N.     121        Visiting hometown 

It’s been over 9 months that we’ve been in Cheingmai, so during the Christmas holidays we decided to visit our hometown. For our past trips between Myanmar and Cheingmai we come directly to Cheingmai from Yangon and vice versa. Now we hear that we can cross the Thai Myanmar border at Maesai, which is the northernmost point of Thailand into Myanmar because we have long term visa. After crossing the border we will reach Tachileik where we can board a plane to Heho which is only  25 miles from our hometown ,Taunggyi.

        But to get to Maesai we have to go by car which takes 4 hours. We  a family of 5 took our family car, and reached Maesai at noon. I had arranged to meet Sai Aung Kham , a relative to take us places around Cheing Hsen an old town near Maesai. So after leaving our baggages at the hotel we went to have lunch at a Shan restaurant .

         From the restaurant the view is nice. Far away across fields and plains we can see low mountains . One distant mountain we saw is higher than the others and SAK  told me that it is the Nang Norn  mountain which got famous because of the rescue of the boys trapped in the cave for many days . The cave they were trapped in is under the mountain. 

       After lunch I took some photos with the background .When I called Sai Ollie to come and take photo with me he came and lie down on the bench beside me. I posted the photo in FB ‘s my story with the text Nang Norn, Sai Norn , expecting few people to know its meaning. True …..even my daughter Nge  who is a Tai didn’t grasp the meaning. Norn is sleep in Tai and Thai. So as the lady sleeping on top of the mountain ,so is Sai Ollie who is lying down beside me.

        The first place SAK took us is the venue where the 60th birthday commemoration of  Merng Pone Sayadaw Jao Khuva Woon Jum will be held. We entered through the magnificent gilded gate into a vast compound where the road is lined  neatly with lamp post and prayer flags. We stopped at the big Buddha where the scaffoldings are still on and cement flooring was still in progress . I enquired about the height of the statue and was told it is 300 feet. We were also shown the pavilion where sermons by the khuva will be given. There are also other religious buildings which are donated by devotees and come into existence because of his benevolence.

     We departed to visit  the famous Golden Triangle, a place not to be missed for people visiting there.I was eager to see the great Mekong river again . It is a little crowded with people from Myanmar, Thailand and tourists. We even had to wait for our turn to take photos at the gate. I had been here about seven years ago, which is an experience I shall never forget and I also had written about in my blogpost No 56/57 Mekong @ Golden Triangle. 

      

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       The  difference between 7  years ago is distinct on the Laos side. When we last visited  it there were only low buildings and stalls selling souvenirs and fake designer handbags.But now the place is unbelievably full of high rises and concrete buildings and the place is said to be rented to China for 99 years . The buildings are used as casinos  ,restaurants and bars and nightclubs.To extort money from fun loving people.My thoughts went to the kyar hpyant  or money scamming business done in the eastern border of Myanmar. Because nothing is done to eliminate it, and many Chinese people lost their money through it the Chinese government took action by themselves.We still don’t see the end of it but I hope these evil doings will come to an end forever. 

       This place on the Thai side is the same as ever. The big elephant and the big golden Buddha is the same as before . So after some gazing at the great Mekong ,some resting, many photos we departed for another place which SAK said an old Buddha was earthed.Cheing Hsen is an old town which has its own history. It is one of the old Cheing towns along with Cheingmai, Cheingrai, Cheinghung,etc. I would like to explore Cheing Hsen as an old town if there still are some signs of history. But the only thing I saw is  the remnants of the old  wall that can be seen along the road as we drove on.

       

        When we arrived we pay homage at the unearthed Buddha image which the head is missing. When they unearthed it was not only the Buddha statue but also with the brick building which housed the image,because the old brick walls are still with the statue. There also is a Lanna style temple complete with dragon railings and another one which is joined by a bridge. We cannot resist taking photos there ,so after taking some we left there to head back to our hotel and rest……

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N 120  Continuation of  A Visit to Lamphun and Lampang

The highway to Lampang was  crowded with cars, but became fewer in the middle part. The  road is excellent as in other parts of Thailand, but there are many curves and bends that I had to warn the driver to drive slowly. We stopped at a resting place to eat noodles because we haven’t eaten breakfast .

When we reached Lampang we didn’t know where to go first, and so after some arguing I suggested that we go to the centre of the town where there is a clock tower and then visited the Cheingrai temple which I knew is nearby. This way we will be visiting 2 places.

The  Clock Tower is not a very noteworthy one , but a simple brick structure with a moderate height  and painted white.Anyway we took some photos of it as it is also a landmark of this town.

 And then with the help of GPS we arrived at Cheingrai Temple which is nearby. It is a gorgeous Lanna style temple and is said to be built about 300 years ago, and  a copy of the famous Cheingrai  temple . But as for grandness  it cannot be compared to Cheingrai temple which is magnificent in every way.There also is an outstanding Buddha statue in the foreground  and some landscape that is worth to take photos  that we cannot help without doing so.

We headed for another temple visit . Before long we saw a long bridge on a river. So this is the Ratsadaphisek Bridge or the White Bridge  on the Wang River which has its own history. We took some photos of it and continued  on our way. Then the road we were following had to pass through 2 sections of an old wall like that of in Cheingmai. At that moment I was reminded that Lampang is an old city which had its days under one rule or another . Like cheingmai it had also been under Burmese rule . So there would have  been wars and sieges, and efforts to take or defend the town.Moats and walls were built then for these purposes.

After some driving we arrived at Wat Chedi Sao Long. It is in a shady and vast compound, a little out of town. There are 20 stupas built in Burmese style, complete with golden spires. I read somewhere that sao means 20 in northern Tai dialect. Beside that the stupas are of Burmese style,so they seem to have much connections with Burmese people. We saw  a stone inscription  written in Burmese about merit making and sharing , erected in a corner between the stupas.As usual there is also a main hall in Lanna style.

We departed from there to have lunch near the old gate. After lunch and as we were driving back into town we came across a grand  stupa on the roadside without particularly looking for one. The signboard told us that it is Wat Phra Keaw Don Tao Suchadaram. It is one of the temples worth visiting. To reach the stupa we had to cross a stone bridge with magnificent dragon railings, which also acts as a bridge to cross a vast lake .  I went up the steps slowly an

d sat on a bench which encircle a tree and pay homage to the big golden pagoda from it. There  was not a person to be seen at that time. I was satisfied that I found and paid homage to this beautiful place of worship.

After that we went to visit a ceramic factory which is mentioned as one of the best places  to visit in Lampang. The Dhanabadee Art Ceramic .We have to pay 100 baht each as entrance fees. After paying we were taken around the factory by a guide who explained about the steps for making a piece of ceramic from wet clay until it become a plate or bowl or things to keep as souvenirs. Elephants are  popular as souvenirs I think because they are making many of different sizes. And the cock is also a special symbol they painted on their plates and bowls.I learned that the cock plates and bowls are originally made by this factory a long long time ago.A nice place to visit and worth the entrance fee we spent for the experience.

The last temple we visited was the most famous temple that it cannot be left out,the Phra That Lampang Leung..It is 16 Km out of town.

History said that it was built in the 15^th century and what we saw proved that it was right.The old wall, the main viharn, the Chedi, and the murals all look old. The main viharn built in the usual Lanna style had its roof supported by large pillars, that we cannot differentiate them to be concrete or wood. The murals on the upper wall were all ruined that we cannot even see what they depicted.The Buddha statue housed in a montop at the end of the viharn is the most beautiful and revered in Lampang.

There are many things to see in this temple.There is the 45 metre tall Chedi , many viharns, 15^th century footprints of Lord Buddha, museums, library etc.So enough time should be given when visiting this temple.

Outside the compound there are pretty and much adorned horse carts which is also a thing Lampang is famous for. One can hire these to go around the temple from outside.

We heard that the place we will be visiting lastly , the elephant sanctuary will be closed at 3:30, so we had to cut short our visit at the temple and headed there which is a little far away.We reached there in time , but it seemed there were not much activities at that time. Maybe because it was not a holiday or weekend, when more people visit it . We saw an old tusk elephant which was standing like a log without moving, with its legs chained, that my daughter said that she pity it. And  at another shed a mother and its baby which some people were feeding bananas. And then another in a nearby shed, which made the number of elephants to be 4. So after taking photos and driving around we left directly for Cheingmai.

As we are Buddhists , when going on a trip our visiting places usually would be temples to worship. As Thailand is a Buddhist country like Myanmar temples and stupas are everywhere. So my intention in visiting Lamphun and Lampang had been to visit these places. But as there are numerous of them that visiting many is impossible. So I have to be contented with what I have seen and pay homage for this time and I wish I can come back to visit next time.

N 119. A day trip to Lamphun and Lampang

 N 119. A day trip to Lamphun and Lampang

I have been wanting to visit Lamphun and Lampang while we are in Cheingmai. There are some places around Cheingmai which we can visit as a day trip. Lamphun and Lampang is one of them as Lamphun is 19 km and Lampang is 101 km from Cheingmai.

 My attempt to visit Lamphun and Lampang became a reality in a day in October. I made arrangements to go with USTM and daughter Nge with Nge driving. We also took Sai Lat who is a family friend with us.We collected him at Wat Pa Pao and set off directly for the highway heading towards Lamphun.

 I had looked for Lamphun in the net and found many places of interesting to visit but because Lampang is the main place to visit for today and as we still have a long way to go I told SL that we will visit only one place here, the most famous temple, Wat Phrathat Haripunchai.

 Sai Lat who is a history enthusiast and has a good memory told us that Lamphun was founded by Queen Chama Thevi as the capital of Haripunchai Kingdom, the last and most northerly Mon Kingdom.The Wat Phrathat Haripunchai was founded pin 897 and a Buddha’s relic(hair ) is said to be enshrined in the Chedi.

 We found the temple as magnificent as all temples in Thailand. The Buddha statue in the main hall is glittering with gold and every piece of the hall is gilded beautifully .The golden chedi is 46 meters tall now and there is an ancient style brick arch with fine designs with a pair of sculptured lions at the entrance. There also is a square shape chedi and a Khmer style Buddha statue.We didn’t stay long but left this centre of worship to continue our journey to Lampang.

 N  118  An additional  milestone in my life journey

When I published Bamboo Hospital about 4 years ago I thought it would be my last book to be translated and published.I had reached an advanced age, and so I thought I would not be able to do more due to health issues , which would occur to me at one time or another.But this thought is with me only when  a book I’m interested in is not in my sight.

In October last year I visited  Bangkok with my family. As a lover of book I usually visited Kanokuniya book store  at Siam Paragon  shopping mall. But  as I didn’t have a particular book in mind I just looked around to find something I might want to purchase.But it was hard to choose one from a sea of books.In the end I pulled out one which is about Tibet and another from the shelf  and paid for them.

I started reading the Tibet book with the title “From a mountain in Tibet….. A monk’s journey “ and came to like it.I read it on my way to Cheingmai  and finished it before we went home to Taunggyi. 

The book is about the life of a lama ( Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche) from when he is a little boy growing up in a small village until he became a Rinpoche. (high monk ). So we read about the life of Tibetan people, how they live,what they eat,what is their livelihood, their religion, their strange funeral customs etc….

The author whose name is Jamdruk at the age of 13/14, went to Dolma Lakang monastery to assist his brother who is the head monk, a Tulku ( a reincarnation monk , who is much revered ). He started learning Tibetan only then.But after some years in 1959 Communist China invaded Tibet.Because of their aggressiveness and harsh treatment towards the people and religious persons people dare not stay in their homeland anymore.Even the head of State Dalai Lama fled to the Indian border with a small company.

Jamdruk, his brother Akong, Akong’s friend Trungpa  with a company of monks and lay people  and some animals also left the monastery for the Indian border.Their group gradually grow to about 300. With much difficulties and hardships they trudged towards the Indian border without much knowledge of directions. When winter came the journey became an ordeal for them. People died on the way because of the cold weather and not enough food. Animals had to be left on the way because there was not enough animal feed.Even people who are not well and cannot walk had to be left behind. 

At last when they reached the Bramaputra river, on which other side is India and their free land , they came in contact with the Chinese army which ruthlessly gunned them down.Among their group of 300 only Jamdruk, Akong, Trungpa and  ten people reached the other side and India.

The company had to stay in a refugee camp which was not convenient for sometime  and then he drifted from one Tibetan community to another for about 6 years after which he joined his brother Akong and Trungpa in the UK ,where they had established  a Tibetan  Mahayana Centre and distributing their religious faith.

Jamdruk was not a monk and he didn’t make himself useful to the centre.Instead he just loaf around , idling, drinking and crashing cars which Akong bought for him. But when the Karmapa (the head of their sect ) came to UK he went with him to the US.  There he helped built a Tibet Buddhist Centre and then went back to his old habits.

When he reached the age of about 40 , then that he realize his wrong doings and suddenly wanted to become a monk.He got ordained by the Karmapa who happened to be in the US then and went directly into retreat ,which lasted 5 years.During his life as a monk, he took his duty seriously and did his best for the meditation centers acting as instructor or managing them until when he reached 70 of age that he received the title Rinpoche. 

Between the life story of the monk one will read about Tibetan’s Buddhism. About who they worship, (apart from Bodhisatta they worship Guanyin and many different deities )how they practice, their beliefs and their rites and rituals, the intensity of their meditation practice and some supernatural and mysterious happenings which Tibet is famous for.

I had translated and published nine books so far. Although my works may not be that great I take pride in them, and take each book as a milestone in my life’s journey.So with the production of this book I will have ten milestone in my life journey . And I also thank U Lwin Oo of Tet Lu Kyaw sarpay to produce this book for me.

 

N 117    How we come and live in Cheingmai

I have never imagined to come and live in Cheingmai which is an alienated land. Taunggyi is my hometown and Myanmar is my home country. There is no other place where I can move to if I cannot stay in my hometown. But Thailand offer an option for foreigners to come and stay temporary in their country this year, that we came to grab this opportunity.

When I say I cannot stay in my hometown please don’t take me wrong. We, our whole family have done anything wrong, so as to flee the country, but only the unstableness of the country made us take action. Even if we are right in everyway we cannot say when we will be ignited by stray sparks to fall on us and causing troubles and anxieties.

So hoping to live peacefully even for a short  time we considered to come and stay temporary in Thailand. We chose Cheingmai, where there are many Shan people living there and communicating in Shan language is convenient for everyday activities.

Cheingmai is in the northern part of Thailand and  it’s second capital . It is not a bustling metropolis like Bangkok, but a sprawling vast city surrounded by low mountains on all sides. But this summer the smog is so intense, that the mountains cannot be seen, the air polluted, and temperature rise that cause the city to become an unhealthy place to live in. The city is a little crowded only in the centre ,but beyond that houses are sparse and there are still many vacant plots of land. Because of these  untended plots of land and houses the city is not as pretty as to live up to it’s name.

About its history ….

Cheingmai is an old town built in 1296 as the new capital of Lanna  which means a million rice fields. Lanna Kingdom at that time included Cheingtung, Cheinghung,(Sipsaungpanna ) Luang Prabang (Laos) and had  its own ruler. Sometimes it had to fight with Ayutthia ( Southern Thailand ) and sometimes with the Burmese. That is why the city had to build a  moat and walls to keep the enemy away,  which remnants  of them can still be seen..Zinnme (it was called then ) became a vassel state of Toungoo ( Burmese )from 1556 to 1791 . It was integrated into the Kingdom of Siam in 1899.

The population of the city is over one million as of 2022, so it is not much crowded . Most people living here are Thais and our Tai people. Some say that there are more Tai  people than Thais. Most Tai people are from the Shan State who had fled their homeland because of unrest and come to work for their livelihood. Most have to do manual works like farmworks or construction. But if people from Myanmar get here safely and get a job the wages will be better than they can earn in our country. But unfortunately some are caught by Thai police while crossing into Thai territory and have to face the bad consequences.

As Cheingmai is an old town there are  many historical sites and places of worship like wats, temples and pagodas. Those who like temple visits can visit famous ancient temples like Doi Suthep pagoda, Chedi Leung,Wat Cheingman,etc…Beside these religious places Cheingmai has to offer many places for leisure and knowledge. People can visit museums, parks, walking trails, tribal villages, elephant camps, the famous night bazaar etc…Cheingmai is also liked by Western people that many visited it as tourists and also living here as expats.

Cheingmai is also a cultural city. It is famous for its traditional culture like silk weaving and embroidering, handicrafts made with local material like bamboo, wood, cane and clay. Jewelry made of silver and gold are also famous products of Cheingmai. Because Cheingmai produce splendid and creative arts and crafts it was declared by Unesco  the Creative City for crafts and folk arts in 2017.

These facts are what I have acquired from different sources but not of my personal experience. I had been here only a few times  and stayed not long enough to see and experience all these interesting places, but I hope I will be able to visit and see more in the future as I will be living a little longer this time.

How we live in Cheingmai….

Many people from Myanmar have come and lived in Thailand and Cheingmai now because of the political situations in Myanmar.If someone ask these people including me , if we like living here ,our answer will be “No “ It is not that easy to do so. The transport is better now that we can fly by air which takes only about an hour . But we must have a passport , which is not easy to acquire one now. And a visa  which allow someone to come and stay here which is not our own country.The Thai Embassy give only 14 days for tourists and 3 months the most if we apply for special visas.

But not long before the Thai government offer long term visas for those who want to come and stay. Old people over 50 can apply for retirement visa, but have to stay accordingly to rule like having a fat Thai Bank account, must not work etc; Come to think about it , it is only for the benefit  of this country. We come, we spend, and participate in the economy. We also suffer financially because the exchange rate is not in favour of our currency. And restrictions for non citizens like us are everywhere, like cannot buy land or a house, cannot set up business freely etc.So there is nothing good for expats like us except the condition of electricity, and internet which is excellent. But overall money makes everything here or elsewhere.

I don’t know for how long I will be staying in Cheingmai. I came to stay here because many in our family are coming to stay here. Our grandson Sai Ollie has started to attend school and his mum , my youngest daughter will surely has to stay here at least until the school term is over. Other family members will be going back and forth to our hometown for certain periods. I the oldest in the family cannot go and come as I wish. Travelling needs a lot of energy. So I expect to stay for somewhat long period before I go back and live with whoever are  at this new home.

But our true wish is that all of us can go back joyously and soon to our homeland…..

all photos ....credit to the original photographer