Chiang Mai (Northern Thailand) Tourist Guide


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Monsoon Miscellany

by Mim Saisin

Summer’s definitely gone now, and we’re into the rainy season. We Thais like to say, nam tuam dee gwa fon lang - “Better to have a flood than a drought,” - but we weren’t saying that last year, when torrential rains in and out of season not only washed out lots of the farmers’ work, but also gave us city-dwellers trouble moving to upper floors and the like. Still, this year let’s hope things stick closer to the script - a bit of rain, a bit of shine, nothing to excess. Well, we shall see…

But the fact is that from the tourist point of view, this is not the best time for getting around the country, so this month I’m going to concentrate on a few places that are easy to get to, and won’t involve you in waist-deep wading and mud in your sandwiches, however hard it rains.

Wat Umong (Suan Puttatham) This is one of Chiang Mai’s most interesting and beautiful temples, situated to the west of town, off the road that passes the equally famous Wat Suan Dawk (see centre-fold map). I’ve known it since I was a small child, as my father who was a real Buddhist, used to take me there to wai phra (pay one’s respects to the Buddha) and read books in the temple library. The library alone makes it worth the visit. Apart from Thai works, it’s got lots of really important and readable books in English, most but not all of them about Buddhism (some historical works too). One of the nicest things about Wat Umong is its rural feeling and spaciousness. The temple buildings are on the lowest slopes of Doi Suthep, and around them are shady trees, with sayings in Thai and English attached to their trunks. There’s also a great chedi, very old, probably long predating the other temple buildings - perhaps going back to its foundation some 600 years ago. The story is that the temple it was originally built for a slightly eccentric monk known as Tera Jan. He’d acquired a lot of knowledge from his practice of Tantric ceremonies, but had become a bit crazy owing to one of the ceremonies going wrong. The result was that although known as the most learned and clever monk of his time, he also had spells when he would disappear into the forest, making himself inaccessible to the people who needed him, most notably the ruler of Chiang Mai. Consequently, the king built him this rural temple, and put some tunnels under the chedi so that he could get away from the world without becoming completely out of touch: hence the name of the temple, incidentally - umong meaning ‘tunnel’.

By the way, there’s also a wildlife sanctuary to one side, though I hear that apart from deer and a few birds, most of the other animals - bear, wild dogs, monkeys etc - have been released. Still, if you want to have a break from reading in the library, a nice place to go is the quite sizeable lake just three minutes walk away, still inside the temple grounds. I always buy brad and fish food from the sellers either there or nearer the entrance, and feed the huge and numerous catfish and also the turtles, snapping turtles, ducks, geese, swans and pigeons around there.

Wat Chet Yod Another temple for a rainy day trip - and perhaps the same day as visiting Wat Umong - is Wat Chet Yod (the Temple of the Seven Spires) which is pretty unusual, architecturally. It’s on the Superhighway, on the north side, between the Amari Rincome Hotel intersection and them See-yaek (crossing) Kwangsing . It’s in a nice setting, with Doi Suthep backing it, and has some bas reliefs with Buddhist subjects that are well worth photoing. This is a temple with a long history, and one of the locations where great councils were held to revise the Buddhist scriptures.

Chiang Mai National Museum Just a few minutes walk down the highway is the North’s most important museum, now open seven days a week, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.. Apart from the regular exhibitions, ranging in time from prehistory down to the last of the Chiang Mai ruling Jao’s (princes), there are special exhibitions. The last one was of Lanna style bussabok, castle-like structures for holding and transporting Buddha images. Some are still on display, worth looking at for the fantastic intricacy of the decorative detail.. The materials of the art works and artefacts are especially interesting - silk, celadon, ancient cloth, lacquer-ware and so on. Entrance fee is B.30 per person.

And if you still energy, what about looking into the Tribal Museum, just down to the Chotana Road and left along it for two kms. This museum is free, open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and with its permanent exhibition of clothes, ornaments, household wares and photos it gives you the perfect preparation for a visit to the Hmong, Yao, Akha, Karen, Lisu etc. who live in the hills all round.

But that’s a trip to be made when the weather’s more suitable - wouldn’t you say?