History Written In Chiang Rai

[Limbo]

Domjamkung is right: There hasn't been much interesting things to read in the forum lately.

The good thing is that Domjamkung knows how difficult it is to 'produce' news, otherwise he would have been writing some excellent contributions himself by this time. So he will not be angry at us, knowing that a forum lives by the grace of its members/contributors.

So let me in two cases unite present and past of our province in the hope to make this forum a little bit more interesting.

Let me first present to you the absolute oldest expat in Chiang Rai: English Mr. Tony.

At least as far as I know he is the oldest. If somebody knows an expat older than 82 year I will put ashes on my head.

In 1946, Mr. Tony was a 22 year old assistant engineer of the British Army and had the task to construct a new bridge in Maesai to replace the old one which was bombed (possibly by American Flying Tigers). It actually was the same Bailey bridge which for many years could be seen lying at the right side of the superhighway just before the Maesai bridge in Chiang Rai.

Using film material of the British Royal Air Force he preserved for us some views of Maesai 60 years ago. As you notice, Maesai was a very small village at that time.

Limbo

Mr. Tony now and the pictures he took sixty years ago:

[Thaising]

Limbo, that’s pretty nice history about Mr. Tony. How about those Kuomintang army that being defeated and escaped from china communist red army in 1949 and are bring scattered around chiang rai province.

It maybe of interest for first time tourist and those newbie that visit chiang rai.

[Limbo]

About twenty years ago the road from Chiang Rai to Maesai had only two lanes in horrible condition, pottholed and extremely dusty.

On of the first bigger buildings along this road was the YMCA hotel about four kilometers north of town. It was the late Khun Vorakit Kantakalung who had it built.

Some years later he built the YMCA Hotel in Chiang Mai and developed the northern YMCA into an umbrella organisation for a lot of NGO's, active in the fields of rural development, preservation of the environment, improvement of the position of women, sustainable economical/agricultural activity and support for the peoples of the ethnic minorities.

How could Khun Vorakit, young, eager and intelligent, but not rich, realise a project like this?

What certainly was an important moment, was when he, bicycling in the Netherlands on a Sunday morning, got a flat tyre.

He asked a Dutchman where he could get his tyre fixed, but the good man couldn't help him as all shops were closed at Sundays, bicycle shops included. He jumped in his car and drove away.

Two minutes later he was back: "Drop your bicycle in the back of the car and we will drive to my home, you can fix your tyre at my home, my son has some repair materials".

Anyhow, he fixed the tyre with the help of the son and was invited to stay for lunch.

After a long conversation in which Khun Vorakit presented his enthousiastic idea's, the man decided to see if he could help Khun Vorakit to raise funds for the establishment of the Chiang Rai YMCA.

And he, who happened to be the Finance Minister of the Netherlands at that time, managed to do so.

So when I pass the YMCA Hotel I still think sometimes about my old friend standing along a Dutch country road with a flat tyre, by chance (?) meeting the Dutch Minister of Finance.

Limbo

[Limbo]

For the Swedes among us who might have visited the Swedish Consulate in the YMCA building of Chiang Mai and remember the late Khun Vorakit Kantakalung as their Swedish Consul:

Also behind the way Khun Vorakit became Swedish Consul there is a remarcable story.

On invitation of (if I remember well) the Gothenburg Rotary Club he visited Sweden and was introduced to King Gustav and Queen Sylvia during a reception.

To everybodies surprise he suddenly handed a letter of protest to the Swedish Royal couple in which he asked attention for the fact that the Swedish arms factory Bofors was delivering arms to the Burmese junta.

The direct result was that some overdimensionated bodyguards jumped on him, but the Royals freed him with a nod and took his request to look into the matter very seriously.

And indeed, via Singapore, supposedly the destination of the weapons, the Bofors armery had been delivered to Burma.

Not long after the Swedish Foreign Ministry honored him with the position of Swedish Consul of Chiang Mai.

Once he told me that he wanted to write a book about all crazy things which land on the table of a Swedish Consul, but that he had to wait at least ten years to be allowed to do so.

He didn't live that ten years anymore....

Limbo

[Limbo]

How about those Kuomintang army that being defeated and escaped from china communist red army in 1949 and are bring scattered around chiang rai province.

I just remember an old former Kuomintang soldier I once had a chat with over a cup of tea in Santikiri (the name of the town on Doi Mae Salong, meaning town of peace or something similar).

He married twice.

The first wife and the three children he had with her were killed by soldiers of the Red Army of Mao Tse Tung.

The second wife and the two children he had with her were killed by soldiers of Khun Sa.

I think Joel knows more about the subject (and the dubious role played by the CIA in this area of the world).

Limbo

[Thaising]

Dear Limbo, please allow me to add a little of KMT history and how they came to be part of chiang rai.

The Chinese Nationalist troops generally known as the "the isolated army." In 1949, when the Nationalist government led by Chiang Kai-shek retreated to Taiwan after losing China to the Chinese Communist forces, the 93rd Division of the Nationalist army stationed in Yunnan moved south into Burma (now called Myanmar) and eventually they retreated to a mountainous region in northern Thailand and settled there. After some time, the troops' prolonged illegal stay in Thailand aroused the suspicion of the Thai government. In order to obtain legal refugee status, the Nationalist troops negotiated a settlement deal with the Thai government to help fight communist insurgents on the northern Thai border. They succeeded in pacifying the border for the Thai government and were finally allowed to stay as legal refugees in northern Thailand.

The Nationalist soldiers and their families settled in more than 60 refugee villages such as Mae Salong, Hin Taek, and Amphur Fang. When they first came to northern Thailand in about 1954, they thought they would be able to return home in a few short years when the Nationalists retook China. However, things did not go as they had expected. With the passing of time, they gradually realized that they were stranded in this foreign land with no one coming to their aid. Most of the soldiers had lost their identity papers in the various battles and relocations. They became citizens of neither the PRC (China) nor the ROC (Taiwan), and they did not have Thai citizenship either. As individuals with nothing to prove their identity, they were forced to spend the rest of their lives in the refugee villages.

Now, half a century has passed, and most of the soldiers have died; those who have survived to this day are all over 70 years old. Most of their offspring have obtained Thai citizenship. Unlike their fathers or grandfathers who only had refugee status and were not allowed to freely enter or exit from the mountain region that they inhabited, the younger generations face a better future as they gradually blend into Thai society. Some of the refugee villages, such as Mae Salong in Chiang Rai province, have even developed into tourist destinations as part of the Thai government's efforts to promote tourism in northern Thailand. The tragedy of the veterans seems to be fading into history as their descendants begin their new lives in Thailand.

Edited December 8, 2006 by Thaising

[svenivan]

More about KMT:

When you go to Mae Salong next time you must visit the KMT-museum up there. If you take the south road to Mae Salong it is just before you come to the village, on your right side. It is just a couple of years old.

There you can read about KMT, where they came from, where they have been fighting etc etc. Lots of photos.

What I remember of KMT from reading some books is that they stayed quite long time in Burma with headquarters in Ken Tung (Chiang Tung). There was an airfield and Air America was flying in weapons and ammunition and flying out Opium and heroin from and to Taiwan.

When the burmese got more and more friendly with Mao Tse Tung they had to get rid of the KMT and then KMT negotiated with Thai goverment and were welcomed to Thailand if they helped to fight the commies.

The last fight, if I remember right, was in Khao Kho, nw of Phetchabun, in the eighties. That was the Thai Communists last stronghold and I think that was the last real fight between the Thai Army supported by KMT against the commies. I have been there a couple of times and there is a big monument on the top of the mountain. But I could not see anything about that the KMT helped the Thai Army defeating the commies.

But my memory is like writing in water, disappear very quick, so I might be wrong. But the museum is still there (checked with my lady and she got a good memory).

:D

[my friend I]

The people who run the soy bean place on Yetyod Rd near the Baan Bua lane have fotos & info on KMT