PART EIGHT: MAE HONG SON AND THE ONE-DAY JEEP RIDE AROUND

Mae Hong Son

Justine and I chose to stay in Mae Hong Son while Becky and Sue opted to return to Pai by the jeep. We said our goodbyes and promised to exchange photographs.

Mae Hong Son is a small town, about 44 kilometres from Pai. Most of the activities in Mae Hong Son centres around the lake and the nearby tribal villages. I checked into the Friends Guesthouse with Justine and paid 200 bahts for a room.

I spent about one hour roaming the streets, checking with the travel agencies, to see if there were any existing 1-day tour or 2-day tour around Mae Hong Son that I could register myself for. I went door-to-door from one travel agency to another, in search of an arranged tour, but in vain. It seemed like I was one of the rare tourists during this low season. I was told that the peak season would usually start in November and December.

I befriended the friendly beardy owner of Mae Hong Son Travel who has been in the trade for over 20 years., I paid a hefty 1500 baht to hire a private jeep and the driver for a one-day tour, which include the admission to the long-necked village and the big-ear village, the suspension bridge, the Fish Cave and ending the trip at Mae Aw, the Chinese village populated by migrants from Yunan.

One-day jeep ride at Mae Hong Son

I met my driver, Thorn, 66 years old, at 9am. Thorn used to be a photographer for over 10 years. He shared that he used to take photographs in Phuket and had printed his photographs onto postcards and T-shirts. However, because of the advancement of digital photography, many tourists to Thailand were about to take their own photographs and the sales of the postcards and photographs plunged by over 40%. He has just started working as a driver about a year ago and showed me his neatly-written notes about the tribal villages in Northern Thailand.

Thorn has a son who works in Bangkok as a lawyer and a daughter who is in the third year in university.

No Show at the Fish Cave

The Fish Cave is a unique must-see in Mae Hong Son, highly recommended by many guidebooks. There is a constant stream flowing out from the cave and the fishes have a beautiful bluish tinge. There are many brook carps residing in the water, and these fishes are considered sacred fishes for the local people. The Fish Cave is under the administration of Tham Pla-Pha Sean National Park that covers most of the tourist attractions in Pang Mapa district and Mae Hong Son town. Do visit the Fish Cave in the early morning. Our visit to the Fish Cave was a little disappointing as the fishes were too full in the afternoon and were not the least attracted to the fish feeds and vegetables we specially bought for them.

Putting on Mud-Mask

My driver then brought me to another place which is owned by a Thai entrepreneur. He has discovered the natural mud resource in his plot of land, and converted the whole place into a beauty salon which offers special mud-masks and facials. I chose the 20 minutes mud-mask, the cheapest and the shortest, so that Thorn didn’t have to wait for me for such a long time. There was a ladyboy with beautifully manicured fingernails who was enjoying his facial massage when I went in. The de natural mask worked its wonders and my face felt very cleansed and good.

“Long-Necked” Karen Village (Ban Nai Soi)

As part of my private tour, my guide, brought me to the biggest Padung village. This is one of the three long-necked Karen villages near Mae Hong Son town. Ban Nai Soi is located near the kilometre mark, 199, on highway 1095, about 17 kilometres from Mae Hong Son town. About 50 families come from another community called Ban Nam Diang Din. These women are usually in Thailand by choice, having fled a potentially worse fate in Myanmar amid ethnic war.

Some of these young girls start applying their brass coils at an early age in order to elongate their necks. It is said that this custom may have to do with imitating dragons and wearing the coil around the neck is considered to be attractive as well. In this village, the women wear a continuous brass coil around their necks. The coils are very heavy and can weigh as much as 22 kilograms. From the admission charge, the “long necked” people receive a small portion of the money collection from the admission, and the remaining money is controlled by Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP).

In the past, the wearing of the metal coil around the neck is only limited to those who are born on the 15th of the month, or during the full month. But, increasingly, to attract more tourists to come to the village, the “long-necked” people have modified the practice and allowed their children to wear the coils regardless of the birthdate.

It's a double-edged sword when it comes to my feelings for these tribal people after my chat with new-found friend, Amido. Unlike the other hilltribes which still retained a certain level of privacy, the long-necked villagers and the big-ear villagers have throngs of curious tourists and Thai people visiting their villages flashing their cameras in their faces daily.

Amido likened the experience of visiting the village, as similar to that of visiting the zoo, and the admission charge equivalent to paying money to see someone shower in her very own home. It’s sad, but if tourists and Thai people do not visit the villages, their handicrafts would not be sold, and their main source of income threatened. He said that the first time he visited the village, he felt very sad for the long-necked people. The least we could do, as tourists, is to support them, by buying their hand-made textiles and handicrafts.