Original subtitles

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.