On to Chiang Rai

Posted under Southeast Asia 2009

Up and gone by oh-dark-thirty, met at the door of our hotel by our trusty guide and our van driver. Guide was called Peter, (his suggestion), as he claimed that his given name was so long even he had trouble pronouncing it, so Peter would do. We continued on to gather the rest of our entourage for our jaunt to Chiang Rai. We were a regular league of nations, as we were comprised of two Thais, two Canadians, two from the Netherlands, one from Switzerland, an Australian, an Indonesian and an American. This was to be a full day tour to Chiang Rai and the golden triangle, with the obligatory side trip to a temple ruins. Now Chiang, in Thai, means city, so basically we were going from city Mai to city Rai. Same, same – but different. Chiang Rai is the most northerly major city in Thailand, and the gateway to the golden triangle.

 

Chiang Mai is in foothills country, and is sort of the breadbasket of Thailand. That would be, of course, if bread were a staple, but somehow rice basket doesn’t sound quite right. In the “old days”, this area was known as Lanna, which translates to one million rice paddies, or so we are told. You get the picture at any rate. The down side to all this agriculture is that they burn off all the rice stubble, twice a year, which gives the sky a definite haze, much like Bangkok. Chiang Rai, on the other hand, is in the mountains, and is not only cooler, but the sky is clearer. Most of the artisan industry is located in the north, and Chiang Rai is no exception. We had the opportunity (oh lucky us) of visiting a small factory where they cut and polished rubies (from Myanmar), sapphires and jade. Now although Bonnie viewed this as a buffet, and thought that she should try some of everything, she showed remarkable restraint and settled for only the sapphires and a jade carving. It seems that jade, in this neck-of-the-woods can be had in every shade from white to dark green, the dark green coming, once again from Myanmar, and being the most highly prized. It is also considerably, the most expensive, so of course we settled for a larger carving of dark green.

 

On to the “Golden Triangle”, an area bordering Myanmar, Laos and Thailand. Myanmar and Thailand are separated by a small, fast flowing river, and the Mekong River separates both Myanmar and Thailand from Laos. The Mekong actually flows through six countries and is the longest river is southeast Asia. The triangle area was actually in no man’s land in the centre of the river confluence, and was devoid of any type of policing. This made it ideal for the trading of illicit opium grown in all three countries, as well as China. This took place into the 1960’s, when the farmers were “encouraged” to grow other crops. In it’s hay-day, opium traded for equal weight in gold, so simple balance scales were used. All rather interesting.

 

Because of religious conviction, there are no gambling outlets in Thailand; so directly across the border in Myanmar is a huge, new casino. Also directly across the border in Laos, a huge, new casino is under construction This will give the Thais, who don’t gamble, a place to go “shopping”, as the mood so strikes. Now we did not get to visit the casinos, but did get a short visit to Laos via a riverboat. This was done without benefit of a visa for Laos, but as a special part of our tour. Also we were accompanied by an addition to our entourage, who collected a twenty baht entry fee, per person. He also did not accompany us back to Thailand when returned. Let me think—perhaps a government dude for the Laotian government, do you suppose?

If we were not gazing across the Mekong River, at Thailand, it would be hard to determine that we had actually left. The touristy market in Laos was same, same as the touristy market in Thailand, and the well tanned smiling faces, in both countries looked very much alike. The one item, which obviously separated the markets were the open display of local liquor, in Laos, a veritable den of iniquity. The local whiskies must have lacked a bit of a kick, as each and every bottle had the addition of a cobra, a scorpion, or sometimes both. I’m surprised that this hasn’t caught on elsewhere, as the sales propaganda claimed all types of medical benefit. Possibly the theory being that if you could survive a bottle of this, you could live through anything. I guess I’ll never know.

 

Our river trip back to Thailand took us past good-sized vessel, which at some time had been submerged in the Mekong. It had since been drug ashore and beached. Even in this state, it looked more sea-worthy than the boat we were on, and was definitely much larger. Our trusty guide, Peter, showing a sense of humor, informed us that it was locally known as the Thai-tanic.

 

After an excellent meal, and a stop at a town that straddled the Myanmar-Thai border, we headed our way south, back to Chiang Mai. A full and interesting day, our next stop Hua Hin. More to follow. Take care of yourselves.

 

T