North Eastern Thailand

I met my wife when on holiday in Pattaya, which is about 45 minutes south of the new international airport by taxi and the airport is about halfway to Bangkok. I met her on the first day I arrived on a double date with a friend who was already there. Within a fortnight she took me back to meet her family in what I later discovered to be north-eastern Thailand.

Isaan is called north-eastern Thailand too, which is actually confusing because where we are is further north but not so far east. Anyway, most people who call Isaan the north east live in Bangkok and Pattaya, the two big hang-outs for foreigners (called farang or falang in Thai), and we are all north-east from there.

One look at the map and you will see what I mean. If you travel north out of Bangkok, in due course you will come to Phitchit, which is officially the beginning of the north and the northern race as they call themselves.

Then comes Phitsanulok, at one time a capital of Thailand. Another 40 kilometres north is Sukhotai and Sri Satchenali, Thailand’s first capital and the spiritual home of Thailand. The original city is still there, uninhabited and largely restored.

I live in the next province to the east called Uttaradit, which borders on Laos to the east and the old mountain kingdom of Nan to the north. About 10% of the population of Nan are of the various Hill Tribes. One of these, the Mlabri, are nomadic hunter gatherers who live in temporary shelters fashioned from branches and leaves. Until very recently, they were living a stone-age life and their language had never been heard by Westerners before 1978 as far as we know.

This is 250 km north-east from where I live. Sukhotai is about 30 km east. So much difference within 300 km. This area was part of the old kingdom of Lanna, which translates as ‘ a million rice fields’ or even ‘millions of rice fields’. Phichai or Fort Phichai, 12 km away, used to be the capital of Uttaradit province. Phraya Phichai Dap Hak (Phichai of the two-handed swords) fought here in the late 18th Century. He is Thailand’s most esteemed and well-known warrior.

In any case, I live in among all this lot. Unfortunately, I do not speak Thai well enough for anyone to explain it to me and nobody that I know speaks English well enough to do it either. Even my wife. I wish I knew more of this fascinating area where very very few foreigners ever venture.

There are five of us here at the moment in a 20 km radius. An English teacher, a Canadian teacher, a retired Dutchman and a retired Englishman and me. Usually there is an Irishman and another Canadian, but they have gone home for a while. I usually do not see a foreigner or hold a full conversation for weeks on end. And I love it here.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on a lot of subjects, but is now involved with Khao Phansa – The Candle Festival. If you would like to know more, please visit our web site at Package Holidays to Thailand.