VietExplorer2020

Namphake- an archaic village in Dibrugarh district of Upper Assam, about a kilometre and a half from Naharkatia, is home to the Tai Phake community, descendants of the great Tai race of Southeast Asia. Archaic because the community chooses to diligently hold on to their original lifestyle and traditions over modern means and amenities. Preserved over 100 of years, this undiluted originality of the village gives outsiders a feeling of traveling back in time. This is summed up by a tourist who thinks, “It’s like I have time travelled to the Ahom era.” Far away from their other Tai relatives spread across Myanmar and Thailand, the small Tai Phake community of Assam has a population of hardly 2000. Crossing over the Patkai hills around 1775, the Tai Phakes migrated from Howkong valley of Myanmar to the Northeast of India. For the next 50 years, they shifted to several places in the Northeast, in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Presently, there are nine Tai Phake villages in the Tinsukia ...

Overview of the talks. Photo: M.Đ Senior officials of central Quang Tri province and Laos’ Savannakhet and Salavan provinces held talks in the Vietnamese locality’s Dong Ha city on December 27, during which they signed cooperation agreements in various fields for the period 2023-2025, VNA reported. This was an activity to mark the 60th founding anniversary of Vietnam-Laos diplomatic relations (September 5), and 45 years since the signing of the Vietnam-Laos Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (July 18). The conference focused on comprehensively reviewing and assessing the results of the agreements between Quang Tri Province and Savannakhet, Salavan provinces for the period 2020-2022; discussing and agreeing on cooperation contents and plans for the period 2023-2025. Thereby, the sides will continue to maintain and develop sustainably the friendship, improve the quality and effectiveness of cooperation in all fields. In the cooperation agreement between Quang Tri and Sava...