Heading Beyond Bangkok
Experiences await in the north!
By Dorothy Ng
IN CHIANG Mai, I say "Chan mai chai kon Thai" as often as the Thai greeting "Sawadeekap".
It means "I'm not Thai", never mind that I am as tanned and skinny. "Same same, but different" they say.
Being "same same" is not bad at all! The touts left me alone, shopkeepers charged me local price, er, almost, until they discover that I can’t speak their language.
My two-week trip to North Thailand is marked by firsts. First time I travelled on my own, first time I rode a scooter without a licence and first time I slept in a bamboo hut.
First stop: Chiang Mai.
I scooted around the city with Kirby, a towering 39-year-old Kiwi music teacher who resembled a mafia chief with his heavily-tattooed arms and towering height. We met on the 12-hour overnight train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. We visited the umbrella-making factory, rode elephants and trekked to the nearby Lahu village. During the 2-day, 1-night trek, our travel partner, a gay guy from France fell completely in love with the ethnic outfit that a Lahu lady shopowner was wearing. He finally convinced her to sell the outfit as a gift for his sister- we laughed. We even paid the police a visit to pay a parking fine for illegal parking at the Night Bazaar.
Walking alongside with Kirby did not help relieve me of my mistaken "Thai" identity. The novelty of playing Kirby's "Thai lady escort" soon wore off and I headed further North to Pai.
Next stop: Pai
A small hippie town near the Myanmar border along the Pai River.
Its irresistible laidback charm makes city girls like me learn to slow down and smell the roses.
There, I befriended three Caucasian men who are so infatuated with this place they made it their second home. Over 50-baht Singha beer and a special concoction of Thai samsu with herbs at a local bar - The Bull's Pub - we talked about everything under the sun, from health, politics to interracial marriages.
Other nightspots like Be-Bop and The Buffalo Exchange are also equally enjoyable. No fancy decorations or super stereo surround-sound systems. Aspiring musicians and singersare free to flaunt their talents to a hippie audience who are ever willing to lend them a listening ear.
The following day, I was off chasing rapids at the Ping River. The 540-km river was as brown as teh tarik, and as choppy as the Dead Sea. We sloshed about in the raft for hours and swallowed copious amounts of water but it was great fun. After an icy bath by the river, the kind owner, Potato, gave us each a good Thai massage. "How about you be my wife?" , he asked, almost sincerely. I confessed in an almost Thai-style fashion, "I like Made-in-Singapore, not Made-in-Thailand. He nodded and smiled. The kind man tucked us into bed under the comfort of the mosquito nets. We slept like babies in the bamboo hut along the riverbank.
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Something I will never do again is perhaps visiting Padung village near Mae Hong Son town to see the long-necked women from the Karen tribe.
The women stack brass coils to elongate their necks. The belief: the longer their necks, the more beautiful they are. Traditionally, only women born on the 15th of the month have to do so.
But these days, everyone does it - for the tourist dollar. Sadly, only a small fraction of the 250-baht admission fee goes to the villagers. The rest goes to the Karenni National Progressive Party.
My friends had warned me not to feed the demand, as some of these women are exploited to be tourist exhibits.
My guilt intensified after befriending Amido, nicknamed, "The Pizza Man".
A former Algerian army spy and former European boxing champion, the wealthy chef quit his posh lifestyle in Europe for a simple life in Thailand, with his little restaurant Amido Pizza Garden in Pai. Today, he happily dishes out scrumptious 33-cm pizza at a mere 200 bahts, at his little restaurant Amido Pizza Garden in Pai.
He told me that unlike other hill tribes which retain a certain level of privacy, the long-necked and the big-ear villages have become a zoo for tourists and locals with their flashy cameras. The admission charge equivalent to paying money to see someone shower in her very own home.
"It's sad, but if tourists and Thai people do not visit the villages, their handicrafts would not be sold and their main source of income threatened," he said.
If I learnt exploitation in
Padung village, I learnt hospitality and kindness in Mae Aw Chinese village, my final stop.
Located on a mountain peak at the Myanmar border, 22km north of Mae Hong Son, Mae Aw is a Chinese KMT (Kuomintang) settlement filled with lush tea bushes neatly nestled on the plains of the mountainscape.
At a Chinese restaurant, I devoured their infamous stewed pork with herbs and the man tou (steamed rice flour cake) while the owner, Madam Lin Chang Zhi shared stories about her husband from the 93 Battalion and how they first settled in Thailand 50 years ago.
After dinner, I was pleasantly surprised by an unexpected offer. Ah Zhen, the restaurant helper, invited me to her house. Hers is a simple life. The brick house has no plush sofa, no fancy curtains, but it was cosy.
Over sponge cake and home-brewed Chinese tea, Ah Zhen shared family photographs, tips on how to plant maize and even showed me the pigs they reared. Ever the city girl, I got so excited that I slipped and fell on my butt. The family laughed.
The next morning, when my tour vehicle failed to arrive, a Thai soldier helped me hitch a ride at the back of a lorry back to town.
I also took up cooking and riding lessons. After a one-day crash course, I can now whip up my own papaya salad and seven types of Thai curries.
The riding course was more informal. A curious Thai man, Pong, approached to say hello, and offered to take me to see the nearby waterfall on a rented scooter. Midway, I begged him to let me take over.
Pong shouted encouragingly "You learn fast, you very good" but I could not help noticing how hard he was pressing onto the brakes, holding on to dear life. I chuckled to myself.
During the trip, Amido the Pizza Man taught me about love and loyalty.
When asked why he did not remarry after his wife died 15 years ago, he said: "I cannot get her off my mind."
With friendly locals, meandering river, lush-jungles, great restaurants and cool nightspots, I can only say the same about North Thailand, I cannot get her off my mind.
In conclusion:
DOs
1) Sign up for short trekking trips to the tribal villages. You'll get to stay in the village and mingle with the locals.
2) Remember to carry your torchlight and candles. I experienced three blackouts in one night in Pai. A torchlight or candle would prevent you from groping your way in the dark.
3) Try the delicious pizzas at Amido Pizza Garden in Pai. A 33-cm pizza only costs a mere 200 bahts and his pizzas are acclaimed as the best in Thailand.
4) Sign up for a one-day or three-day cookery course. You'll learn how to make your own chilli paste, papaya salad and the different kinds of Thai curries.
DON'Ts
5) Don't use this phrase easily, "Bar Bar Bor Bor", though it sounds really nice. It means Crazy Man. Unless you are absolutely sure that the person is out of his mind, refrain from using this phrase.
You can email the author here: dotng@singnet.com.sg
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