Amy's Guide to Chiang Mai (Dedicated to Janet)

It was a travelers worst nightmare.  After weeks of planning and anticipation, my two sisters were turned away at the airport in Newark due to a passport technicality.  How could this possibly happen?  I was so excited to have them visit me here in Thailand, my disappointment was nothing less than heart breaking.  In my mind, I had already walked them through the markets, taken them to my favorite restaurants, pointed out things I’d discovered, and rode with them in tuk tuks.  I could see their delighted faces.  I had already dazzled them with my knowledge of Thai and local culture!  All this and more they would report back to the family!

But it was not meant to be.  Stunned and sad, I spent a day feeling extremely sorry for myself.  My sweet and considerate husband Jimmy suggested we get away for a few days…exploring the nearby town of Pai, three hours away by mini-van.  It was a wonderful idea and just what I needed so we set out the next morning… up into the mountains.  Pai turned out to be absolutely lovely…and very quiet compared to our beloved Chiang Mai. 

That first evening we found a guest house where our room was a little bungalow surrounded by huge banana plants.  We wandered the streets checking out the shops and eateries.  Despite my new surroundings nothing could keep me from feeling the absence of my two sisters …still back in the states.  That’s when I got the idea for this blog edition.  If I couldn’t share the real thing with them, I decided to provide a virtual tour.  I thought to entitle this “A Guide to Thailand” but realized that was far too broad.  After only three months, I cannot presume to know Thailand or even the city of Chiang Mai.  Every time I start to feel as if I understand what this place is about, something new opens up.   I am constantly delighted and surprised, as well as dumbfounded.   If my sisters had come, what would I have wanted to share with them?  During my two days in Pai, this is the list I came up with.

1.        The Thai people. 

Thais are sweet natured…that’s the bottom line.

There are exceptions of course, such as the guy who works at my gym…but I haven’t given up on winning him over quite yet.  They call this “The Land of Smiles” and with good reason.  Thai people seem genuinely interested in making you happy.  If they stare at you with suspicion, all it takes is a big smile and they will return the favor.  The men are not macho, the teenagers well mannered, and the small children quiet.   “Jai Yen” is a core concept in the Thai culture and it means to keep a cool heart.  Getting upset or demonstrating strong emotions in public is frowned upon. 

2.       Farangs

These are the foreigners…and there are many.  After my glowing report of the Thais, I wish I could say the same for “us,” but alas my feelings are not the same.  Farangs are good people…as most people are at the core, but in the context of south east Asia, they often seem loud, large, and overly agressive.  Here are several varieties which I would have pointed out to the sisters. 

                The young tourists.  Two subgroups:  the hippie types and the practical travelers.  The hippie types often have dreadlocks and wear a Thai “costume” with billowy pants with the crotch located a few inches off the ground.  They also wear lots of ethnic jewelry.  The practical group have two backpacks, a huge one on the back(duh) and another one on the front (shouldn’t this be called a frontpack?).  These double-packers are very serious and business like in nature.  I would be too if I was carrying an extra 100 pounds on my body.   Jim and I often wonder how these young people can afford to be globe hopping with such wild abandon.              The new comers.  We were new comers ourselves not so long ago.  They usually look a little lost, have a sunburn and are underdressed.  Many tourists traveling to hot climates think taking off their clothes will keep them cool but the Thais know better and cover up.  Another thing about Thais is that they are pretty shy and you don’t see a lot of flesh hanging out. 

                The Lifers.  These farangs intend to stay part of every year if not forever.  They have a million different stories about how they got here and how they plan to stay.  Visas are a favorite topic around here.  I’ve learned lots of new vocabulary pertaining to Visas…in particular the “Visa Run” which can be anything from a quick bus trip to the border or an exotic weekend away in Cambodia. ..all for the purpose of renewing the coveted Visa.  Many lifers also marry and or/date Thai nationals.  This leads us to my one more category of farang…the very old man in the company of a very young Thai girl.  I’m not making any judgments  here (I might just be saving that for another blog), but I mention it because I know it would have come up with the sisters sooner or later.  It’s very common in these parts and I for one am honestly curious as to what the different arrangements are…but naturally I can’t ask. 

                For me, being a farang was difficult for awhile.  I didn’t necessarily want to be associated with the other farangs, I was learning Thai and wanted to “fit in.”  I also had to accept that I was a size “large” here in Thailand…and I’m pretty little!  After three months of living in Chiang Mai, I’ve finally arrived at a place where I don’t think about which group I’m in.  I’m just me.  This place is so crazy, mixed up, and funky…that there’s room for all comers. 

3.        Thai Tech

While Thailand has state of the art medicine and a sound infra-structure, there’s also a lot of funky technology around here.  There are apparently no building codes so there’s this grand hodge podge of design elements.  The electrical wires suspended above the streets look like something straight out of the jungle. Many things are temporarily “rigged” up with an inventiveness my mother would have approved of. Here is a trash can made from recycled tires.  They are a common sight.  

You will often see multiple workers accomplishing a small task with homemade tools like a rubber hose with a nail sticking out of it.  Below my apartment window, sitting on an airconditioning unit, I saw two pairs of shoes neatly wrapped in what looked like toilet paper.  Why? 

                               

4.       The Markets

If the sisters were coming, I could easily take them to a different market everyday of the week.  They are everywhere!  After three months of living here, I’ve started to get better at distinguishing the differences between them and I was looking forward to sharing my sage advice.  The night markets are the best during the hot season because walking around during the day can be a bit of an ordeal even with your personal umbrella to shade you.  The vendors come out and transform the city streets into endless lanes of material and foods, lightbulbs strung overhead illuminating the jewelry, bags, watches, lanterns, t-shirts, wooden elephants, Buddhas, and textiles...just to name a few things.  In addition to the cornucopia of goods available, the markets are a great place to people watch.  Just grab a side table and a beer…and enjoy the show!   You’ll see Thais of every shape and size (but mostly small and skinny), including the famous “lady boys,” and blind singers carrying a personal sound system slung around their necks.   There is also a big assortment of farangs present...most a head taller than the local crowd.  Usually the streets are blocked off for “pedestrians only” and entire bands and little girls dancing on rugs are found right in the middle around which the hoards flow in the general direction that the auto traffic would.  The music, the lights, the people, the merchandise, the food…it is so rich, lively, and exhausting. 

5.       Not everything is beautiful

Some people who come to Thailand are disappointed when they see a Starbucks or a KFC.  I’m not too crazy about that myself, but  I have come to realize that this country is full of contrasts and contradictions…and I wouldn’t have it any other way.  It is modern and it is old world.  You can look in one direction and see an old woman carrying two baskets of fruit suspended on the ends of a pole and in the other direction a monk talking on a cell phone.  There are modern banks which require you to take your shoes off before going in.  Once inside, a security guard might just bring you a cup of tea.  You will be at the most beautiful wat you’ve ever seen, where everything is ART…but the toilet out back will scare the heck out of you.  Bring tissues.

6.       Transportation

This requires a blog posting of it’s own.  The short story is that Chiang Mai is a city of scooters. These scooters carry individuals, multiple individuals, babies, young girls riding sidesaddle, boxes, sidecarts, dogs, ironing boards, and plate glass.  The scooter traffic, peppered with tuk tuks, song taos, and other vehicles, buzz around the city in a constant cacophony of engine noise…minus the typical angry honking because that would be very un-Thai. 

7.       The Hood

My neighborhood is awesome.  First of all, the building I live in is extremely eclectic with residents from all over the world as well as many Thais.  It is 16 stories of mismatched doors behind which an assortment of apartments can be found…some large , some small, fancy ones and simple ones.  There’s shops on the lobby level, including a kind of mini-mart where Khun Gwan works and is always happy to see us.  On the street in front of our building, there are a few makeshift “businesses,” including a noodle stand and a seamstress who sets up her shop on the sidewalk.

 Every morning the delicious aroma of chicken cooking wafts through our bedroom window.  Around the corner is  Khun Dim with her pickup truck full of fresh fruit.  She’s a tiny little woman who speaks pretty good English and loves to tell us all about how to eat things we’ve never seen before…like Tamarind for instance, and fills us in on what is seasonal.  Further down the road you can find a shoe cobbler…again set up on the sidewalk, who resoled a pair of shoes for me and fixed my purse all for 50 baht.  That’s about $1.50. 

From the lobby of our building, you can walk in one direction to Santitham, a Thai centric area filled with charm and delight.  In the other  direction you will find a big shopping mall called Kad Suan Keow which I didn’t like much at first (just because it was a “mall”) but now it’s like a second home.  You see, it’s not like any mall I’ve ever known.  It’s a hulk of a building, filled with a mish mash of shops from a conventional “department store” to funky little stalls selling shoes, handmade dresses, boas, jewelry and bags. There are also many food stands and massage parlors.  In the open spaces, temporary stores crops up every day and there’s a candlelit night market out front every Thursday.   Jim and I honestly feel as if we’ll never completely know the place. 

8.        The unexpected

In In anticipation of my sisters coming to visit, I purposely withheld some information and photographs because I wanted them to be surprised.   In hindsight, I probably didn’t need to worry about that because Thailand and Chiang Mai are filled with the unexpected. 

FFor instance, you may expect to be able to get a massage just about anywhere…but what about from blind people?  Yes, it’s true...and it’s a very interesting experience in part because you can actually watch them without the awkwardness of making eye contact.  But the massage parlor I had in mind for the sisters was the one in the Women’s Correctional Facility.  I’m not entirely sure if these women are still incarcerated or on a rehab work program, but either way they’ve committed some crime or another and went to prison as a result.   Now they’re on their way to a better life via massage therapy.  The prison ladies, all dressed in pink traditional Thai outfits, are extremely sweet and if given an opportunity will ask you all sorts of personal questions such as “how old are you?” or “how much money do you make?”  This is actually quite acceptable in Thai culture…they are simply curious and don’t have the same social boundaries as westerners.  In any event, I always want to ask them in return “what are you in for?” but hold back. 

9.       Elephants

I would take my sisters to ride on an elephant.  Elephants, real and in art, are everywhere in Thailand.  They are both religious icons and domesticated pets.  Being in their company close up is an awesome experience.

10.   Buddha

You cannot overstate the presence of Buddhism here in Thailand.

 I would not need to point it out to my sisters for it is everywhere.  In the city of Chiang Mai, there are about 300 Wats which are compounds containing a combination of temples, housing and schools for monks, bell towers, crematoriums and other structures.  They are both community centers and magnificent works of art.  One of the most famous is Doi Suthep located up in the mountains.   Visiting this wat is always a highlight for a visitor to Chiang Mai.  In addition to the wats, there are “spirit houses” at almost every business and street corner.  The purpose of these miniature Thai dwellings is to honor the ancestors as well as the land.  They provide a shelter for spirits who might otherwise reside in the heavens.  You often see some sort of “offering” left on them…a piece of fruit, a glass of water, lit candles, or even a bag of Fritos.  Oh...and I totally forgot to mention all the monks walking around. 

The list is already long but far from complete.  For example, I haven’t even mentioned FOOD!  I will save that for another day.  As of this writing, one of my sisters rebooked her flight and has come and gone already.  She had the opportunity to experience all of the above...well, except for the prison massage.. Janet...you were missed.   Till next time.