Chiang Mai (Northern Thailand) Tourist Guide


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Suburban Trekking
To the Back of Beyond, right on your doorstep

Text : Tachyon
Images : Apirak

The rather narrow soi leading to and beyond Wat U-mong, one of Chiang Mai's most famous and interesting Buddhist temples, has more than a bit about it of the Yellow Brick Road that Dorothy followed so rewardingly in all our childhoods. Not only does it provide an introduction to all kinds of interesting life forms - intellectuals, students, laymen, artists, and whatnot. It's also a `tunnel' (umong) to a wilderness where other incredible sentient beings roam free, right at the other side of the temple fence line.

Interested? Do read - and perhaps also roam - on.

Three of us from the SP Company team that puts out this Tourist Guide left the town rather late in the morning a couple of weeks back, and made our way to Wat Umong's Moral Camp, Kai Khunatham, all of twenty minutes ride from where we started, in mid-town. From the camp, we followed a brook into the more dense forest in a westerly direction - in other words, climbing into the foothills of the Doi Suthep range.

There's an alternative starting point, from the Doi Suthep Wildlife Sanctuary Development and Reservation Extension Station, right at the back of Wat Umong. It's the officials working in this small unit whom we should be grateful to for maintaining at least a part of the forest here intact, while the massive `tourism development' assault on this part of Lanna's natural heritage (a cable car line plus 13 mega-projects - two completed already) threatens to destroy a major environamental resource at the foot of the mountain.

This forested area on the eastern slope of Doi Suthep is actually part of the Suthep special reservation park. The area had been subject to indiscriminate settlement for some time, so in 1974 the Royal Forestry Department sent their officers to conduct a survey. The following year a plant nursery was established and a fund to build a wildlife enclosure of 100 rai (approx. 16 hectares) budgeted, with hog deer as the first of the many forms of wildlife later released into it.

Having seen how popular the sanctuary became for Chiang Mai residents, providing access to natural forest of considerable variety and beauty, and the opportunity to see forest wildlife close up, and how other visitors to the Northern capital, both foreign and Thai, were also interested, the Sanctuary Administration Unit began carrying out systematic studies of the environment there.

You won't find any handouts but as you walk in, you learn that the area has a creek running through that empties into a natural reservoir. The lowland forest around here has a mixture of deciduous and dry dipterocarps, with teak, Burmese rosewood, Cananga odorata, banyan trees, bamboos, and Siamese sal dominating. On both sides of the perennial creek you also find Lamphu-pa (Duabanga grandiflora (Roxb. ex DC.) Walp.) and Malabar ironwood, while native faunas such as squirrels, tree-shrews, and a large number of bird species are common.

Soon after founding, as the site showed signs of overcrowding, it was considerably expanded and more animals - banteng, sambar, Eld's deer among them - were released into the semi-wild habitat.

Well, that's what we were able to see for ourselves, as we began to follow the paths into the area, though we couldn't help noticing there were plenty of tree stumps around, evidence that destroying the forest hasn't stopped yet - though people are still wondering why we have so much more flooding these days than in the past.

We could have done with a guide, but since there aren't any available, we did the best we could, finding our own way, and there was the feeling of adventure about it. And that feeling sharpened when we started getting animal sightings - some ordinary deer and a muntjac, obviously used to being around people - and we soon found out why. Round a bend in the path we came - suddenly, bit of a surprise - on a monk. And what should he be doing there, but feeding bananas and some vegetables to some more deer. And from the easy-going way they interacted, it was clear they - monk and animals - were no strangers to each other. It was we who were the strangers in this strange land, so we used the strangers' privilege of asking the monk's advice. Where could we expect to see some of the other animals? And no sooner did he start giving us directions than - wow! - a big banteng (that's a kind of red ox, native to this part of Asia) came sauntering in.

"Hold on a mo!" Bo, the party's photographer exclaimed - not sure whether to get a picture or take a powder. "I thought the banteng was supposed to be extinct." And I have to admit it can be a bit unnerving encountering an animal as big as this in its own backyard. But the monk reassured us. As long as we didn't get in a banteng's way or do anything that could be construed as threatening, we were in no danger.

"Well, how about if someone hurt them in the past. Mightn't they remember it and see us as a chance to get revenge?" Bo was only joking, but then again you wouldn't want to get in the way of a charging banteng, that's for sure.

"Just follow this grassy track," was the monk's advice. "You get the occasional vehicle on it, so for the most part the bigger animals stay well clear. Keep walking about another kilometer and you'll hear the sound of the waterfall up there. It's well worth a visit." And as a parting gift he gave us a hand of bananas, to feed - and fend off? - any other beasts we might encounter.

It turned out to be good advice. Our little troop marched on, but now there was another problem. We were starting to feel hungry, and we hadn't thought to bring any provender. "Oh, for some gai yang khau nee-o (grilled chicken with sticky rice)!" said one of the party (not me) in a longing voice. And it was at that point that a brilliant idea occurred - I won't say to whom. "Er, do you think the animals would mind if we scoffed a banana or two of the ones the monk gave us?" And what do you know? Five minutes later, there wasn't a banana in sight, only some skins.

Well, partially rejuvenated, we marched onward and upward, the path steep and narrow, and heard the tinkle of water falling. Small in size though it was, the waterfall was certainly worth the energy expended to see it, and we felt at one there with the trees and animals, nature all round us, and yet so close to the city. I really recommend it. A little trekking adventure, the back of beyond in Chiang Mai's own back yard. No expense, no hassle, no need even to plan anything. But just remember to take a bit of food along. It's not only the animals that appreciate being fed.

For more info, contact Doi Suthep Wildlife Sanctuary Development and Reservation Extension Station 163 Moo 10, T. Suthep, Chiang Mai 50200. Tel. 0-5327-7402.