February 9: Off to Northern Thailand

After a day yesterday not even worth posting about (pool time and massage!), today I’m off for a 3 day outing to the further northern areas of Thailand — Chiang Rai and the Golden Triangle. The tour company is Intrepid, the first time I’ve travelled with them, and I’m joined by a mom and her adult daughter from Wisconsin. First brief stop, an orchid and butterfly farm. The orchids appeared to be air plants — the roots were exposed, no soil, and they hung from beams. And the butterfly enclosure was small, especially compared to the amazing one in Key West I visited a couple of years ago.

Then onto Chiang Dao Caves, over 12km extending into the mountain. Only 5 are open for visitors, but there are great examples of stalactites and stalagmites, and several Buddhas. and the Dead Giantess Stone where people bring pretty dresses as an offering. After lunch set on a lovely lake, we went to a local market, which had a wonderful abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables. We were at about 1,500 ft, and the air was clear and the produce reminded of the best of the LA Farmer’s Markets.

Next it was to Wat Tha Ton temple, very near the border with Myanmar — the temple on the hillside in the distance and the military looking garrison on top of the mountain are in Myanmar. The Wat Thaton temple is on top of a hill overlooking the viallage of Ban Thaton and the Mae Kok river. The newly built Chedi Kaew is visible from miles away and is more colorful than any other temple or stupa I’ve seen. It has a large greenish spire on top, and the other levels are all pastels. Inside there’s a spiral ramp (like in the Guggenheim), which represents a dragon. It is possible to go all the way to the top and have a 360 degree view of the area. On the main levels are many depictions Buddha from other nations (Laos and Cambodia for example), and paintings on the wall in Chinese. There are several programs run by this temple complex for the local community and a Buddhist school for monk and novices.

Another hour in the van brought us to Chiang Rai province, and to Doi Mae Salong specifically. The early history of this area centered on the opium trade of the Golden Triangle. It’s more recent history was shaped by the 93rd Division of the Chinese Nationalist Army that refused to surrender to Chinese communists after the Nationalist Kuomintang government was routed in 1949.  Many escaped from Yunnan to Burma and eventually left for Thailand in 1961. The soldiers that settled in Mae Salong kept it as a military base preparing for more counter-attacks against China, and funded their arms with opium production. In the 1970’s the Thai government offered them a deal — fight for Thailand against insurgent communists here, and become legitimate and gain Thai citizenship. But they had to give up opium production for oolong tea (the major crop here now), and mushrooms.

The Royal Project, which was initiated by his Highness King Rama IX provided incentives for many of the hill tribes in the north to substitute opium production for vegetables and other cash crops. The market that we visited today was evidence of it’s success, which has been commended internationally.

The hill tribes, of which there are 7,  have largely preserved their traditional ways. They prefer living above 1,000m, and shy away from the outside world. Each has it’s own customs, language, dress and spiritual beliefs. Where we are staying is home to the Akha tribe, which is largely Chinese, so many speak a dialect of Chinese, and the food we will have for dinner tonight will be more Chinese in influence than Thai. We shall see.  That’s where I’m headed now.