Thailand 2011: March 2011

Over the weekend this past weekend, 13 students and I traveled up to Mae Sai, Thailand to cross into Burma in order to renew our visas. We took the public bus up to Chiang Rai on Friday evening after class, spent the night there and then on Saturday took an un-airconditioned bus from Chiang Rai to Mae Sai. The absence of air conditioning on these busses isn't what gives them their distinctiveness. They are old, falling apart, built for people who weigh less than 100 pounds, and crowded. They stop a gazillion times to drop people off and pick new people up. The ticket lady then has to push her way through the aisle, which often has people standing in it, in order to gather the bus fare from the people who just got on. I am amazed that bus attendants can keep track of who just got on. The bus ride took about 90 minutes.
     Going across the border was a fairly easy process. It costs money to enter Burma: $10 if you have American cash or 500 Bahts ($15) if you have Bahts. I had $140 in cash for the 14 of us who were to cross the border. Two students did not have their "departure forms" which they were given in Bangkok back on January 13. They were not allowed to leave Thailand. The Burmese border patrol keeps the passports and issues temporary paper passports. You can pick up your passport when you return to Thailand. You also get a new departure form stapled into your passport and 90 day extension on your visa.
     So everything was going well until we went to the Golden Triangle. We hired 1 songthaew to transport the 14 of us to the Golden Triangle (700 Baht). Thailand is rebuilding the road between Mae Sai and the Golden Triangle and so much of the ride was over dusty red dirt roads. We were all coated with red dust. The songthaew driver asked us if we would like him to stay. I said no, we were going to take the bus back to Chiang Rai. BIG MISTAKE.
     The Golden Triangle is several kilometers away from the town of Chiang Saen, but I didn't know that, because the Golden Triangle is described as being in Chiang Saen. As we ate lunch at the Golden Triangle, we watched busses coming and going from a dirt parking lot and decided that is where we were to pick up the bus to Chiang Rai. I went over to the parking lot to check it out. The person I talked to didn't speak English, but he called over a man who could speak English. He told me what we needed to do. Then he asked where I was from. I told him the United States. Then he asked what state we were from and I said Iowa. His eyes lit up. It turns out he has a brother who lives in Webster City, Iowa. Now that we had a common bond, the man took me to the policeman and asked the policeman how to get a songthaew for our group. The policeman arranged to have his son come pick us up in his pickup truck and take us to Chiang Saen after we were done seeing the House of Opium.
At 5:45 pm the policeman's son drops us off at the "bus terminal" which is a bench with a roof over it. We didn't recognize it the first time we past it and walked through a busy market in search of the bus terminal. We found two busses that said "Chiang Saen to Chiang Rai". However, they were done for the night and would not be returning to Chiang Rai. One driver offered to take us back to Chiang Rai for 2500 Baht. That was too much. One student negotiated while I called Ajan Waewdao to get a Thai speaking person to help us get a songthaew back to Chiang Rai. The student negotiated 2000 Bahts. We got on the bus. The driver cranked up the party music, left the bus door open to pull in the cooler evening air and we were off. The driver then stopped and picked up his family to take them to the Saturday Night Walking Market in Chiang Rai. It was a win-win situation for all of us.
   The rest of the weekend went smoothly. The bus ride back to Chiang Mai was right out of the movie "Speed". As we were going through the foothills down winding roads, we were sliding in our plastics seats like greased pigs. So much for sleeping on the bus.

Bus from Chiang Rai to Mae Sai

Leaving Thailand

Entering Burma

The 5 Baht Burmese Toilet

The Burmese Market

Burma is on the right. Laos on the left

You can roll coins down the metal tracks to the Buddha's belly button.

The policeman who hired his son to take us to the bus stop in Chiang Saen.

The white wat near Chiang Rai is stunningly beautiful and creepy.

This past Saturday our dance instructor (Ajan Waewdao) took those of us from the dance class to see the spirit dances (or ghost dances) in a village near Lampang, about a hour from Chiang Mai. On they way, we stopped to pick up a bite to eat – crickets, grasshoppers, and BBQ’ed chicken intestines (and 3 scoops of ice cream for 20 Baht = 60 cents). I don’t think we’ll ever run out of fun foods in Thailand. The dancers are not your ordinary people off the streets. They are identified mediums for spirits. The spirit dances conger up the spirits that the mediums represent and the dancers enter a trance (or become possessed by their spirits). We spent a couple of hours watching the mediums “enter” their trance state and dance. This is Thai animism at its best. The live band was as interesting as the spirit dancers. All of this took place in a medium’s yard under a bamboo canopy. The mediums from the Chiang Mai and Lampang area take turn hosting the spirit dances. White farangs (foreigners) - especially those with cameras - are welcomed by the medium, so we weren't at the spirit dances for very long before we were invited to the floor to dance to join those entranced by their spirits.

I've attached a video of a woman going into a trance by rotating her body around a rope that hangs from the bamboo canopy. As she spins, the bamboo canopy shifts back and forth making the sun spots on the red floor dance around. It was very disorienting at times. Once she is in a trance, her helper dresses her in appropriate garb for a medium. All mediums in a trance wear a red scarf around their heads or a colored scarf of the spirits choosing.