Southern Comforts: A visit to Narathiwat is like taking a step back in time

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THAILAND
Southern Comforts
Phoowadon Duangmee
The Nation
Narathiwat


The kolae boat boasts vivid colours and unusual paintings.

A visit to Narathiwat is like taking a step back in time

NARATHIWAT: -- "We should have gained more land beyond this temple when Siam and the British were discussing divisions," says our driver firmly as we enter the grounds of Wat Chothara Singhe, a Buddhist temple in Tak Bai - one of the southernmost districts of Narathiwat province in Thailand's Deep South.

"Back then, when the British called the Siamese for a meeting in Kelantan forest, our representatives couldn't make it. They were so drunk that they'd passed out at this temple."

The rest isn't hard to guess.

The British, who had little patience with such disreputable behaviour, were terribly disappointed by the Siamese for keeping them waited in the malaria-infested jungle in Kelantan and showed their displeasure by announcing the land where the Siamese had snored off their excesses belonged to Siam, and that everything beyond that was under protection of the United Kingdom.

It's an amusing tale and I laugh. And Wat Chothara Singhe is indeed the demarcation between Thailand and Malaysia. The truth, however, is very much the other way round.

The old Buddhist temple was established in 1873. During the negotiations between the UK and the Kingdom of Siam prior to the signing of the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909 dividing the land into what was to become Northern Malaysia and Southern Thailand, the Siamese insisted that the area around Chothara Singhe belonged to Siam. Both sides agreed on this point and the evidence is kept in the small temple museum, which also boasts life-sized models of the Siamese and British representatives, Prince Devawong Varoprakar and Ralph Paget, signing the treaty in Bangkok on March 10, 1909.

Tucked away in Thailand's far south with the Gulf of Thailand lapping its beaches, Narathiwat is the easternmost of the four southern provinces that border Malaysia. Once a small coastal town village on the estuary of the Bang Nara River, it was known as Bang Nara until the visit of King Rama VI - who renamed it Narathiwat - literally "the land of good people".

The southern coastal province has a centre for trade between Thailand's South and Malaysia's North ever since and over the years has drawn many Chinese to its shores. The town itself is a melting pot of ethnic diversity with Chinese shrines standing shoulder to shoulder with Muslim mosques and Buddhist temples.

While Narathiwat folk pursue different faiths, daily life binds them together. At the food market in

downtown Narathiwat, where vendors jostle to offer us fresh meat and vegetables, I observe elderly Chinese women and Muslim girls in their hijabs exchanging jokes while negotiating with the fisherman over the catch of the day. When they catch sight of our group, they giggle and poke fun at these camera-toting strangers.

"Local people are always enthralled by visitors," says Joy, who is serving as our guide to Narathiwat. "They're happy to have people from Bangkok or other parts of the country coming to visit. It makes them feel less alone."

A few decades ago, Narathiwat was a popular destination with the 300-year-old Masjid Wadi Al-Husein, the Hala-Bala Wildlife Sanctuary and its great hornbills as well as the traditional kolae boats in vivid colour drawing visitors. Today few visitors come, scared off by the ongoing insurgency in Thailand's deep south.

We travel around Narathiwat with a fully armed security escort and are regularly required to stop at the checkpoints where young policemen make sure we're "good people". It reminds me of my trip to Lahore in Pakistan five years ago when I travelled to the museum and purchased pomegranate juice escorted by stern-looking security men carrying AK-47 rifles.

We visit Samanmit School in Yi-ngor district where the local Muslim teacher shares with us the revelations of God. On the table are several old copies of the Koran along with equally ancient tomes of folktales written in Arabic on parchment scrolls.

"Some of the Koran are 260 years old," Mahamalutfee Hayesamae tells us, adding that he collects these old religious books. "We plan to build a Koran Museum here for people who are interested in the religious texts of Islam."

Our driver also takes us along the beach, which is rustic, original and empty apart from a few children and some goats. For them, the biggest excitement of the day is the arrival of a fishing boat.

And what a fishing boat it is too! The traditional and colourful kolae are as unique as they are beautiful. In Tak Bai, we talk to local boat-builders - two Muslim brothers. They, like almost all the people I meet in Narathiwat, are quiet but warm-hearted and politely curious about the visitors in their midst. The elder brother builds the boat, while the younger one paints it.

"The kolae design combines Malay, Javanese and Thai culture" says one of the boat makers. "You can find plenty of boats like this along the coasts of Malaysia and Indonesia, but unless they are painted like ours, they're deadly dull."

And so the local boat-builder creates artistic statements with such Thai patterns as running scrolls, the lotus, serpents, magic monkeys, and heads of birds found in the forest.

In Narathiwat, it's said that a person without a kolae is like a man without clothes.

IF YOU GO

< Thai AirAsia operates daily flights between Bangkok and Narathiwat.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/travel/Southern-Comforts-30254322.html


-- The Nation 2015-02-18

[keestha]

I have fond memories of my sole visit to Narathiwat in 1992.

Lovely city, many historical wooden buildings in the downtown, one of them was the hotel I stayed in.

Everybody was extremely interested in me, continuously I was approached by people who just wanted to talk to me.

Though they always were very, very friendly, finally it became a bit too much for me, and I fled into the coffee shop of the most expensive hotel in town, just to be by myself for a few minutes.

Edited February 18, 2015 by keestha

[luckizuchinni]

I go to Nartiwat several times a year. If I didn't have to, I wouldn't. I've had rounds fired into the house in which I was sleeping, and bombs have gone off 30 minutes after I left the market. There really isn't much there for tourists that differ from provinces further north. There is a decided lack of places to buy even the basic creature comforts available country-wide. Tesco had planned to put in a store, but those plans were shelved after two bombings. When we drive down, one of the big things we do is stop an hour north at a Tesco and buy bags of frozen French fries as you cannot get them in Naritiwat.

There are many good people there on both sides of the religious divide, but there are others who take advantage of it to foster personal gain. I just don't see the pull given the current situation.

[Lupatria]

One may say a trip to many areas in Thailand is like a journey back into medieval times...

[Roota]

One may say a trip to many areas in Thailand is like a journey back into medieval times...

Medieval is stretching it but yes, older and (to me) mostly better times.

Narathiwat was my favorite of the Deep South towns and I spent a lot of time there in the '80s and '90s. As a white fella I was the subject of much curiosity and hospitality. I used to spend hours in the tea shops just talking to people, and then go to the seafood restaurants along the water -- most pleasant.

Probably a brief trip there now would still be OK if you were careful but I'm not willing to risk it. Ditto Yala and especially Pattani, the only town down there where I actually felt any hostility, even back then. All quite sad. It's a fascinating part of the country.

[Tomtomtom69]

An interesting report but as most of the respondents on here have stated, not a good time to be heading down to that part of Thailand.

What I find curious though is that, unlike in other parts of Thailand, that the locals would be curious to talk with foreigners. Although admittedly, times have changed from the 1980s or 1990s when diversity and foreign travellers were in much shorter supply in Thailand than they are now. Even so, I only recall children and teenagers curious at my presence as an exchange student at a high school in northern Thailand around the turn of the century, but since then the school has been hiring numerous foreign English teachers (and even French and Japanese teachers), in addition to a new exchange student coming in probably every year or so, so curiousity has waned. That and the massive increase in tourists to Thailand since then have created a situation where most Thais seem less than enthusiastic about the presence of another foreigner and unless said foreigner is asking for directions or happens to be introduced to some jolly Thais in a restaurant or bar, most foreigners are left alone with most locals too shy to talk to them.

Maybe it's the same now in the far southern provinces. Anyway, these days I'd think that most locals there would think: "what are these people doing here?" in response to foreigners or Thais from other provinces who are tourists travelling through their region, given the current state of violence and hostilities.

[garrya]

One may say a trip to many areas in Thailand is like a journey back into medieval times...

you mean architecture, culture or mindset?

[Camelot]

I stayed in Narathiwat in 1978 and the province was a delight to visit. The beaches at Tak Bai are some of the finest in Thailand and it's a great pity that the security situation prevents most tourists today from seeing them. That wasn't always the case. A scandal erupted over female Western tourists sunbathing while topless around the time I was there. Definitely taboo in the Muslim deep south. Despite that, everyone I met was friendly. Most of the food shops had jukeboxes and they played "Hotel California" day and night.

A complete contrast to Pattani where the townsfolk made it clear to me that foreigners weren't welcome.

[Roota]

You're right Tom, few Thais (ditto Laos, Cambodians, etc.) go out of their way to talk to foreigners these days. Partly I think it's due to language problems -- they're insecure about their English and they don't realize that some of us speak Thai quite reasonably -- but there also seems to be just a basic lack of curiosity. That's true even in places that see very few Westerners, and yes, there still are a few left.

The notable exception in SE Asia, in my experience, is Indonesia. Many of the people seem authentically interested in talking to Westerners. That's what Narathiwat used to be like. Maybe it was partly a Muslim thing, as the conversation often came around to religion and what we thought of theirs. Anyhow I never experienced it in Yala, let alone Pattani. Narathiwat was a very special little place and I miss it.

Edited February 18, 2015 by Roota

[uptheos]

I went to Narathiwat many years ago and found it a pleasant place.

Nowadays there are some who would like to take you back to the seventh century if they could.

[Johpa]

One may say a trip to many areas in Thailand is like a journey back into medieval times...

Yes, indeed, a real Kingdom where otherwise middle class folks, both locals and foreigners, can afford to have maids, gardeners, and chauffeurs, not to mention the affordable satiating of your personal sexual peccadilloes. But that is exactly why most of you reside in Thailand.

[gk10002000]

Years ago when I was first getting ready to visit Thailand, a train trip down through southern Thailand and into Malaysia or even a bus trip with a few days stops here and there was on my list. But as others have posted, bullets, bombs, unrest etc. have been enough to keep me from doing that.

[Lupatria]

One may say a trip to many areas in Thailand is like a journey back into medieval times...

you mean architecture, culture or mindset?

Take a wild guess

[el jefe]

I'm sure this will help tourism:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/802068-dozen-wounded-as-car-bomb-rips-through-southern-thai-town/