Land of elephants

Author: By William A. Davis, Globe Staff

Date: SUNDAY, February 22, 1998

Page: M13

Section: Travel

Like most visitors, my point of arrival and introduction to Thailand was Bangkok, 400 miles to the south. Without thinking much about it, I assumed that the capital was probably pretty typical of the rest of the country.

But as I climbed the 300-step staircase leading to Wat Doi Suthep -- a fantastical temple complex where golden spires shimmered against a bright blue sky and a background of forest-covered mountains -- teeming Bangkok with its traffic congestion, air pollution, and humidity seemed a world away. This cool, green, northwestern hill country is a very different Thailand.

Located in a national park, the wat is just outside the city and reached by ascending a chain of hairpin curves up the flank of a 5,000-foot-high mountain. A scenic but challenging drive, it would be a killer hike. In fact, the story goes, the temple was founded in the 14th century on the spot where an elephant carrying a sacred relic of Buddha dropped dead after climbing the mountain.

Combination monasteries, schools, and houses of worship, Thai temples are sprawling, colorful, and exotically decorated places filled with shrines called gilded ``stupas,'' statues and images of Buddha, orange robed monks, the scent of incense sticks, and the tinklings of prayer bells. Instead of conventional banisters, the stairs leading to Wat Doi Suthep are flanked by sinuous gilded representations of the ``naga,'' a dragon-headed serpent that protects sacred sites.

Climbing all the way to top of the temple stairs without touching the nagas supposedly brings good luck. I made it, but was identifying with the elephant by the time I got to the last step. There is also a funicular for those who can do without luck or exercise. The relic the luckless pre-staircase elephant carried is enshrined in a particularly ornate stupa topped with a five-tier golden umbrella.

There are some 300 temples in Chiang Mai. Most make exensive use of the enduring local teak wood, and some are centuries old and quite beautiful. However, none are as dramatically sited as Wat Doi Suthep, which has sweeping views of the mountainous terrain -- veined with hiking trails, home to elephant herds and brightly costumed hill tribes -- which is what draws most visitors to the region.

A city of 160,000 people, Chiang Mai is an enjoyable place in its own right, with excellent hotels, restaurants, and some of the best shopping in Thailand. It's also a good base for exploring the surrounding region and a natural jumping off spot for those who want to push on north to the famous -- or infamous -- Golden Triangle, where the Thai, Laotian, and Myanmar (Burmese) borders meet, and the local economy has traditionally been based on opium cultivation and smuggling.

In the Thai language, Chiang Mai means ``New Town,'' but new is relative in this ancient kingdom. Chiang Mai was founded in the 13th century, a carefully planned, walled town on the west bank of the Ping River. The compact heart of the city is still defined by the square lines of the old moat and defensive walls, traces of which can still be seen.

Chiang Mai is the country's crafts center, famous for its bright-colored, hand-woven fabrics, woodcarving, silver jewelry, ornate opium pipes, and lacquer ware. Those who would rather spend their days exploring the countryside than shopping in the city needn't depart Chiang Mai souvenirless, however.

Some of the city's best crafts and clothing outlets are found in the Night Market, a bazaar that comes to life at sundown and continues late into the evening. The market consists of several roofed concession areas where individual vendors display their goods. Much of the merchandise sold, usually after some brisk haggling, is locally made, but many items have been imported, along ancient caravan routes from China, India, and Nepal.

The most colorfully dressed Night Market vendors belong to the Lisu, Akha, Palong, and other local hill tribes who sell their own distinctive handicrafts. And, at bargain prices, provided you're a good bargainer.

The Thai government is trying hard to eliminate opium cultivation, and encourages craft programs and tourism to give hill tribes a new source of income to replace their traditional cash crop. Authentic and reasonably priced tribal crafts from northern Thailand also are sold at the local Hill Tribes Crafts Center, one of several in the country sponsored by the Thai royal family.

A useful place to visit before heading into the hills to visit tribal villages is the museum of the Tribal Research Institute, housed in a small pagoda-like building on the campus of Chiang Mai University. The museum has exhibits on each of the six main hill tribes along with displays of their particular costumes, jewelry, and handicrafts and explanations of village life and religious practices.

Concentrated in the north of the country, most of the 700,000 hill-tribe people (less than 2 percent of the country's population) are not Buddhists like most Thais but animists who believe the world is filled with spirits that have to be placated with frequent prayers and rituals. The hill tribes speak different languages or dialects and are ethnically distinct from the Thais and one another.

Most tribes are semi-nomadic, and some originated as far away as Tibet and northern China. When their primitive slash-and-burn farming methods exhausted the soil in one place, they would pick up and move on to another. They have been drifting south toward Thailand for centuries. But, the largest group the Karens, now nearly half the total hill-tribe population, migrated from neighboring Burma within the last 30 years, fleeing political repression and civil war.

Because opium grows best at higher elevations, most hill-tribe villages are at an altitude of 3,000 feet or more. So, visiting them means lots of views and vistas as well as photo ops and a unique cultural experience.

One of the highlights of my stay in Chiang Mai was a visit to the area of Chiang Dao.

Chiang Dao is about 50 miles north of the city where there are a number of hill tribe villages. Regardless of tribe, villages are generally a cluster of thatch huts, sometimes built on stilts, sited on a slope or ridge surrounded by hills and looking down on a valley checkerboarded with rice paddies and corn fields.

Hill-tribe men as a rule wear nondescript Western clothes or what look like shapeless black pajama tops. The women, however, prefer colorful outfits with distinctive tribal designs and headdresses and often a lot of jewelry. Lisu women, for instance, wear colorful skirts and tunics in bright green and red patterns, while Palang women favor richly embroidered vests. Most striking of all are Akha tribeswomen, who as part of their workaday dress sport ornate helmet-like headdresses made of silver balls and discs and festooned with feathers, beads, and antique coins.

Villagers are now well used to tourists and trekkers, inviting visitors into their thatch homes and, of course, selling their handicrafts often woven or crafted on the premises. One Lisu village I visited -- a popular departure point for hikers -- offered elephant rides and even had a resident troupe of school girls who sang, danced, and posed for photos. However, most villages still seem much more traditional than touristy.

Tribal villages are scattered through the hills, and it's rewarding to get off the road and walk from one to another along the footpaths used by the tribespeople themselves. Cutting through cornfields, patches of wildflowers, and groves of huge trees, these paths also offer splendid views of deep valleys and circling ranges of jagged hills.

Another way to experience the countryside is on the back of an elephant. Powerful and highly intelligent, elephants are used as work animals to haul teak logs from the local forests, a job that calls for both brain and brawn. There are a number of elephant camps around Chiang Mai, such as the large one at Mae Sa that I visited. There, elephants are stabled and trained, and trail rides are offered, along with a chance to see dozens of elephants at work and play.

The lurching, lumbering gait of an elephant takes a bit of getting used to. Elephants sway a lot (novice riders have been known to complain of seasickness) but are very surefooted and climb steep slopes, descend slippery trails, and wade shallow streams with, well, elephantine grace. Riding an elephant up and down a slippery forest path isn't something I plan to do again anytime soon, but you couldn't ask for a more memorable Northern Thailand experience.

However, what American visitors find most amazing about Thailand these days are the prices. Thai currency, the baht, has lost more than half its value against the dollar in recent months: Last summer, the rate of exchange was 25 to the dollar, now it's almost 50.

You have to go far to get to Thailand; flying time from the East Coast is 24 hours or more, depending on routing. But your money also goes far when you get there. A couple can dine well in one of Bangkok's top restauarants for about $35. In Chiang Mai or some other less expensive provincial center, the tab could well be less than $20. The cost of handicrafts, custom tailoring, jewelry made with jade and other local precious stones -- all Thai specialties -- is far below what they would be in the United States.

Visitors are advised to pay for shopping, dining, and hotels in baht whenever possible. However, many hotels and tour companies are now quoting prices only in dollars.

For additional information, write to Tourism Authority of Thailand, 5 World Trade Center, Suite 3443, New York, NY 10048; telephone 212-432-0433.