Exploring Sukhothai and Tak
Thailand is divided into 75 provinces, many of which have their own unique culture and history. Two neighbouring provinces north of Bangkok that have buckets of ancient history, unique cultural traits and a big dose of current controversial political affairs is Sukhothai and Tak. On a recent long weekend we hit the road to see what they had to offer.
And it wasn’t just any old long weekend – it was the King’s Birthday long weekend – which means all the towns and villages were decorated with yellow flags and streamers and more than the usual display of photos of the beloved King who is the world’s longest reigning monarch and was turning 83 this weekend. On ya, King!
Our first goal was to visit the ancient temples at Si Satchanalai Historical Park because everyone knows Julie and I can’t go exploring for a weekend without visiting some ancient ruins. Si Satchanalai is 50 km north of the more famous Sukhothai temples but are actually all part of the Sukhothai World Heritage site.
These ruins are from the same 13th to 15th century era, set amongst some rolling green hills in a quiet little area off all the main roads. We arrived in the late afternoon and had the whole complex to ourselves. It was an outstanding experience, wandering amongst these ancient ruins, steeped in history and lore, the sun sinking low over the surrounding jungle, the strange bird sounds, long shadows, wonderful temples. The visit was topped off (literally) by a walk up the old steps to the top of the hill to walk amongst more temples and enjoy great views over the valley and ancient city below.
The next morning we couldn’t resist a quick visit to some of the temples of the main Sukhothai complex that we didn’t see last time we were there. It was early in the morning, still relatively cool and very still, nobody was around. We found more surprises amongst the temples, including a moat surrounding one forgotten complex that was filled with beautiful water lilies in full bloom.
But our primary target for the weekend was the remote western province of Tak and its largest town, the border post of Mae Sot. This is a wild and mountainous region running along the Moei River which forms the border with Burma. Tak is the home of many unique ethnic tribes, including the Hmong, Lahu, Lisu and in particular the Karen.
Thirty or forty years ago this area was also where communist guerrillas hung out but today it is mainly known for the huge population of Burmese refugees who cross the river to evade Burmese military attacks on their ethnic villages. And in recent months with all the turmoil in Burma (or Myanmar – I go back and forth) because of their farce elections and the release of their hero Aung San Suu Kyi there has been more military activity and more refugees than usual (on the weekend we were there it was reported another 4,000 came across the river).
The town of Mae Sot is known as a major trading post between the countries, be it gems or teak or drugs, but we headed straight for the river and border crossing. We had heard that the Friendship Bridge (one of the few official border crossings between the countries) had been closed recently and we couldn’t see anyone crossing it. But never mind because as we started walking down a track along the Thai bank of the Moei River we saw the most extraordinary scenes.
The first thing we recognised about the people we encountered was that they looked and dressed like Burmese (of course we’re experts after spending two weeks there earlier this year!). The men were wearing their wrap-around Longyis and the women had the yellow Tanaka paste on their cheeks. So we started saying “Minga la ba” (our only Burmese word) to those we encountered and always got a beautiful smile and a Minga la ba back.
And as we walked down the river bank we saw people passing back and forth across the shallow river as if it was part of their daily lives, which apparently it was. Boys were collecting a coin or two and then pushing a few people (and bicycles, guitars, dogs) across the river on large inflatable inner tubes. There were no border guards, no hassles, just business as usual stuff as locals passed between the Thai side and the Burmese town of Myawaddy.
Further along the river, past what looked like unofficial refugee camps on the Thai side with people living a very basic grim existence, there were large long boats carrying up to 40 people each, others transporting produce and boxes of goods (including good old Singha Beer), endless streams of commerce going on across the river, back and forth, no border patrols, no import duties or passport stamps, no surveillance cameras or menacing soldiers in fatigues, absolutely nothing. This was just every day life being played out between groups of people of different ethnic origins struggling to earn a baht or a Kyat and feed their families, regardless of which side of the river they resided.
We left the scene not quite sure what we were seeing because we knew there had been recent trouble with the Karen militias and the Burmese military on the other side and we know all these people are trying to improve their daily existence but we were stuck with the old traditional definition of a refugee, strictly controlled borders and international sanctions. It looked like no one had told these people, and thank goodness for that!
That night we went into the centre of Mae Sot to celebrate the King’s Birthday with thousands of other Thais. At one stage at the peak of the evening with maximum crowds we found ourselves in a very crowded closed market area with people totally squeezed together, almost impossible to move anywhere, just surges of humanity trying to fight their way through. With recent memories of a panicked crowd in Cambodia crushing hundreds of people we tried to squeeze our way out. It was a bit scary, especially when celebratory fire works started to go off, sounding very much like something other than fireworks. We eventually got out but I have to say that we had a few uncomfortable moments in there.
Tak Province has many other areas to discover and we know we have to come back some day. We did get a chance to visit Lan Sang National Park with its spectacular water falls and the Taksin Maharat National Park with a record-holding Krabat tree that is 50 metres high and an amazing 700 years old. We had to pay our respects to this monster, imagining that it was 100 years old before they even started to build those temples in Sukhothai.
We also did an extended walk down a remote jungle trail following the creek, seeing tiny snakes and enjoying the unique bird calls. The strange sounds from unknown sources reminded Julie of tigers and Asian brown bears….I had my camera ready just in case.
On the drive home we avoided the fast highways and stuck to a series of rural roads, beautifully lined by tall teak trees with their leaves the size of toilet seats, and passing through endless villages proudly flying their yellow flags. The principal vehicle in these areas is the ‘Chinese buffalo’ which is a tractor sort of thing with the engine sticking way out front, long steering wheel mechanism and the tray down the back to carry the family’s goods.
We made a quick visit to the remote and forgotten (not even in our guide books) Khlong Nam National Park with its magnificent multi-tiered and wide waterfall, beautiful pools for the kids, camping, the real deal. A great way to finish the weekend.
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