来。这都是为了良好的目的，在曼谷巴斯德研究所给全世界生产珍贵的抗蛇毒的抗体。奇异国度特有的奇异鳄鱼和奇异蛇。

Better to turn man-eaters into handbags. It seemed in those days like a brilliant idea to have deadly crocodiles and snakes farmed and controlled for science, entertainment and dollars! Especially when converted into precious handbags, wallets and belts.

把吃人的动物变成手提包为更好。为了科学、娱乐和挣钱而去养育危险的鳄鱼和蛇，当时看似是一个绝妙的想法！特别是制造成精致贵重的手提包、钱包和腰带的时候。

I was mesmerized particularly by the superb quality and polished beauty of the rugged, jagged and brilliant brown crocodile skin wallets, given to me as prized exotic gifts by my favorite aunt from Thailand. Such dangerous elegance! That’s Siam for you.

我最喜欢的泰国姑姑曾送给过我稀有的鳄鱼皮制作的钱包作为礼物，它们的优秀精美的做工和粗糙锯齿状的灿烂茶色皮质尤其令我迷住。既危险又优雅！这就是暹罗。

A 14-year-old girl from mysterious Siam flies into Sunday School. My personal high point in this Siam story was a 14-year-old girl who dropped out of the sky from Siam, and showed up in my Hong Kong Sunday School. During a time when people rarely flew, let alone kids. A kid who entirely changed my life.

来自神奇暹罗的14岁小姑娘飞到主日学。这段讲暹罗的故事中，我个人最喜欢的部分是一个14岁的小姑娘从暹罗飞到香港，忽然而然出现在我上的主日学班里。那时候很少人会做飞机，更别说是个孩子了。而正是这个小孩子完全改变了我的人生。

And who inspired me to learn Thai phrases, especially her very long Thai name. Actually no one else knows this name to this very day, and I won’t tell you, since it’s a convenient backup for secret codes.

她也激发了我学习泰语的几句话，特别是她很长的泰语名字。其实，到今天为止没人知道她的名字，我也不会告诉你，因为它可以作一个很方便的密码备份。

Language inspiration. That inspiration to learn a new language started me on an early track of learning at least 20 phrases in at least 20 languages for the many countries I visited throughout life. Sometimes 50 phrases if I was going to be visiting for a bit longer. A very practical skill for anyone. People just brighten up immediately if I can say even just a few words in their native tongue!

语言的启发。那次使我学一门新语言的启发，让我在早期开始学习用我去过的很多国家的至少20门语言讲至少20句本地的话。如果访问的时间长一点，我有时候会学50句话。对任何人来说这是非常实用的技能。即使我只会说出一两句本地话，立刻会让人们特别高兴！

Being young was a great time to learn a foreign language. Indeed, likely because I started young, native language speakers often commented that my pronunciation of their language phrases wasn’t bad.

年轻时期是学习外语的好时间。的确，很可能因为我开始的时候年轻，本地人经常会提到我的发音不错。

Truly mesmerized at age 15. My first visit to Thailand at age 15 was indeed captivating. It probably helped inspire me to travel and learn for the rest of my life. Plus Siam was really so different in culture, language and just exceptional beauty. Palaces, temples, it seemed like practically any public structure was built with elegance and charm. The colors were often golden and brilliant purple. I had never seen anything like it, and I still think it’s one of the prettiest countries in the world!

15岁的时候实在被迷住。我15岁时第一次到泰国，确实令我着迷。那次探访很可能激发了我对旅游和学习一生的热衷。再加上暹罗的文化、语言和特殊的美丽跟其它地方真的很不一样。宫殿、庙宇等所有公共建筑看似都具有优雅和魅力。它们的颜色大多是金黄色和灿烂的紫色。我从来没见过类似的情景，直到现在依然觉得那是世界最美丽的国家之一！

“Bow to (gold-colored) Buddha.” I learnt that, contrary to modern western cultures, there was such a thing as state religion. There was no separation between Buddha and state! Public schools opened early in the morning with worship of an image or statue of Buddha, and he was literally everywhere. Huge temples were dedicated to him, and in each home there was often a small shrine or even miniature temple for him.

“向（金黄色的）佛像鞠躬”。我发现，与现代的西方文化相反，这个地方有国教。佛与国之间没有划分！公立学校每天早上以敬拜佛像开始，而他简直无处不在。巨大的庙宇是为他而建，而每家每户一般都有为他而设的一个小祭坛或小型的庙。

And his yellow- or brown-robed priests were everywhere, especially early in the morning, collecting rice and food from the neighborhood. It was a total visual assault on the brain.

还有穿着黄色或茶色长袍的僧侣随处可见，尤其黎明时，在社区里收集大米和食物。这一切对于我的大脑真的是全面的视觉冲击。

I found out that only less than one or two percent of the population were Christians. Surprisingly, the Christian numbers were in significant part because of minority tribes that had accepted the new faith up in the mountains, away from the hustle and bustle of the big (majority Thai) cities.

我还发现，只有不到总人口百分之一或者二的人是基督徒。令人惊讶的是，基督徒人数在相对大的程度上来自少数民族部落。他们在自己住的，离喧嚣的（主体民族住的）大城市远的山区接受了新的宗教信仰。

Fearless motorcycle-riding native evangelist over unpaved mountain trails. Years later, I would travel with a local native Lisu tribe missionary, Barnabas. He regaled me with stories of how many of the minority tribes (especially Lisu, Akha and Lahu) became Christians. He was extremely active on his motorcycle, traveling from very poor village to very poor village in the mountains, preaching the Good Word.

山里土路上骑摩托车的勇敢本地传道人。多年之后，我有机会陪一位当地傈僳族的传道人巴拿巴出行。他给我讲了许多少数民族（尤其傈僳族、阿卡族和拉祜族）如何成为基督教徒的故事。他骑着他的摩托车积极奔波，在大山里那些贫穷的村庄之间去传讲好消息。

He encountered gun-toting drug dealers when he got too close to their hideouts. He broke his leg while driving over the unpaved muddy roads. He had personally experienced many difficulties as a child seeking a good education himself. But his stories were also great examples of how the gospel changed the villages. Even from planting opium and drug dealing into law-abiding Christian villages.

他在靠近贩毒藏匿地点时曾遇到过持枪的毒贩子。也曾在骑摩托车走泥泞山路的时候摔断过自己的腿。他更是从小为了寻求和得到良好的教育而经历了不少的困难和挑战。然而，正是他的故事让我们看到了好消息如何改变了这些村庄，甚至让种植和贩卖鸦片的地方变成奉公守法的基督徒村庄。

Barnabas’ own minority Lisu tribe, amazingly, became 50% Christian, which is one of the largest Christian percentages of any population throughout Asia.

巴拿巴自己的傈僳族中50%的人成为了基督徒，如此的惊，乃至在整个亚洲他都称得上是基督徒比例最多的地方之一。

Objects on home high shelf are idols? I learned that tribal minorities were often animists, who worshipped trees, rocks and nature. Plus they had objects on their home shelves that looked quite normal, like vases and bottles. But these objects had been given special spiritual significance, and they were worshipped as idols.

家里高架子上的摆放的物品都是偶像？我发现少数民族的部落通常都相信万物有灵，敬拜树木、石头和大自然。加上他们在家中的架子上还会摆一些看起来很寻常的，像花瓶和瓶子之类的东西。可是，这些事物附加了特殊的属灵意义，被人当偶像来崇拜。

Once items were considered sacred, the villagers attached special significance to them, including that they should be higher up than other objects. This even translated into Christian tribal feelings about things like the Bible, which could not be placed on any low surface, especially feet level.

一旦东西被看作为神圣的，村民就会认为它们具有特殊的重要性，包括应该把它们放在比其他东西更高的位置。这甚至体现在部族基督徒对经文的情怀：他们绝对不会把经书摆在任何低的地方，特别是地上。

“Let’s slaughter a big pig.” Some tribal customs were dramatic. Slaughtering a huge boar on church grounds with blood dripping into sandy ravines was indeed overly dramatic for foreigners. But it brought out the community spirit, with everyone getting together to chop up the slain boar and eat a big feast. This could include hundreds of people chomping on the very freshly boiled and very fat pork. One thing that was always impressive was their community exuberance!

“咱们来杀一头肥猪”。有些部落习俗是比较震撼人的。在教堂旁边杀一只巨大的公猪，沙地上血流成沟的情景对外国人来说实在有点夸张。可是，这却能鼓起每个人的团结精神，大家聚在一起杀猪和吃盛宴。这场盛宴甚至可能有数百人在一起津津有味地品尝如此新鲜肥美的猪肉。他们热情洋溢的团结精神总是令人印象深刻难以忘怀！

Courageous 17-year-old Hong Kong girl. We heard the story of a courageous Hong Kong girl, Wendy, who began to visit northern Thailand tribal villages while still a teenager. She was touched by the poverty and aimlessness of their society. While still in her early twenties, she began organizing many Hong Kong teams to go every few months to encourage the tribal people.

勇敢的17岁香港女孩。我们听到了一个勇敢的香港女孩子文迪的故事。她青少年的时候已经开始探访泰国北部的部落村庄。他们的贫困处境和社会的迷茫生活让她感触颇深。她二十几岁的时候就开始组织很多香港的团队每隔几个月去看望和鼓励这些部落的村民。

Dramatically, she then decided on a 10-month stay, in an Akha tribal village under primitive conditions, which confirmed her personal calling for this specific people group.

后来她做出一个惊人的决定，在一个原始的阿卡部落简陋的村里留下来10个月的时间。正是这一段经历让她坚定地确信了自己对这个特定的民族的使命感。

After seminary training, Wendy literally plunged into an extremely challenging life, including marrying a local Akha minority pastor, and starting schools and churches. All for the love of her Lord. A truly inspiring story.

神学培训结束后，文迪投身于极其有挑战的生活，包括嫁给一位本地的阿卡族牧师，建立学校和教会。这一切是因为她对她主的爱。真的是一个振奋人心的故事。

Life-threatening land mines and opium growing. Tribal minorities historically lived in mountainous borderland areas, often growing opium and other drugs, where vicious drug lords often planted landmines to keep out others, and where numerous illegal refugee crossings also occurred. These activities often centered around the infamous northern Thailand Golden Triangle region at the junction of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos, named presumably for its “gold” and corruption.

致命的地雷与罂栗的种植。少数民族部落历世历代生活在边疆的山区，常常种植罂栗和其它毒品，凶残的毒枭经常为了阻止别人经过而埋下地雷，因为这里经常也有很多难民非法过境。这些活动通常集中在位于泰国、缅甸和老挝的交接地带，就是泰国北部的著名金三角。据说是因为其“黄金”和腐败而命名的。

Many refugees cross illegally, especially from Myanmar into Thailand, escaping war and chaos. They are usually truly “dirt poor” and often discriminated against.

很多逃离战乱的难民非法过境，尤其从缅甸到泰国，他们一般都穷得一贫如洗，经常也受到歧视。

These refugees are often the tribal villagers selling trinkets on Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai streets. They look charming and exotic, especially when dressed in colorful tribal attire. The Akhas appear strikingly beautiful, with their silver-loaded hats and garments, but they’re actually barely making a living selling these trinkets, which they have to carry around all day, hoping to sell a few to fascinated tourists.

在清迈或清莱的街头上摆卖小玩意的部落村民通常就是这些难民。他们看起来很有吸引力还带有异国情调，特别是在他们穿着华丽的民族服装时。阿卡族的人带着布满银饰的帽子和服装显得非常美丽，但事实上他们卖这些小玩意勉强能糊口。他们成天背着东西期待能够向好奇的游客们卖掉几个。

Warm hospitality, land of smiles. There’s no question that Siam is a warm and hospitable land, the land of smiles. We could even sense that when visiting extremely poor villages. The homes were bare, with the family’s entire life belongings basically just hung up on the bamboo walls. The whole family often just lived in one room, yet they even tried to give us food that they clearly couldn’t afford. We weren’t even sure the bamboo floor would hold us when we stepped into the homes. Yes, when we interact with humans at a human level, it can be very touching.

热情好客，微笑之国。暹罗毫无疑问是热情好客的微笑之国，我们连探访最贫穷的村庄的时候都可以感觉到这一点。房屋是空荡荡的，基本上家中的一切财产都挂在了竹墙上。全家人通常都住一个房间，但即使是这样他们也依然尽量想邀请我们吃他们原本就买不起的食物。当我们踏进房子的时候都还不太能确定竹地板是否能经受得住我们的重量。是的，在人情层面接触他人，会给我们带来很多感动。

Discomforting comfortable teens. I particularly loved to bring teenagers to these far, far away tribal mountains, because they provided significant challenges, including their very different cultures, languages, and religions. Youth is the best time to inspire and encourage everyone.

让悠闲的年轻人体会到不舒适。我特别喜欢把年轻人带到这些偏远山区里的部族当中，因为可以让他们经历比较大的挑战，包括截然不同的文化、语言和宗教。青少年时期是启发和鼓励人的最佳时间。

Dark side. “Leave your passport with us.” But there is a dark side of this storybook land. In our younger days, we heard of tourists, especially from Asian countries, required to pay a “special charge” to get through the Bangkok Airport Customs smoothly. But when we arrived at the airport, we refused to pay the bribes, so we had to stand in line until the officials figured out how to punish us.

黑暗的一面。“把你的护照留给我们”。然而，这个故事书一般的国度也有黑暗的一面。我们年轻的时候听说过，游客需要交“特殊的手续费”才能顺利经过曼谷机场的海关尤其来自亚洲国家的游客。而我们到机场的时候则拒绝行贿，于是需要继续排队等官员想出惩治我们的办法。

They decided to hold our passports, thus forcing our hosting relatives to pick them up days later. It was also far easier to intimidate local people! I didn’t really ask what happened, but I’m assuming the officers probably didn’t just simply release our passports.

他们决定暂时没收我们的护照，让接待我们的亲戚几天之后去取，因为恐吓当地人还是容易很多！我没有特地去问他们是如何处理的，但我估计那些官员大概不是轻易地把我们的护照还回来的。

Horror stories. Horror stories started coming out of local airport agents planting drugs in the baggage of gullible Asian tourists, in order to then arrest them and exact huge so-called fines. Drug dealers could theoretically get the death penalty, so it wasn’t funny. Fortunately, this racket was exposed after some years.

恐怖故事。关于当地的机场工作人员的让人害怕的故事也开始流传：他们为了把好骗的亚洲游客逮捕并向他们索取巨额的所谓的罚款，会在他们的行李包里栽赃毒品。理论上，贩毒是可以判死刑的，所以这件事情是非常严重的。幸运的是，几年之后这个骗局被曝光了。

Dark, dark side. The corruption at borders included mass prostitution tours and gangs heavily involved in drug trafficking or child abuse, particularly including victims from poor tribal minorities.

更黑暗的一面。边境地区的腐败包括了大型的卖淫团伙和黑帮参与的贩毒及儿童人口贩卖，而特别是来自贫困部落的少数民族容易成为受害者。

Our family and church faithfully supported tribal village education for decades, and certainly hoped that the teaching of truth values among poverty-stricken tribes could help protect many families and children from such evils.

我们的家人和教会在过去几十年一直坚定地支持部族乡村人的教育，希望通过贫困部落当中教导真理从而帮助很多家庭和孩子避免那些邪恶的事情。

A mythical paradise? The picture is often painted of Thailand as a paradise for inexpensive retirement, with excellent housing opportunities, beautiful beaches, and exotic delicious Thai food everywhere. However, the confusing and sharply contrasting, discomforting side of the story keeps popping up as a reminder that there are no paradises on earth, since humans readily contaminate them. There’s only one real ultimate Paradise, the one that we should aim for. Where there are no crocodile chomps, no vile venom, nor corrupt evil.

传说中的天堂？泰国常常被描绘成一个平价的退休天堂，遍地有优越的住房、美丽的沙滩和可口的泰国美食。可是，与之形成强烈反差的并且令人困惑和不舒服的故事的另一面，它一直不停地冒出来，提醒着我们地球上没有天堂，因为它容易被人类污染。只有一个最终的天堂，也是我们应该追求的那一个，在那里没有鳄鱼撕咬、没有可恶的猛毒也没有邪恶的腐败。