Chiang Mai (Northern Thailand) Tourist Guide


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A Short Sight-Seeing Trip to the Monkey Centre

by Mim Saisin

With any luck, we’ve seen the last of the rains and are now getting into the winter season. Sometimes it gets really cold up in this part of the world, and I’m hoping it will this year. It’s such fun putting on hats with pom-poms and wearing sweaters...

Above all, this is the time for getting away on tee-os - trips - and to mark the change of season, my friend Ben (she’s a primary school teacher in Chiang Mai town) and I decided to pay her mother a visit in her village near Mae Rim.

We left Chiang Mai town early and bought some food for our breakfast at Chang Peuk market, which is full of local products and fresh vegetables. I bought nam tau hoo, soy bean soup, with ka nom krok, Thai style pancakes, as well as some fruit for Ben’s mother.

We arrived at her house at about 8 a.m., and her mother prepared some of our favorite dishes, such as gaeng hung lae (sweet pork curry), gaeng kae kai (vegetable curry with chicken), and saa ma kue (Northern style eggplant salad). So we had a super meal, and enough of it to keep me going - well, at least till the middle of the afternoon.

Ben house is situated in front of a paddy field, like the other houses in the village. Behind the house is a small stream, so the atmosphere’s really great. I had a chance to take a nap in ple yaun, a hammock hung between the trees, with the sound of the stream as a lullaby.

Round about 11 o’clock we left for our next destination, the monkey show on the old Mae Rim /Samoeng Road that office colleagues had told me a great deal about, saying it was fun.

After only a few minutes from the turn off of the main street we arrived at the Monkey Centre. There are many performances of about 30 minutes each, starting at 11 o’clock. The ticket sets you back B.200, but is worth getting. First we bought a basket of food for the cute little monkeys we met in the garden, before the performance began. Some of them are really young. We saw them feeding from bottles. The staff told us they start training the monkeys - that’s to say the males only - when they are two years old, and most of them learn really quickly.

After that, we sat in front of the stage. There were about twenty spectators at this performance, both Thai and farang. There were also some children, who really enjoyed themselves. It reminded me of my little five-year-old cousin, and how she reacts when we take her to the zoo. It’s the right age to begin acquainting kids with animals. The show started with a wai, the Thai style greeting from the monkeys. Next came a demonstration of how monkeys work to pick coconuts, put them in a pushcart and deliver them to the place where they’re stored. They seem very professional at this activity, very quick at their work, but it takes a long time to train them, we were told. In the South of Thailand, the monkeys are put to work in coconut plantations, saving people from having to do the dangerous business of climbing the tall palms. In Thai we say, ling yorm mai tok ton mai, pla yorm mai jom nam, which means, ‘Monkeys don’t fall out of trees, any more than fish drown in water’.

The next part of the show was really amazing. The monkey trainer hid wooden cards numbered 1-10, then called the selected number and there! The monkey found it, even if it was upside down! The trainer asked a little girl to find a number among other cards mixed together, and she couldn’t do it. Then one of the audience chose a number, and the monkey found that too. I don’t know how they did it, so you should just go to see for yourself.

After that came a monkey diving demonstration, monkeys diving into water to pick things from the bottom of the pool that had been thrown in - like a watch, in one case. While this was going on, another little monkey came round with a basket, selling ya morng, Thai balm, very cute. And finally we saw the monkeys riding bicycles.

I liked this show very much. It’s not easy to train animals, and monkeys are natives of Thailand, and like elephants, are under environmental and other pressures, so we need to take care of them, making sure they’ don’t become extinct in the wild. There are a few places like Sarn Phra Karn in Lopburi, where quite a lot of monleys live in close proximity to humans, but they’re not well taken care of. They’re often suffering from sickness and hunger. Perhaps shows like this can help us become aware of their needs, and lead to something being done to improve the conditions in which they live.

From the Monkey Centre, we walked a short way to a Jungle Bungy Jump, just the place for the people who love thrilling activities. As far as Ben and I were concerned, looking on was just fine, since both of us gru-a kwam soong - we’re afraid of heights. The atmosphere of this place is very pleasant. It has a beautiful garden with a big pond. I talked to the staff there about Bungy Jumping. They said Mr. Ian Rauner, the owner of this place, a professional with long experience in this field, started this adventure activity in 1990, and makes sure it functions in accordance with international standards. There are two rates for jumping - 1,000 baht for a jump, insurance and a certificate, and 1,400 baht for a jump, insurance and a certificate plus 24 photos and a tee-shirt. I saw some tourists come here by motorbike, because it’s not far from town. Next time I will strengthen my will and give it a try - once. If you want more information please contact 053 – 298 442. They open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

We got back to the city in the afternoon. Having a pleasant day in the country with a friend like this makes your life happier. We plan to go to many places between now and the end of the year, because this is the time when there are lots of holidays. We’re determined to make the most of it. So I’m looking forward to having the chance to tell you about another jolly, relaxing and exciting trip next month - and after that too. See you then!