A Chiang Rai Story

[pomchop]

I have many memories of living in Chiang Rai as I am sure we all do.

 

How about we tell a story of something that we witnessed/experienced in Chiang Rai that we will likely never forget?

 

Here's one of mine:

 

A few years back I would need to go to Mae Sai once every 90 days or so to walk across the bridge into Myanmar and back to renew my visa.  Even though I had a car and drove several times I often would prefer to take the local bus as I was in no hurry and  it seemed to always be filled with some truly interesting looking local folks. 

 

 The old beat up bus went back and forth from the old CR bus station to Mae Sai in a bit over an hour each way, stopping along the way for anybody who wanted to get on or off.  Can't remember the fare but it was for sure dirt cheap.  I dubbed it the "refugee bus" as it seemed to be a real mish mash of Thais, Burmese, Hill Tribes and you name it.  I was usually the lone farang and was as usual a bit of a curiosity to my fellow passengers who would often just sit and stare at me, not in a bad way but in a way that anyone will look at something, someone, that is very different from the norm.  The kids were of course especially curious as to this big white guy with hair on his arms and legs would say a few words to them in English or even a bit of Thai.

 

So on one trip after I had done my visa gig and had my lunch,  I got on the "refugee bus" for the return trip to Chiang Rai.  I was sitting in a window seat when three rather sketchy looking guys probably 20 years or so old boarded and one took the aisle next to me and the other two sat in the other two seats across the aisle.  The bus soon filled up and away we went.

 

As most no doubt know there are a few police checkpoints on the return route and this day was no exception.  At the first checkpoint the bus was pulled over and two uniformed cops got on at the front door and began to walk along checking peoples papers, id's or whatever.  I had been through this before and knew that they had never asked me to see anything as I was very obviously not a local.  Normally one cop would enter the front door and the other would enter the back door.  But this day they both came in the front.  

 

I noticed my seat mate whispering to his two buddies and they all seemed a bit nervous.  As the cops made their way down the aisle suddenly all three of my new "friends" jumped up and ran out the back door of the bus.  There were several other cops hanging around the checkpoint but my friends ran across the highway and lickety split into the dense jungle and disappeared.  Instantly there was much yelling and gesturing among the cops until two of them gave chase and also disappeared into the jungle.  I was a bit apprehensive as several of the cops had some nasty looking guns but I heard no shots ring out.

 

Five minutes later the bus pulled away and we continued on to Chiang Rai as if nothing had happened.  I would guess that my friends were likely Burmese or Hill Tribe with no papers and decided to make a run for it rather than ending up in custody.  Of course I will never know as perhaps their small carry bundles were full of yaba or heroin or who knows what.  Just another day on the refugee run I suppose.

 

Not the most exciting of stories I realize but certainly one that I will never forget.  And my seatmate didn't even bother to say goodbye to me.

[Burma Bill]

Over many years living near Phayao, I also did the "Maisai" run on a regular basis to cross into Burma (Tachilek) for visa and shopping purposes, but never by bus as I had my own pick-up. These runs I shall never forget as they were always a pleasure, especially in Burma, where I could have a flutter at the roulette table before shopping (quite often on winnings) and crossing back into Thailand after enjoying a chilled Myanmar beer at the Duty Free shopping complex. Regarding those many check-points southwards on route 1, it was at one south of Chiang Rai where I was stopped by the police and fined 1,000 baht for not having a UK International driving licence - only a UK(EU) one. I did not argue and within days I had a Thai driving licence courtesy of contacts within the British Consulate and DLT office in Chiang Mai. Those were the days when it was "who you knew" that mattered and not the present Thai bureaucratic lunacy!! 

Edited June 15, 2020 by Burma Bill
additional information

[Lacessit]

An American, deceased recently, came back from Tatchilek some years ago with about 1000 Viagra tablets. Not the brightest light bulb, they were visible at the top of his backpack. I think he wanted to sell them in Chiang Mai.

Stopped at the first police checkpoint after Mae Sai, the police fined him 500 baht and confiscated the lot. One of them must have had a sense of humor, because he gave the American  20 tablets back.

[NightSky]

Quote

Not the most exciting of stories

 

correct, zzzz zzzz zzzz

[drbeach]

Strange, I've never had Thais or Burmese stare at me. Thais are just as likely to stare at Burmese and hill tribes or be curious about them, as farang, especially on a bus to Mae Sai, which is a semi-popular destination for farang and has been for at least 20 years. I therefore find your experience a bit weird.

 

Perhaps you were being "stared" at in your words because poor hill tribes were confused why a supposedly "rich" farang would choose to catch a bus rather than drive or catch a cab?

 

I stopped catching buses when I had enough money to rent a car, or later on, purchase a car. I find it strange to consider catching a bus so you can "meet the locals". Most bus passengers aren't interested in chit chat; if you want to meet locals you visit a local coffee shop or coffee plantation and strike up a conversation with the locals there. Plenty of interesting people watching and opportunities to interact with locals on both sides of the border once you get to Mae Sai. Also, you couldn't pay me enough to waste time on the bus, which is stopped at every checkpoint by the police and border patrol, while cars are waved on.

Edited June 15, 2020 by drbeach

[drbeach]

2 hours ago, Burma Bill said:

Over many years living near Phayao, I also did the "Maisai" run on a regular basis to cross into Burma (Tachilek) for visa and shopping purposes, but never by bus as I had my own pick-up. These runs I shall never forget as they were always a pleasure, especially in Burma, where I could have a flutter at the roulette table before shopping (quite often on winnings) and crossing back into Thailand after enjoying a chilled Myanmar beer at the Duty Free shopping complex. Regarding those many check-points southwards on route 1, it was at one south of Chiang Rai where I was stopped by the police and fined 1,000 baht for not having a UK International driving licence - only a UK(EU) one. I did not argue and within days I had a Thai driving licence courtesy of contacts within the British Consulate and DLT office in Chiang Mai. Those were the days when it was "who you knew" that mattered and not the present Thai bureaucratic lunacy!! 

Based on your name, sounds like you used to live in Burma.

 

I have been to Mae Sai many times myself, and as I said in my other reply to the OP, I stopped catching the bus once I bought my own car (before that I used to rent a car). I have also crossed into Tachilek several times, but since the 2013 opening of 4 Thai-Myanmar land checkpoints, I have mainly used Mae Sot, and increasingly Phu Nam Ron, to travel to Myanmar. Tachilek I have only ever visited on a day pass. However, it's possible to enter using a visa now but you have to fly if you want to travel further west such as to Mandalay as the Kengtung-Taunggyi road remains off-limits to foreigners.

 

Never had any trouble with checkpoints on the road between Chiang Rai and Mae Sai. Rarely pulled over either. There are many alternative roads, most of which don't have checkpoints or only the one, to get you to Mae Sai, such as the Golden Triangle (Sop Ruak) to Mae Sai road which mainly runs along the border. Any drug trafficker worth their salt would have figured out by now it's best to avoid the main highway. My first trip to Mae Sai was in 2000 and first time across to Tachilek was around Dec 2001.

 

Never have visited a casino in tachilek. Always thought the one on the Mekong, 17km away from Tachilek town but only accessible (for foreigners) by passing through the bridge first was the only one in town, but apparently there is another smaller one on top of a hill. Either way, most people avoid Tachilek and go to the King Romans casino for gambling now. The Burmese casino on the Mekong is basically abandoned these days; not sure who still visits (Thais and Burmese can travel there directly from Sob Ruak by boat). Myawaddy (opposite Mae Sot) is much more popular for gamblers than Tachilek these days.

 

I would love to be able to drive up to Kengtung at least, in my own car without going on a tour. Several years ago, it was possible and there was even an American expat based in Chiang Mai I think, who drove up there and beyond to Mongla on the Chinese border, all by himself, back around 2007. He documented his journey on his blog, and I think you can still find details of it online if you do a search.

 

Unfortunately, as of 2014 (if not earlier) it seems that angry taxi drivers put a stop to that and now the furthest you can go with a Thai or foreign registration without signing up for a tour is the outskirts of Tachilek, including that casino I mentioned. Understandably, unless you're a trader or own a business in Tachilek there's little point in driving across the border as you won't be permitted to drive very far. However, unlike in Myawaddy I believe you're allowed to keep the car on the Burmese side overnight and use it in Myanmar for up to 7 or 14 days. That means if you wanted to do a visa run whereby you spend a night or two in Tachilek, it would be worthwhile driving across the border and parking your car at the hotel.

[Gandtee]

2 hours ago, Lacessit said:

An American, deceased recently, came back from Tatchilek some years ago with about 1000 Viagra tablets. Not the brightest light bulb, they were visible at the top of his backpack. I think he wanted to sell them in Chiang Mai.

Stopped at the first police checkpoint after Mae Sai, the police fined him 500 baht and confiscated the lot. One of them must have had a sense of humor, because he gave the American  20 tablets back.

500bt? That was a bit stiff!

[pomchop]

“The journey not the arrival matters.” – T.S. Eliot

[SW Happy]

7 hours ago, Gandtee said:

500bt? That was a bit stiff!

Nice to see they wasn't to HARD ON him

 

[geisha]

Not Thailand but Laos. Many years ago, I left  Vientiane on the bus going North. The bus was full, except the seat next to me. All Laotiennes , except 3 US guys in the back seat. Anyhow, after’15 mins, the bus stopped, a Lao stepped up, had a look around, me, very naive, put up my hand to indicate there was a free seat next to me. As he sat down next to me with his AK 47 , I sort of shut up and looked out the window a good while.

A while later we stopped for drinks and wc, I got out too, the three Americans absolutely hilarious outside. Apparently the look on my face as the guy with the gun sat down next to me was a picture. Anyhow, found it he was a guard for the bus as the countryside we were driving through was still dangerous back then. 

[pomchop]

Here's another boring Chiang Rai story that may remind some of you of a few of the many characters around Chiang Rai.

 

I lived for several years fairly near to Chiang Rai Beach.  Most everyday I would do a morning walk down near the river and would often see the same characters roaming about trying to find something of value in a trash dump, or something from nature to eat....like the bright red flowers that would fall during season from several tall trees. Sometimes there were a few Thai ladies who would actually sleep under the tree so they could lay claim to the flowers as they fell.  I was told they make some kind of sweet snack from the flowers.

 

Anyway, the character who I remember the best was a very skinny Thai guy who appeared to have about two teeth left in his mouth.  I don't know his age but he was no spring chicken.   He appeared one day just off a dirt road where I liked to walk.  He had dug two pits into a very sandy area about 6 ft x 4 ft and a few feet deep.  As usual he seemed a bit mystified by a farang out walking for no apparent reason.  But I always made sure to greet him in my broken Thai which he would return with a big smile from his toothless mouth.

At first I wasn't quite sure what he was up to digging these holes...but over the next few days it became obvious that he was a "charcoal man".

 

He had a very old, very beat up bicycle that pulled a sort of homemade trailer behind it.  That and a machete appeared to comprise his belongings.  What he would do is ride around the area looking for fallen or dead trees and they he would go to work with his machete to chop off some good sized logs.  Some days I would walk by and see him at work on an especially big log and then pass by again an hour or two later and he was still hacking away to get the log to a size that it would fit onto his bike trailer. It was not easy work but once he got it cut as he wanted he would load it into his bike trailer then struggle mightily to pedal back to his sand pit.

 

I still wasn't quite sure what he was up to but I soon figured it out when I walked by an he was tending a big fire with a few big logs in the bottom of the pit surrounded by smaller sticks.  I stopped to watch.  When the fire was burning to his satisfaction he started covering it all with sand that he shoveled up with an old rusty bucket he had found somewhere.  The fire beneath the sand continue to burn and smolder away with a bit of smoke escaping through the sand.  Over the next day or two when it was all "cooked" to his satisfaction he would dig the logs out of the fire and viola...charcoal.  He then wacked the charcoal  log into small pieces, put a few pieces into the ubiquitous plastic bags, load them up into his bike trailer and pedal away.  I did manage to figure out that he took his bags of charcoal to a few local nearby shops where he sold them for a very few baht for people who apparently would buy one bag to cook one meal.  I'm sure you have seen the plastic bags of charcoal in local mom and pop stores.

 

As I watched him do this over and over for several months I begin to think more and more about how very lucky I had been in my life to have been born a white american male where the opportunities to get educated, to get good high paying jobs, to live in a nice house, to drive a nice car are there for the taking.  To this day I still think of "charcoal man" who always seemed to smile his toothless smile as he struggled to pedal around with his heavy load.

 

We have all no doubt seen similar hard working poor people around Chiang Rai who just seem to make the best of the cards they were dealt.  I just wanted to take this opportunity to salute the charcoal man of Chiang Rai.

[FarangULong]

While I do appreciate the story, I do not appreciate your perpetuation (even if not intended, but the way you phrased it, I suspect it was intended..) of the "White male priviledge" myth.

 

The opportunities to get educated, high paying jobs, to live in a nice house, etc. are there for the taking to anyone "lucky" enough to be either born in the Western World (not just America) & other highly developped/industrialized nations. Not just for "White males".

[Ventenio]

these stories usually lead to the typical xenophobia....i remember when one (country)....

 

more evidence of farangs hating farangs in thailand, while others share a story that makes us wonder how lonely and boring the guy is....

 

this is why racism doesn't go away......we allow the sly negative comments as normal.

 

yea, i remember this one guy from (country)....oh, what a looooooooooooooooooser.....ramble for another 10 pages........

[EricTh]

I thought Thailand no longer allow border runs?

 

People have been abusing their tourist visas in the past to extend their short term into a year long stay.

Edited June 22, 2020 by EricTh

[transam]

On 6/16/2020 at 2:56 AM, SW Happy said:

Nice to see they wasn't to HARD ON him

 

But the BiB were all walking around with a limp........????

[pomchop]

2 hours ago, FarangULong said:

While I do appreciate the story, I do not appreciate your perpetuation (even if not intended, but the way you phrased it, I suspect it was intended..) of the "White male priviledge" myth.

 

The opportunities to get educated, high paying jobs, to live in a nice house, etc. are there for the taking to anyone "lucky" enough to be either born in the Western World (not just America) & other highly developped/industrialized nations. Not just for "White males".

Having grown up in the southern USA i can assure you that the opportunities for a white american male were considerably more available than they were for many others. They were not equally available to all

That is what many of the civil rights protests and struggles were and continue to be about.  My high school did not permit black students until 1966.  Tell the black kids who had no "right" to attend a better school that the opportunities were equal.  White privilege was certainly no myth where i grew up.