Title: A mobilities approach to trekking: a 1978 trek to Hua Mae Kham, Northern Thailand

Authors: Erik Cohen

Addresses: Department of Sociology and Anthropology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

Abstract: The author's 1978 nine-day trek to hill tribe villages in the remote Mae Kham River Valley in the extreme northwest of Thailand is analysed, on the basis of excerpts from his diaries, in terms of Cresswell's mobilities approach. The trekking guide's choice of the route, and the representations, experiences and practices of the participants on the trek and in the villages, are examined in detail against the background of the unsettled conditions of the area at the time. The analysis leads to suggestions for the expansion of the conceptual framework of Cresswell's mobilities approach, and proposes the development of a systematic comparative analysis of mobility regimes.

Keywords: mobility regimes; trekking; guides; hill tribes; Thailand; Cresswell's mobilities; trekker representations; trekker experiences; trekker practices; route choice.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTA.2015.074004

International Journal of Tourism Anthropology, 2015 Vol.4 No.4, pp.303 - 326

Received: 03 Feb 2015
Accepted: 01 Mar 2015
Published online: 02 Jan 2016 *

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