A fraction of the size of Chiang Mai's more famous night bazaar, the mini version in downtown Chiang Rai is still a pleasant place for an evening stroll and an excellent option for snacks and a beer or dinner.

Entrance to the small night bazaar in Chiang Rai.

The offerings are similar, though much reduced in choice, to the Chiang Mai version: hill-tribe handicrafts, pirated DVDs, T-shirts, carved soap candles and so on -- though how many Hmong shoulder bags can one possibly need?

Same same, but not different.

What we do like at the Chiang Rai market and we feel make it a worthwhile evening destination are the excellent eating and drinking areas -- a nice alternative to Chiang Rai's other eating spots.

Crickets, beetles, worms or ants?

There are two adjacent sections, one comprised of nice wooden furniture and waitstaff wearing north Thai costumes, and another more aimed at locals with aluminium chairs and staff in jeans and T-shirts. The former has all the usual Thai and north Thai dishes and a very tasteful traditional Lanna dance show (though you may have to put up with a guitarist singing Hotel California between dances), while the latter has live Thai rock and country bands, cheap draught beer and lots of fried insects and snack food.

Beer snacks for sale

Both areas are reasonably priced and fun and personally we like to have a couple of pre-dinner drinks and snacks in the local area, move to the nearby "tourist" section for dinner then perhaps head back over the soi to catch a local band or game on the big screen TV.

North Thai traditional dance.

The night bazaar's open daily from dusk until midnight-ish, and is located off the main drag, Phaholyothin Road (see map).

Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours?

Tags: Hotel California, Lanna dance, markets

Having been further out and about today we have to state with all honesty that the haze situation is worse than we thought and worse than we may have made it appear in our recent post -- and we're certainly not going to be going out and about anymore in the near future unless we can avoid it. Visibility in downtown Chiang Mai today was down to a kilometre and we hear it is worse in Chiang Rai. And Thai meteorological services now admit that dust particles in the air in some areas of the north (such as Mae Sai, Chiang Rai and Lampang) are over twice the Pollution Control Department's acceptable levels.

Downtown Chiang Mai at midday today.

After yesterday trying to blame slash and burn farmers in Burma and Laos, the Natural Resources and Environment Department admitted it was 99% due to farmers burning stubble and forest clearance by agro-business and have promised radical steps to solve the problem. (Note that this is from the government whose health minister recently blamed the rise in dengue fever cases to the increase in Thai women wearing hotpants and thus making easier targets for mosquitoes. It's also the government that just received stinging criticism for failing to act after last year's floods devastated much of the nation.)

Anyway said radical steps involve the really radical action of actually enforcing the existing non-burning and non-forest encroachment laws! How did they think of that? Anyway upon stating their intent to apply existing environmental protection laws, ones that they presumably thought up in the first place, the Ministry for the Environment have confidently claimed all haze problems should be over within a week. (We're not making this up!)

Unless you are particular fans of sore throats, stinging eyes and respiratory illnesses we do advise against any unnecessary travel to the following provinces for at least the immediate future: Mae Hong Son, Tak, Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Phayao, Phrae, Nan, Lampang, Lamphun and Uttaradit. Watch this space and we'll watch the wastes of space down in government house.

Tags: Chiang Rai, haze, Mae Hong Son, Mae Sai, nan, Phayao, Phrae, Tak, Uttaradit

The Thai name for the Shan people is Thai Yai, meaning great or big Thai. Indeed though possessing distinct cultural traits, a very separate history and inhabiting adjacent rather than overlapping regions, the Shan people are a part of the greater Tai* ethnic family -- which also includes Lao, Tai Lu, Black Tai, White Tai and numerous other subgroups, including Chiang Mai's Northern Thai.

Shan girl, near Pindaya, Burma.

Dialects are remarkably homogenous throughout these groups and there's a chance a Shan would be able to make themselves understood (at least for the basics) to another speaker in the Tai grouping whether in Kota Bharu, Dien Bien Phu, Jinghong or Khon Kaen. Burmese Shan are of course heavily influenced by the Burmese language while Thai Shan have adopted many Thai words.

Shan, as with all Tai groups, originated in what is now Southeast China. They were undoubtedly formerly little distinguishable from Tai Dam, Lao and so on, though a millennium of relative isolation on Burma's Shan Plateau has led to their cultural distinctiveness. Two differing views by ethnologists have the Shan either migrating westwards over the last thousand or so years from a common Tai staging post in Vietnam's Dien Bien Phu region, or migrating directly southwards along the Salween Valley from today's Yunnan province.

A village inhabited by ethnic Tai, or Dai as they are locally known, near Jinghong, Yunnan.

In Thailand it's likely that Shan groups have inhabited the mountains of Mae Hong Son province for a long period of time and the "Siamese" or lowland Thai are relatively recent migrants to northern outposts such as Pai, Mae Hong Son town and Mae Sariang.

The sparse population in these rugged mountains has been considerably supplemented in recent times by Shan refugees escaping both the Burmese army and forcible conscription into the Shan State Army. Note also that infamous Shan warlord Khun Sa had his headquarters in Hin Tek village near Chiang Rai's Mae Salong.

A former battleground: the hills of Mae Salong, looking towards Ban Hin Tek.

Indeed Khun Sa almost single-handedly built up the Golden Triangle's reputation during the 1960s and 70s with his involvement in the opium trade and drugs wars with the rival Kuomintang (KMT). Mae Salong was one of the outposts where the Chinese nationalist Kuomintang Army was permitted to seek refuge after their defeat to the Chinese communists, Pai and Fang being others. (The CIA notoriously regarded the drug-funded private armies of both the KMT and Khun Sa as anti-communist bulwarks so turned a blind eye to their dealings -- see the fascinating The Politics of Heroin by Alfred McCoy.)

Golden Triangle poppy field in northwestern Laos.

Today Shan can be found across Mae Hong Son, in certain northern parts of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces and in both lowland towns and upland villages.

Shan-style temple, Mae Sariang.

Thai Shan are mostly Buddhists, with elaborately rooved Shan temples a feature of many northern villages, and they are now very integrated into Thai society and culture.

Another Shan-style roof near Mae Hong Son.

You may see more recent arrivals with the Burmese ground bark face powder (thanaka) but they are otherwise clad the same and indistinguishable from their Thai neighbours.

Shan woman near Taunggyi.

Shan villages are sometimes included in trekking itineraries -- it puts another ethnic group on the tick list -- but visits are only really recommended if you have a good guide who can talk you through their fascinating history. Be warned that you won't get pretty pictures of exotic costumes.

However if you wish to visit a Shan village by your own means, an easily accessible, very traditional and picturesque Shan village in northern Thailand is Mae Lana near Soppong in Mae Hong Son province.

*Tai refers to the wider ethnic group while Thai describes the inhabitants of Thailand.

Tags: Black tai, Chiang Rai, Dien Bien Phu, Fang, Khun Sa, Kuomintang, Mae Hong Son, Mae Lana, Mae Salong, Mae sariang, Pai, Pindaya, Shan Plateau, Shan State Army

Chiang Khong ... don't think we've written about this charming little Mekong riverside town yet so to make up for our glaring omission here's a series of colourful sunrise photos of this remote yet scenic border settlement.

Overview of Mekong near Chiang Khong.

Pinkish mauve sunset.

Actually first up are a couple of sunset pics taken from a vantage point above Chiang Khong town and looking east over the Mekong to Laos' Bokeo province. Facing east with hills behind you're a bit limited sunset-wise but if you can get up early enough there's some awesome sunrise views to be had.

Pale blue sunrise.

Red sunrise.

Purple sunrise.

Now to confess, we're not the best at getting up early -- even if some spectacular views are to be had -- so I did actually purloin some of these photos from my wife and before you cynics out there start making 'fell asleep on the saturation button' type comments, the more colourful images were taken on a cheap old camera which, though totally incapable of reproducing anything like true colours, does come up with some  pretty wacky alternatives of its own.

Mauve sunrise.

Sort of fuschia-ish sunrise.

Easy -- blue!

Chiang Khong lies of course in Chiang Rai province and being opposite the Lao town of Huay Xai is a major entry point for travellers and tour groups heading into the LPDR. Yes, it's where you head up north to photograph hill-tribes in Muang Sing or board the boat for the de-rigueur Mekong trip to Luang Prabang but even if you're not heading across the border this very pleasant town is worth a visit anyway. It possesses a good selection of eateries and accommodation and there are plenty of interesting sites around. More details and practicalities on Chiang Khong will come in a later post -- this one's just an excuse for a few pretty pics.  So ... one for the road!

Mostly orange with purple hints sunrise.

All sunrise photos were taken from the riverfront (or various hotel balconies) in Chiang Khong.

Tags: Bokeo, Chiang Rai, Huay Xai, Laos, Luang Prabang, Mekong, Muang Sing, photography, sunrises, sunsets

An Akha village just off the road between Tha Ton and Mae Chan, close to the turn off for Mae Salong in northwest Chiang Rai province, Ban Lorcha is also the site of a community-based tourism scheme run by the Population & Community Development Association (PDA). This pilot project aims to create a sustainable tourism strategy and alternative model of tourism development for hill-tribe villages. To quote the PDA:

" ...tourism activities to hill-tribe villages have been characterized as short stops to a group of houses and stalls selling souvenirs that are not even made in that village. This kind of tourism activity is so contrived that tourists feel they are not learning anything about the people they are visiting. Often there is no contact between tourists and villagers. In this type of activity villagers selling trinkets and souvenirs often harass tourists, taking photos of hill-tribe women is often followed by upturned open palms asking for compensation for the pictures taken... "

..a bit generalised but fair enough. (Read more about the PDA here.)

Ban Lorcha, Akha girls.

There's a nominal entry fee -- 30 0r 40 baht if we remember correctly -- which goes towards the community scheme as well as a fund to set up further schemes in other villages. And yes, there is a large souvenir shop at the entrance to the village, however all items sold come from Ban Lorcha itself and you are able to browse hassle-free. There's usually traditional dancing on show and weaving displays that might seem slightly contrived (because they are), but as the PDA points out, you'd be unlikely to see these under normal circumstances without spending days in a village or fortuitously turning up during some ceremony or another.

Some slightly contrived, but nonetheless interesting, traditional dancing.

Hill-tribe village visits can be problematic: some agents and guides are still very exploitative (see in particular the human-zoo type 'long-neck' villages),  easily accessible villages such as Doi Pui can verge on the tacky and when in remoter, less-visited villages, unless you have a good guide or can speak the lingo, what do you do!?

There does need to be some exchange and the days of remote village inhabitants turning up to greet their 'exotic' visitors out of pure interest are long gone. Even the furthest-flung villages usually have some knick-knacks for sale and a school visit (and contribution) is always feasible, but perhaps doing it within a more 'controlled' framework is the most responsible way? You can still see plenty of irresponsible visits -- probably more through ignorance than intention -- and sticking great camera lenses into people's houses or noses and doling out sweets to kids needs to be prevented.

Straight from the village loom to the souvenir shop.

All in all Ban Lorcha is a very worthwhile stop; you get far more information than you would elsewhere, a chance to see traditional crafts and culture up close, opportunities to photograph spectacularly dressed Akha women without any embarrassment either way and pick up some genuine and reasonably priced handicrafts. (They even have their own Facebook page with lots of great pics.)

Ban Lorcha, entrance gate: they'll explain it to you.

Tags: Chiang Rai, Doi Pui, hill-tribes, Mae Salong, Tha Ton

Dates seem to vary slightly according to the source -- one of which is here-- but our usually reliable man on the ground in Yunnan reports that two Chinese cargo vessels travelling on the Mekong between Jinghong, Yunnan and Chiang Saen, Thailand were hijacked at around midday on October 10. The particularly brutal hijacking took place some 20km north of Chiang Saen, close to Sob Ruak and between Burma and Laos. Thirteen crew members were blindfolded and shot. All passenger and cargo boats (and cargo vessels regularly carry paying passengers anyway) on this route have now been halted for an indefinite period.

Chinese cargo boats docked in Chiang Saen.

Reports are still slightly confused but it appears the hostages may have been executed during a gun battle with a Thai border patrol unit, which then boarded the boats after hijackers were either killed or fled. Since a substantial quantity of drugs was found on the boats along with its regular cargo of apples and garlic, the thinking is that the hijackers, rumoured to be a gang run by Burmese Shan smuggler Nor Kham, had taken the boats to use in a drug transportation operation. Chinese boat companies have had frequent problems with such bandits who've not hesitated in the past to deal viciously with Chinese crews reluctant to cooperate in their activities.

Passenger boat from Jinghong to Chiang Saen.

The passenger boat service running from Jinghong to Chiang Saen town was a popular, and highly scenic, route for backpackers and tour groups travelling between China and Thailand, but for at least the immediate future the land route is the only option. 

The land route from Jinghong to Chiang Saen is overland to Boten on the Lao/Chinese border, onwards to Luang Nam Tha from where there are a number of transport options to Huay Xai and Chiang Khong on the Lao/Thai border. Once in Chiang Khong you're hooked into the main Thai overland bus system, including regular transport to Chiang Saen and nightly buses to Bangkok.

This tragedy serves as a warning that the Golden Triangle region is still not as tame as many would make it out to be -- indeed you may count  us among the guilty parties, as shown by our recent Golden Triangle post here or a pretty picture post of a still dangerous area here.)

Tags: Boten, Burma, Chiang Saen, China, drugs, hijacking, Jinghong, Luang Nam Tha, Shan

"To boldly go where no tourist has gone before" -- well not so many, anyway! The small town of Tha Ton, located on the border of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces and a mere stone's throw from the Burma border, used to be a popular stop on the backpacker trail. It's the starting point for boat trips down the scenic Kok River to Chiang Rai city and was popular trekking territory, being surrounded by Akha, Lisu and Lahu villages.

Gleaming Kok River and not a backpack in sight.

It is still great, and relatively un-touristy, trekking territory but is perhaps a bit too far from the backpacker centre of Pai and on the whole seems to have suffered from competition with Laos, the primacy of aforementioned Pai as a destination and not least the current Thai immigration regulations of issuing only 15-day visas for overland entries. As with many of the more off-the-beaten-track destinations in northern Thailand (we're thinking Nan, Tak, the further reaches of Mae Hong Son province), it hardly sees any more foreign visitors now than it did say 20 years ago.

Tha Ton, Thai/Burmese border

The photo above is looking to the north from Tha Ton -- note the Thai army border post on the hilltop. Now even if you don't want to go trekking -- or take the boat to Chiang Rai -- we reckon it's still well worth a visit to this scenic little town. There's some decent accommodation and eating places and some good walks to be done along the riverbank without having to go too far (though it's so far off the beaten track we don't have it in Travelfish.org yet -- a situation that will be rectified soon.)

Funky Chinese-style riverbank temple in Tha Ton.

You can also organise shorter boat trips -- you don't have to go all the way to Chiang Rai and most local guesthouses should be able to offer trekking and other activities in the area. Do not miss the view from the hilltop chedi and Buddha that tower over the town (picture below) -- but probably best not to attempt the ascension on foot.

Worth the climb!

Tha Ton's approximately half way between Fang and Mae Salong so interesting stops are either side of it and it makes an excellent halt if you're doing that loop. If you're travelling by bus you will probably have to do Chiang Mai-Mae Ai-Tha Ton or in the other direction Chiang Rai-Mae Salong-Tha Ton.)  We'll leave you with one more scenic shot of the picturesque Kok in Tha Ton:

Scenic or what?

Tags: Burma, Chiang Rai, Fang, Mae Hong Son, Mae Salong, Pai

Wat Chedi Luang translates as 'royal stupa temple'; there are quite a few similarly named temples around but we're referring to the old Chiang Saen one, so named since it's thought to have been the principal temple of King Mengrai's former capital. Located in the northwest of Chiang Rai province on the banks of the Mekong near the Golden Triangle, the city's ruins are scattered throughout the modern town of Chiang Saen. Wat Chedi Luang is situated near the old west gate and next to the Chiang Saen Museum.

View from scenic car park.

The temple is thought to date from the 13th or 14th centuries and, according to people who know about these things, the octagonal base of the imposing 18m-high chedi itself is classic Chiang Saen style.

See, we told you it was octagonal!

It's got a nice balance of ancient/ruined/slightly overgrown and a still active/lived-in feel which is why we particularly like it. (We're not so keen on the gaudy modern ones or the manicured 'historical sites'.) A temporary roof has been built over the ruined viharn (main worshipping hall) and a more recent, but nonetheless attractive, seated Buddha image installed allowing locals, and visitors, to worship and make offerings and monks to officiate.

Seated Buddha of Wat Chedi Luang.

Some walls of the outer enclosure of the temple still remain. Below is the overgrown east gate with sacred boddhi tree. Numerous other adjacent ruins indicate it must have been an impressive construction in its heyday.

East gate, the former main entrance.

This is a very attractive site and indeed the relatively untouristy town is well worth a visit, with its numerous other ancient temple sites, the old city walls and moat and its leafy lanes providing a great setting for a walk or cycle ride. It might be a bit too far as a day trip from Chiang Mai but you can find plenty of decent accommodation in town or in nearby Chiang Khong.

'Get it on, bang a gong' -- what too young to remember? (Ed: I have no idea what you are talking about.)

So we'll leave you with this video link which has nothing whatsoever to do with Chiang Saen but something to do with gongs even if would probably have King Mengrai turning in his grave.

Tags: Chiang Khong, Chiang Rai, Golden Triangle, King Mengrai, Mekong, temples, wats

The Thai government and Tourism Authority of Thailand have very successfully converted their part of this once wild region into a highly profitable tourism hot spot. It's now firmly up there with floating markets, historic cities and Krabi beaches on visitors' must-sees and where once opium flowed out of Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai to triads in Bangkok and Saigon, now it's Doi Tung lattes and Doi Chang iced mochas for Thai yuppies in chic Lanna coffee shops are the main products emerging from them there hills.

The Golden Triangle.

The small riverbank town of Sob Ruak -- at the confluence of the Mekong and Ruak rivers where Burma, Laos and Thailand meet -- has become officially identified as the Golden Triangle itself and is now a feature of most Chiang Rai tour itineraries.

In the photo above, that's the mighty Mekong on the right and the channel of the Ruak on the left; the mountains are in Laos, the grassy tongue of land is Burma and the trees in the foreground are growing out of Thai soil. Such is the view from the top of the hill overlooking Sob Ruak, where there's even a convenient sign for posing for Golden Triangle photos under.

Thanks to Becca and Dan!

Incidentally the said hill also houses the interesting remains of an eighth century temple -- built by we're not quite sure who -- so Sob Ruak is clearly a very old settlement, and bear in mind that as the Thai (Tai) clans migrated south down the Mekong from their land of origin in southern China, this would have quite possibly been their first landfall in what is now Thailand.

Eight century ruined temple and Buddha figure.

The Sob Ruak waterfront, where once Kuomintang and Shan armies fought over opium convoys, is now a collection of souvenir stalls, tourist cafes, minor museums (such as the House of Opium), and gaudy Buddhist installations.

The Buddha of Sob Ruak.

The latter perhaps have been installed to appease the consciences of local visitors, many of whom are actually on their way through to visit the enormous and even more gaudy casinos that have been constructed on the Lao and Burmese banks opposite. (Casinos are banned in Thailand.)

Anyway it's an interesting enough and certainly historic site to visit, and the House of Opium is well worth a look. Don't forget to get your photo taken on top of the hill!

Tags: Burma, coffee shops, Golden Triangle, Laos, museums, opium

The Golden Triangle is one of those regions that has captured popular imagination: think warlords, secret armies, opium mule trains chugging through the jungle, triads, the DEA and CIA, hill tribes, remote villages and above all the chest-high pink and white poppies that are the source of opium and its derivatives, morphine and heroin.

The mountains of the Golden Triangle.

Through the 1960s to 1990s the Golden Triangle referred to a wide swathe of northern Southeast Asia comprising northeast Burma -- the Wa and Shan states -- northern Laos and northern parts of Thailand, primarily Mae Hong Son, Chiang Rai and the upper districts of Chiang Mai province. It was called "golden" because the wealth of the region was largely derived from black gold, or opium.

A woman with a child picks poppies near Muang Sing, Laos.

The region is a remote area of rugged mountains and forests inhabited by Shan, Tai Lu plus Hmong, Akha, Lisu, Yao and myriad hilltribe peoples. Up until recently much of it was highly difficult to access by road, and the governments in Bangkok, Vientiane, and still today Rangoon exercised only very limited control. Political and military power in these parts of Laos and Thailand was in the hands of private armies controlled by warlords and largely financed by the drugs trade -- indeed in northeastern Burma that is still largely the case. After the civil war in China fleeing Republican (Kuomintang) army units moving into northern Thailand rivalled the Shan State Army of warlord Khun Sa for dominance, with the powerful Wa State army increasingly a major player as the Kuomintang faded and Khun Sa went into retirement.

View from the Kuomintang town of Mae Salong towards Khun Sa's nearby former base at Hin Taek.

In more recent times, under US pressure the Thai government has made major efforts to eradicate opium production in this region, and while only 20 years ago poppy fields were still a common sight in northern Thailand and Laos, they are now very rare in the former and increasingly so in the latter.

Black gold.

Crop substitution programmes have seen coffee, tea and temperate fruit and vegetable crops replace papaver somniferum in Thailand, and in northern Laos much former jungle land has been given over to new hybrid rubber tree species able to cope with northern climes. At the same time apparently "troublesome" hill-tribe villages were relocated into lowland areas, where they are more easily controlled. In Burma, cultivation has declined considerably with the Shan elements attempting to proffer a more acceptable public face and the Wa Army switching over to simpler, and more profitable, methamphetamine production.

Former poppy fields now given over to tea -- honest guv!

In Thailand, cultivation has been, as we noted, practically eradicated and most mountain villages brought into the national grid with road construction, cultural assimilation and agricultural projects by the Thai government, Royal family and various charities. These days the Golden Triangle is little more than a marketing phrase for tourism.

The Triangle is reduced to the village of Sob Ruak where the borders of Burma, Laos and Thailand meet, and where  you can buy a T-shirt in the coach park, visit the two opium museums and have a cocktail in the opium lounge of an upmarket hotel. You can stay at the Golden Triangle Inn and sign up for a Golden Triangle trek or even go and pay 20 baht to get a photo taken in a Doi Pui poppy field.

We'll leave you with a photo of the Kok River between Burma and Thailand, which was formerly an important smuggling route but is now very popular for scenic boat trips between Tha Ton and Chiang Rai

The picturesque Kok, sans drugs.

Tags: Akha, Burma, Chiang Mai, CIA, DEA, drugs, Golden Triangle, heroin, Hmong, Khun Sa, Kuomintang, Laos, methamphetamines, opium, Shan, Vientiane, Wa