Remember the Golden Triangle?
The remote area of land on the borders of Burma, Thailand and Laos was once the biggest opium poppy growing place in the world. That dubious honour now belongs to Afganistan but Thailand has turned a small – safe – patch into a tourist attraction.
About 70 kilometres south, on the road between Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai, is a very different polygon.

The Rubber Triangle

The Rubber Triangle is a roadside stop with a restaurant called Cabbages and Condoms (C&C).
Yes, it’s a strange theme for a restaurant but C&C makes the most of it with brightly coloured, humorous displays (of condoms not cabbages; the brassica are reserved for the food).

The Rubber Triangle, Wang Po Pao, Chiang Rai.

Cabbages and Condoms restaurant uses cartoon condoms to spread the message. Our food is guaranteed not to cause pregnancy.

There’s a serious side to the enterprise. It raises funds for he Population and Community Development Association which provides family planning and sexually transmitted disease education, particularly for poor families in the countryside.

Food for thought

Cabbages are common in this part of Thailand and the PDA wanted condoms to be as readily available. Over the past 30 years they’ve been successful – the average family hereabouts used to have seven children but now the number is down to two.
What has grown though is the number of restaurants. You can find them throughout Thailand and there are even two in England, all raising funds for the PDA. (http://www.cabbagesandcondoms.net/restaurant.htm)
The restaurant may be quirky but the food is good.
Standard Thai cuisine at reasonable prices with an extra helping of humour.

The Sex Machine – condoms for everyone, Cabbages and Condoms restaurant, Chiang Rai, Thailand.

The Condom Compendium with mannequin hostess. The flowers are made from – you guessed it – condoms! Cabbages and Condoms restaurant, Chiang Rai, Thailand.