From Opium to Chrysanthemums
Från opium till krysantemum
Once they were known for cultivating opium. Their stronghold was the ‘Golden Triangle’ in the borderland of Thailand, Laos and Burma. They were the Hmong and one of their leaders was the charismatic headman Lao-Tong. In 1969, Swedish filmmaker PeÅ Holmquist made a Super-8mm film about Lao-Tong and the Hmong people in the Vietnam War. Coming back to southeast Asia after 30 years, the filmmakers found everything very different. In the Thai mountains, vast chrysanthemum fields are now planted under supervision of Lao-Tong. The old headman has had enough of opium! This film also tells about the Hmong in Laos and in USA.