Political Manipulation of Medieval History?

WIENG KUM KAM, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 1 Jun 2003 – Today (20th August 2003) I unintentionally revisited Wieng Kum Kam, specifically that part now named as Wat Phan Lao, and hypothesized as being the AD 1286 palace of King Mengrai.

What I witnessed there has left me extremely disappointed and completely disillusioned regarding current local and national plans to develop the ancient city into anything approaching Sukhothai or Ayutthaya.

Lan Na in the Shadow of the Mongols
Satellite Towns – an old system revived

CHIANG MAI, Thailand – 11 Mar 2003 - People say that history is how we learn the future. Examining the past is how we see what to do next, claim others. Cynics state that history teaches only that humans never learn. Perhaps a little of each is true for all of us, and everyone has the opportunity to learn from everyone else, at personal, regional, and national levels. How many of us do?

On 23rd April AD 1281, marching triumphantly into Hariphunchai (Lamphun), King Mengrai entered a city-state far different from those of Chiang Rai and the Mae Kok basin. Hariphunchai was a model administration for his growing kingdom, one that he would adapt, and use. Hariphunchai was small; one central city and several satellite towns – within half a day’s march of each other, plus dozens of smaller villages. Only the latter were unfortified. The basic military advantage, of scattered strong points dependent upon and defendant of each other, is a style still used today. Yet, their placement was not only military.

COMMENTARY – Shot in the Foot

Xenophobia & Nationalism Retard Tourism Growth in Northern Thailand

CHIANG MAI, Thailand – 28 January 2003 - Recent national and regional press coverage has printed conflicting reports concerning the tourist arrivals dilemma in Northern Thailand. The Aviation Department has released detailed statistics showing exponential growth in the number of airlines and flights bringing people into the kingdom, but admits that Chiangmai is having difficulties increasing its passenger load due to slow growth of inbound flights.

In this respect, the Prime Minister’s aim to promote his home city as a regional hub may be more suitable than the inaccurate mass interpretation that it is to become a global hub. Private tourism industry leaders have complained that returnees are dropping, as they don’t want to see the same, degraded, sights each trip.

Royalty Returns to Wieng Kum Kam
HM Queen Sirikit opens new Visitor’s Centre

WIENG KUM KAM, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 19 Jan 2003 – Almost 700 hundred years after King Mengrai moved from the Royal City he built before Chiangmai, Royalty returned to visit amid celebrations and festivities.

HM Queen Sirikit, the Crown Prince, and Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra presided over the closing night of the “Enchanted Wieng Kum Kam” Sound & Light show, which ran from 17th to 19th January, the start of a major promotional push to bring the recovered archaeological park into mainstream tourism.

Published in Chiang Mai CityLife Magazine – February 2003

A Level Playing Field – Part 2
CHIANG MAI, Thailand – 5 January 2003

Returning to the tourists interviewed at the end of last year, the other half of the survey considered their opinions of what is good about Chiang Mai, what they enjoyed, and any suggestions they have for further improvement of the city’s tourism facilities. The responses in this section of the survey were less clear-cut than in the section about roads and traffic, although some marginal trends were identified.

Overall, this second part of the survey was favourable to Chiangmai.

Tourists have a wide range of activities and places that they enjoy, and any suggestions they gave fell into the, “try to make it better quality” category. Some of these things are being done, as the following “good news” items will demonstrate…

Easier by Elephant
Big Steps at Wieng Kum Kam

WIENG KUM KAM, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 18 Dec 2002 – Wieng Kum Kam – King Mengrai’s buried city, just 5 km south of Chiangmai, is taking large steps forward into the mainstream of the Thai tourism world – elephant steps that is.

Commencing 1st of January 2003, visitors can take elephant back rides around the ruins and archaeological sites from the pick up point at Wat Kan Thom in the centre of the medieval city.

The tour meanders through the green lanes and excavated temples in the western half of the wieng (fortified city) before returning to the first complete temple built by Lan Na’s uniting king.

Abridged & Published in Chiang Mai CityLife Magazine – January 2003

A Level Playing Field – Part 1
CHIANG MAI, Thailand – 27 June 2002

I’d been almost 24 hours on the move. I’d decided to travel from the airport to the hotel by air-con taxi. After agreeing the price to Pattaya (Baht 1,000), and loading the baggage, I was starting to believe I was in the correct country, when my first experience of Thai driving skills – between the Domestic terminal and the expressway on-ramp, convinced me of it.

The idiocy of the truck that carved us up made the taxi driver ask me for a cigarette – something no other taxi driver has done since; ergo, it was a seriously close shave. It set my opinion of Thai driving logic (and skills) from that moment on. An opinion that has never changed, and maybe never will …

Published in Chiangmai City Life Magazine – November 2002

Re-uniting Lan Na – Part 4
CHIANG MAI, Thailand – 3 Oct 2002

When modern tourism policies and ancient cultures meet, who wins and who loses?

Government-issued tourism statistics, of concern to business owners in Thailand, only tell part of the story. In considering whether the North is truly getting its fair share of arrivals and their spending power, a number of factors have to be addressed, especially the expectations of visitors.

The early months of 2002 were notable for two major announcements from Khun Juthamas Siriwan, Deputy Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). The first was the gleeful declaration that arrivals in 2001 had topped the ten million mark despite September 11th. The inexplicable second was a later bemoaning that the crucial Japanese arrivals had dropped significantly during “the first quarter” (sic) due to the World Cup, which didn’t start until June.

In fact, the graph below disputes this, as it shows the annual monthly incrementing of arrivals proceeded as usual. Let’s consider that constant growth of tourism arrivals, with a close examination of several aspects rarely discussed in the mainstream, Thai, daily press…