All language subtitles for Great.Asian.Railway.Journeys.Series.1.03of20.Chiang.Mai.to.Lampang.1080p.HDTV.x264.AAC.MVGroup.org

I'm in Southeast Asia with my 1913
Bradshaw's Handbook,

published at the height of European
imperialism.

My 100-year-old guidebook will lead
me on a railway adventure

through archipelagos and peninsulas

dotted with hills, forests
and paddy fields.

I'll tour towering megacities

and magnificent mosques.

I'll encounter golden Buddahs
and jewelled temples

and experience some of the world's
most spectacular

and notorious railways.

As I travel through the diverse
nations of this vast region,

I learn how they asserted
that independence

against the British, French
and Dutch empires

to become the economic tigers and
dragons of today.

I am in the Kingdom of Thailand,

formerly Siam, for which 1913,
the date of my guidebook,

was a moment of political drama.

"A nominally independent kingdom

"recently shorn of much of its
territory,

"owing to French aggression.

"As a protective measure in 1909,

"four tributary states were
transferred to British suzerainty.

"Everything seems to point to
a French protectorate

"of Siam in the near future."

But that never happened.

Most exceptionally for a country
in southern Asia,

it never passed under colonial rule.

I'm here to find out why.

My quest will take me from the city
of Chiang Mai in northern Thailand

south through the once vast teak
forests of Lampang,

on my way to the old capital
of Ayutthaya.

To the west of today's capital,
Bangkok,

I'll make a stop at the Maeklong
Railway Market

before ending close to the border
with Myanmar at Kanchanaburi.

On the journey, I find out about one
of Thailand's great monarchs...

King Chulalongkorn is up to today,
Michael, venerated

for saving Thailand from this
colonial threat.

..take cover in an umbrella factory.

How do I look? Wow, you look like an
astronaut.

..and discover the potent
ingredients of Thai cooking.

So this is a shrimp paste.

Really?

Yeah. You can check the smell.

And shall we...?

Oh!

I'm beginning my Thai adventure
in the city of Chiang Mai.

Thank you.

SHE SPEAKS THAI

Thank you.

It was once the capital
of a medieval kingdom

with connections to Burma and Laos,

and today is the largest city
in northern Thailand.

The guidebook tells me

that the railway was about to be
completed to Chiang Mai in 1913.

Now, that was politically
significant

because the French and British
colonial powers

were sniffing around this autonomous
region

and now it would be connected
to Bangkok,

the royal capital of Siam,

not just via the Ping River,

but by a permanent way.

Chiang Mai is still the northernmost
point on Thailand's road network.

It was a royal city,

founded in 1296,

where art and culture flourished.

Today, it's a sprawling, laid back
place

with the walled old city of about
one square mile at its heart.

In olden times, the city was often
attacked, besieged and occupied,

so when they came to build
the fortifications,

they constructed not only a wall,
but for good measure,

a moat.

Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai,

so good they ringed it twice.

I'm beginning inside the old city
at a temple

which houses some of Chang Mai's
most impressive buildings.

Wat Phra Singh,

and even my Western eyes can
appreciate its enormous beauty.

And I sense its spirituality.

But I need to understand
what it means for Thailand.

Buddhism is centuries older
than Christianity.

The year 2020 in the Buddhist
calendar

is 2563.

And this temple has housed, since
1367 AD,

a very revered statue of the Buddha.

It's said that more than 90%
of Thais are Buddhist,

which would mean 60 million people,

one of the biggest populations
of Buddhists in the world.

And just before my guide book
was published, the King, Rama V,

created a supreme council for the
Sangha.

That is the monastic order

that originated with the disciples
of the Buddha.

And with that act,

he brought together the king,
religion and the people

in a bond which is the Thai state.

BUDDHIST MONKS CHANTING

I'm not a religious person,

but it's impossible not to be
affected

by the glorious architecture
of this ancient building.

Its faded murals, the scent of
the candles and of the flowers,

the golden Buddha.

And I'm borne along by the melodic
chanting of the monks.

To understand more about this temple

and this northern region
of Thailand,

I'm meeting guide Nune Udomsinn.

Nune, hello.

NUNE SPEAKS THAI

Pleased to meet you, Michael.
Pleased to meet you.

And in such glorious surroundings.

This wonderful temple,

might I see something
like this anywhere in Thailand?

This temple, especially the
elegantly-decorated assembly hall

that you can see behind,

it's actually typically Lan Na.

What was Lan Na?

OK, "Lan" in Thai means "a million"

and "Na" means "rice field".

Lan Na is the name of the
kingdom,

which Chiang Mai was the capital.

Chiang Mai was an independent
kingdom

until the early 20th century.

How did that position of
independence come to an end?

At the turn of the 20th century,

Chiang Mai was annexed by the
kingdom of Siam

to be part of the Kingdom
of Siam.

And for what reason?

Two reasons, the most important
reason being

the presence of the British
Empire in neighbouring Myanmar.

Siam, seeing this colonial threat,

decided to annex Chiang Mai
as a buffer state,

along with other provinces in the
north of Thailand.

The second reason being the teak
wood business,

which was one of the most valuable
natural resources in this region.

The guidebook which I'm using, my
Bradshaw's Guide... Yes.

..describes Thailand as being,

"Surrounded by Burma, by Malaysia,
by Indochina."

Do you think that's the way
that Thailand felt,

that it was surrounded?

Yes, very much.

King Chulalongkorn is up to today,
Michael, venerated

for saving Thailand from this
colonial threat.

King Rama IV, so King
Chulalongkorn's father,

he already had these visions,

you know, this... Maybe we can call
this fear of European expansionism,

because during his reign he invited
a British lady, Anna Leonowens,

and Anna Leonowens actually
taught King Rama V to speak English.

So he was quite a westernised King.

Anna's account of her time
at the Royal Court

was turned into a novel, a musical
and a film,

The King And I.

But actor Yul Brynner's portrayal of
the scholarly King Rama IV

as a childish tyrant caused great
offence in Thailand.

The film was banned and remains
so to this day.

Rama IV's adoption of Western ideas
shaped Siam.

When his son Chulalongkorn, King
Rama IV,

came to the throne, he began to
modernise his country,

building a railway network,

reforming the law

and striking deals with European
colonial powers.

Here in Chiang Mai, the British
built a consulate,

which they used to
promote their interests.

Let's have a seat here.

Nune, it's a very, very grand
house for a British consulate.

What use did they make of the
building?

Well, apart from the consulate
prerogatives,

it was also the centre for British
social life.

This is the centre for sport
and society.

Polo, for example.

Cricket as well.

So you'd be surprised to hear about
the consular elephants.

Elephant? Yes.

Yes, I am surprised. What were they?

This is where the British kept the
King's polo elephants.

Four of King George V's elephants
were stabled at the consulate.

Their duties included bearing
luggage for the consul

when he toured the remote
northern regions.

How did the British use
this building

to exert their influence?

The British actually had a lot
of privileges here.

British banks were established here.

Commerce and, also,

I have to mention about the monopoly
of teak wood exploitation

that was granted by King
Chulalongkorn himself.

The guidebook leads me to believe

that a French protectorate in Siam
is imminent.

Why does it not happen?

King Chulalongkorn was an astute
diplomat.

You know, he played this game

to moderate tensions between France
and Britain.

This piece of ground was granted
by King Chulalongkorn,

by the King of Siam to Britain

and just opposite the road,

another piece of ground was
given to France.

So he keeps the balance between the
British and the French?

He did. He did.

King Chulalongkorn's shrewd
deal-making

kept the rival colonial
powers at bay

and Thailand was left as a buffer
zone

between their two Southeast Asian
empires.

My Bradshaw's prediction
of an imminent French protectorate

didn't come to pass.

Although the British never annexed
Chiang Mai,

they used the social life of their
consulate ruthlessly

to push forward their influence
and their commercial interests,

in the process, giving an elbow
to the French.

Sometimes garden party diplomacy

can be as effective as gunboat
diplomacy.

At the time of my guidebook,

this region was being drawn into the
country now known as Thailand,

but it has always retained its own
identity.

Its Lan Na heritage is rich
in artisan crafts,

so I've come to the village of Bo
Sang, just east of the city,

in search of something to keep
the monsoon off my Bradshaws.

The inscription tells us that a monk
called Phra In Tha

was one day visiting the border with
Burma for a meditation,

and he saw the procedure by which
umbrellas were made,

wrote it all down and brought
the technology back to his village,

ever since which people
have been making the umbrellas here.

Now, this may be true or it may
simply be...

..a cover story.

The Romborsang Umbrella Factory

is one of many workshops in the
village

where these glorious items are
painstakingly made by hand.

Look at these beautiful pieces all
cut exactly to a length.

That's all bamboo,

but the structure is held together

with pieces of beautifully-crafted
sandalwood

at the top and the bottom.

Huge skill is required,

from carving the handle

to threading the ribs.

These hand and foot crafted
umbrellas are works of art.

Then, look at this. We end up with
something...

..very lovely.

A moving piece where...

..pieces of bamboo, wonderfully
carved

are just held together with cotton.

Now, what that needs is a bamboo
shaft and...

..a cotton top.

All umbrellas here are made
from mulberry paper or cotton.

Traditionally a symbol of high
status,

the more decorative parasols
are intricately painted by hand.

THEY SPEAK THAI

Good to see you. So is this almost
the last stage

of the umbrella making?
Almost, yeah.

One more step from here,
then we're finished.

And what is this paint or dye
that you're applying?

This is our colour pendant.

We make the umbrella good for sun
and rain, waterproof.

Would it be possible for me
to have a go at that?

Be my guest.

How do I look?

Wow, you look like an astronaut.

THEY LAUGH

Pretend that you're doing
the dish washing.

Dish washing? Yes.

I'll have to remember how
to do that.

SHE LAUGHS

Wow, well done. You want to work
here?

Perfect. Come rain or shine.

Arts and crafts were a huge part
of this region's culture.

But here, as in the whole
of Thailand,

identity is also expressed through
food.

I've come up into the hills,

30km north west of Chiang
Mai,

in search of the secrets
of northern cuisine.

This is Mon Chaem. I've
ascended into the clouds

and into a sort of heaven.

Here I am amongst the flowers,
and down below,

the curly green terraces, heavy with
vegetables.

Clearly the mists bring great
fertility.

Yui is a chef who lives
and teaches in the area.

Yui, hello.

SPEAKS THAI

I'm Michael. I'm Yui.

Very good to see you. Nice to see
you too.

What are you cooking today?

I am cooking a soup we call pak wan.
Mm.

It's a northern dish that is using
local vegetables in the season.

May I help you?

Yes, please. What should I do?

I'm just chopping the shallot
and the garlic,

and then I need someone to help me
for pounding.

Oh, yes.

What is different about the northern
cuisine?

What are its characteristics?

We don't have much dry spice.

We have more like fresh herbs.

And that we use mainly in our
cooking in the north

and the water base, no coconut milk.

Ah, yes, because many people think
of Thai food

as involving coconut milk,
but not in the north.

This is more like in the south. Yes.
On the beach.

So, this is a shrimp paste.

Really? Yeah. You can check the
smell.

Then shall we...?

Oh!

Very good with the pounding.

This is the work of the Thai woman,
they do it for every meal.

Such a lot of work.

But we are so strong.

Then we're going to put
these in water.

So this is, I call, slimy
spinach.

Slimy spinach.

It is the name I named it myself.

You have a way with words.

So Lan Na was, from time-to-time,
occupied by Burma.

Is there a Burmese influence
in the cooking?

Yes. I have a lot.

I can see that I've been in Myanmar

and I've seen ingredients there like
the ones I use in Chiang Mai.

So they brought their ingredients
here when they moved here.

And we went there, we brought our
ingredients there.

Like we're blending together
to be one union.

I say, while we've been cooking,

the mist has lifted.

I had no idea there was that lovely
row of mountains there.

Isn't it beautiful here?

Yeah. It's adding to our food
for more flavour.

Excellent.

We're putting the view
into our food somehow.

Time to serve.

Yes, that looks nice.

It does look nice.

So colourful.

Mm.

Isn't that great?

Yes!

Do you think the food is really one
of the best things about Thailand?

Yes, I think so.

That's the reason
I cannot move away from Thailand.

MICHAEL LAUGHS

CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYS

I'm heading back to Chiang
Mai Station.

My journey will continue south.

If you've been at any time in
Thailand,

you've noticed the courtesy
of perfect manners of the people.

Here is a notice.

"Upon receiving an impolite
service,

"please notify Station Master."

Em, Lampang, please.

All correct?

Thank you.

Passport needed to buy a ticket.

The special express to Bangkok.

How exotic does that sound?

But I'm going just about two
hours to Lampang.

Around 14 trains a day leave Chiang
Mai,

and with just one railway line,

they all head in the direction
of Bangkok.

This is stunning landscape and
a region of great fertility.

We've passed paddy fields,

here would have been the teak
forests,

watered by the River Ping

and other waterways descending
from the Himalayas.

But it was unbelievably remote
before the coming of the railway.

The journey from Bangkok to Chiang
Mai would have taken weeks

and building the line was clearly
no mean feat.

Between Chiang Mai and Lampang is
a narrow belt of steep mountains.

The construction of a railway
through this terrain

came at great cost.

We're now passing through the
Khun Tan tunnel,

the longest in Thailand at
1.35km.

This was built roughly during the
First World War

by German engineers.

It said that 1,000 men died
in its construction...

..from malaria, from attacks by
tigers,

from fighting amongst
themselves

and from addiction to opium.

This may not have been a colonial
province,

but the disdain for human life was
positively imperial.

Thailand's railway network extends
across 4,000km,

the majority of which is single
track

and the procedure for avoiding
collisions

hasn't changed in a century.

On a single track line, a train
can only occupy the track

if it has a token, a large piece
of metal.

And with no time to lose,

the oncoming train will hurl
the token

onto this pole without stopping.

A good trick.

Faultlessly done and we're on our
way,

with the token.

My next stop is the city
of Lampang,

also known as Nakhon Lampang.

TRADITIONAL THAI MUSIC PLAYS

Hello.

Erm... Can I have a lime juice,
please?

Salt? Salt? Yeah, that's a good
idea. Salt. Yeah.

Thank you. Thank you.

The sun is out, the humidity is
up...

..and that is wonderfully
refreshing.

Mm!

Fruit juices with a touch of
salt.

Thank you.

Once surrounded by vast teak forests
on the River Wang,

Lampang was, in the late-19th and
early-20th centuries,

a world centre for logging.

In that period, a charming
town emerged.

Lampang turns out to be
an unexpected gem,

an almost tourist-free town full of
gorgeous teak buildings.

Some, like this old temple, are now
substantially decayed,

but it's only grown more beautiful
as it has faded,

a thought with which I often console
myself.

The elegant houses all across town
tell of the boom years

over a century ago.

A beautifully-historic street full
of wooden houses

from the start of the 20th century,
in a great variety of styles,

but all of them opulent,

because here the people sapped the
wealth from the forest.

And with every shipment of teak that
went down the river,

they logged up new profits.

To get a better look, I'm using
a form of transport

particular to this city.

Thank you.

Travelling by a horse carriage,
known locally as a Rot Ma,

is a good opportunity to see some
of the larger teak houses

in the suburbs. Some of them are
positively palatial.

The city is nicknamed Horse
Carriage City.

The first one made locally
was known as a Queen Victoria,

but actually introduced
only in 1916,

and they reached their height
of popularity in the 1950s,

I suppose, because they were a sign
of prestige

at a time when speed was not
important.

The legacy of the teak trade
is everywhere,

and I'm meeting a direct descendant
of turn-of-the-century loggers.

Kittichai Wattanaikorn's father
and grandfather

worked as forest administrators.

Thank you very much.

Hello. Welcome.

Kittichai, lovely to see you.

I've seen in Lampang that teak
makes beautiful houses

and here is another. Yes.

But why were the Europeans
so interested in teak?

At that time in the 19th century,

due to the depletion of oak,

teak became more and more important
in the shipbuilding industry.

And why is teak good for ships?

Because it is durable.

It is decay resistant.

It is termite resistant.

It is easy to work with.

It is, like, with all this property,
they make teak valuable.

That's why the European companies
began to do business with teak.

Of the foreign countries that became
involved in teak here,

which had the biggest share?

The biggest power that came
to Siam was the British companies.

The British had already developed
a large teak industry in India

and neighbouring Burma,

and soon set their sights on
northern Thailand, too.

Chulalongkorn, King Rama V,

feared they might try to annex this
teak-rich region, and in 1873,

signed what's become known as
the Chiang Mai Treaty,

awarding them generous logging
concessions.

Who lived in this house?

This house belonged to
Louis Leonowens.

He was the son of Anna Leonowens,

an English teacher
in the royal palace

of King Rama IV of Siam.

And Louis...

..was the representative of the
British Borneo Company in 1884.

What has happened to the teak
industry in Thailand?

The logging industry was banned in
1989 because of deforestation.

So there is no more teak industry
in Thailand nowadays.

Between the colonial powers, there
was in Southeast Asia,

a sort of balance of power,

with the British in Burma
and Malaysia

and the French in what we now call
Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.

And so both were content to allow
Siam, what we now call Thailand,

to be nominally independent.

As far as the British were
concerned, two things mattered,

one, keeping the French out,

and two, their incredibly-lucrative
privilege

for the exploitation of teak.

Next time in Thailand, I'll discover
the splendours

of the former capital of Siam...

It was one of the wealthiest cities
in Asia,

let alone South-East Asia.

..I'll be sized up by a gentle
giant...

She's just getting used
to me now.

..and have a close encounter
with another astonishing railway.

I think I might lean back at this
point.