Ronald D. Renard

THE IMAGE OF CHIANG MAl: THE MAKING OF A BEAUTIFUL CITY

Chiang Mai conjures up images of pretty girls, by the Asia Training Centre on Ageing and flowers, pleasing customs, striking scenery, and Care International in and sponsored gracious manners. Thais from elsewhere in the by the Australian International Development country popularly contend that the local language Assistance Bureau, could avoid such pre­ spoken in is more melodious than conceptions. At its 1995 workshop, a handout the national . To many in Thailand, entitled, "Useful Information About Chiang Chiang Mai is all things good about Thai culture, Mai", told "Many lowland Thais regard the city the epitome of the Thai way oflife. . . . as being a national Shangrila thanks to So pervasively has Chiang Mai been extolled beautiful women, distinctive festivals ...". [Asia that persons around the world envision the city Training Centre 1995, p. 6] in the same way. Even such a presumably Such views contrast markedly with those of unromanticizable observer as the American the nineteenth century, when Bangkok Thai Presbyterian missionary, Margaretta Wells, disdained Chiang Mai. To the people of the begins her 1963 guidebook to Chiang Mai with capital, Chiang Mii was a place of homely the statement that the city was "an altogether women who smoked heavily, chewed betel to enchanting place". [1963 p. 1] Later guidebooks excess, and ate so muchpa ha (fermented fish) were even more eloquent. One written in 1989 that they fouled the air. Moreover, these women evoked visions of Shangrila. of high odor were, if the description in old central Thai classics like Khun Chang Khun northern Thailand retains a charm that is hard to Phaen of Chiang Mai's lady, Nang Soi Fa, can express in words and indeed must be experienced be believed, were none too intelligent. Confident first hand before one can understand the enthusiasm in this belief, some Bangkok parents of old that the region engenders to its visitors. Is it the lulled children to bed with airs mocking cool hazy air of sunny winter days or the happy simpleminded Chiang Mai women. countenance of its graceful people or perhaps that Despite these preconceptions, relations special feeling that places of an old an enduring between central Thai men and Chiang Mai culture empart upon the landscapes that make it women existed. Some northern women, even such a special place? [Tettoni 1989, p. 9] those of high rank, married men from in and around Bangkok. These had started at least as No less a forum than the Workshop on early as the 1770s when the sister of "AIDS Impact on Ageing Society" organized married one of King 's commanders sent

Journal ofthe Siam Society 87 .I & 2 ( 1999) 88 Ronald D. Renard to help wrest Chiang Mai from the hold of such as photography, and some from Bangkok Burmese overlords. [Penth 1992, p. 46] so that she came to understand different cultures Nevertheless, the image of northern women while in the palace. [Nongyao 1990, pp. 47-49] remained negative at the end of the nineteenth Through this learning and subsequent adap­ century as the treatment accorded Princess Dara tations made by her, she helped overcome the in the Bangkok palace attests. condescension with which many people in Some early Western travellers to Chiang Bangkok viewed Chiang Mai. Mai held similarly negative attitudes. Daniel Also helping to reverse the preconceptions McGilvary, a Presbyterian missionary and of Chiang Mai were the many influences among the first group of Americans to come to encountered by Thai leadership at the time. King Chiang Mai, found the place dirty, "demon" , for example, travelled through­ ridden, and governed by arbitrary and often out Asia and then later to Europe where he unjust rulers". [McGilvay 1912] learned much about the rest of the world. He and One daughter of Chiang Mai's ruler Prince members of his entourages helped popularize , born to Princess Thipkeson in much that was new to Thailand, some of which 1873, was named Dara Ratsami. After receiving were to change the image of Chiang Mai. an education in northern Thai and Siamese Thai, He studied practical items, such as the she accompanied her father to Bangkok in 1886 telegraph, telephone, and railroads, as well as where he paid obeisance to King Chulalongkorn. cultural artifacts such as regional and Western On meeting the King, she was invited, at the musical instruments, themes from Western stories young age offifteen, to become one ofhis wives. and operas, new foods, law codes, and commercial Quite a few of his wives were daughters of practices. These often blended with Thai ways to important regional leaders and heads oftributary create new cultural mixes and modified traditions. states over whom the Bangkok government This openness to different practices provided wanted to maintain control. Having a daughter Princess Dara the chance to introduce some among the wives was seen as an effective way of aspects of Chiang Mai culture in the capital. controlling her home state. From this time on One example was the Thaiization of miang into until 1911 when the king died, Prince Dara lived Miang Lao, in which cabbage was substituted in Bangkok as one his wives. for tea leaves, which were hard to find in Initially she stayed in the Grand Palace but Bangkok. Miang then diversified into new forms later the king had the Suan Farang Kangsai such as miang pla tu, made with mackerel and Palace built for her (close to present-day miang kung (shrimp miang) until most Thais Chitralada Palace). She served as a proponent have forgotten the Chiang Mai connection of northern Thai customs by always wearing [Liulalong Bunnag 1989] northern style dresses and costumes and These few changes were insufficient to speaking the Chiang Mai language. She had reverse, the condescension given to things northern foods served continually and chewed northern by the Bangkok elite. When Crown miang (fermented tea) as the finale to most Prince (the future King Rama VI) meals. Such practices were resented by many in made a tour of the north in Chiang Mai in 1906, Bangkok's royal circles who denigrated her he suggested that the Lao had to be "tamed" affection for this and other northern specialties (juk hai chuang) in order to become good such as pa ha as well as her propensity for citizens "agreeable to the Thai" in the new Thai smoking tobacco. As a result, her palace came nation (chat Thae). Except for some references to be known somewhat derisively as "Tamnak to flowers, however, he had nothing to say about Chao Lao" (The Palace of the Lao Princess). anything beautiful in Chiang Mai. But she did take interest in the ways of Bangkok. She invited the noted blind musician, The Bangkok Recension of Chiang Mai Choi Suntharawathin, to teach her and her palace History staff central Thai music She collected musical instruments from the north and central Thailand. Attitudes such as these came to be incorporated She pursued other interests, some from overseas in new histories of Thailand being written as

Journal ofthe Siam Society 87.1 & 2 (1999) Beautiful Chiang Mai 89

Bangkok took over Chiang Mai. Such writings to the telling of it in the Chiang Mai Chronicle came to replace accounts of the north written by which extols the efforts of Kawila. the people ofLan Na. Later central Thai accounts of , Chiang Mai has a literary heritage of however, downplay the importance of Kawila hundreds if I).Ot thousands of texts. From a so­ and his associates. Prince Damrong Raja­ called Golden Era in the fifteenth century when nubhap's Thai Rop Phama, (Thai Wars with major historical and Buddhist texts were written, Burma), [Bangkok 1971] which details over 44 LanNa literature ebbed following the takeover wars from 1538 until1854. Regarding the period in 1558 by King Bayinnaung of Burma. of time from 1771 until 1791 when Burmese Although a brief revival occurred in the early­ overlords of Chiang Mai were expelled to be nineteenth century, when some new writing replaced by those from Bangkok, Damrong occurred, including an updating of the major barely mentions Kawila and the other northern version of the Chiang Mai Chronicle around leaders. Instead, Damrong credits Chaophraya 1827, literature in Lan Na was in decline. Chakri (later King ), for directing the Individual pockets of literary creativity have campaign. persisted but the inspiration to write major Later accounts carried even fewer references historical accounts was lost. No major history to the city, its founding in 1296 by King Mang of Chiang Mai was to be written by a northern Rai, the flourishing of Buddhism and literature Thai for over a century and a half. under later kings in the sixteenth century, or the Into this void stepped central Thai authors. kingdom's centuries-long and often successful Among the first was Chaem Bunnag, member struggles with Ayutthaya, Lao, and Burman of a powerful family of Bangkok nobility, with kingdoms. When mentioned at all, Chiang Mai the title Phraya Prachakitkorachak. Born in 1864, is discussed as one of the tributary states of a member of several expeditions to the north in Ayutthaya or the site where Ayutthayan kings, 1880s and 1890s, he had a modem education such as Naresuan, travelled to defend the and became interested in Chiang Mai history. kingdom. He and others of his generation were proud of When he took the throne in 1910, King the growing Thai kingdom expanding even in Vajiravudh felt that establishing schools would the face of Western imperialism. Their reports, bring the northern Thai into the formative Thai poems, and songs became important deter­ nation. [Vachara 1988, pp. 9596] The new minants of the new image Chiang Mai was to history being written for use in these schools assume for the central Thai. projected a unified Thai state far back into time To this literature he contributed Phong­ despite the lack of historical data supporting sawadan Yonok. First entitled Prawat Lao such a past. According to the "Nanchao Theory" Chiang (History of the Lao Chiang)2it appeared which seems to have been first proposed by in the journal of the Thai National Library, the Europeans, the Thai race was said to have Vachirayan from 1898-1899. Its final form as originated in Nanchao, a kingdom seated in Phongsawadan Yonok (Chronicle ofYonok, (i.e. what is now Dali in Yunnan Province of China. Chiang Mai and the region around it) appeared According to this theory, a Mongol invasion of in 1907 and fell within the nationalistic writing 1253 defeated Nanchao resulting in a mass of the formative Thai state. The introduction migration of the Thai southward where the tells, "This account ofYonok, a chronicle of the kingdom of Sukhothai soon became preeminent. Thai north, is thus relevant to the origins of the Afterwards, according to the history based on royal chronicles of Siam." [Prachakitkorachak this theory, the chief Thai kingdoms were 1935, p. 5] Ayutthaya until1767, Thonburi until1782, and The author used all the available sources he Bangkok until the present. could in an effort to learn as much about Chiang In 1940, at the height of Thai nationalistic Mai as he could. In his account, for example, of spirit during the premiership of Field Marshall the takeover of Chiang Mai by Prince Kawila of Pibul Songkhram, another prominent Thai in the 1770s following centuries of leader, the future premier, Pridi Banomyong, Burmese ovelordship, the author largely adheres expressed the extreme patriotic spirit of the time

Journal ofthe Siam Society 87.1 & 2 (1999) 90 Ronald D. Renard in his romantic novel, The King of the White unified culturally in order to escape being Elephant. Even though Pridi's political colonized. To justify Thai sovereignty, Prince orientation was more leftist than that of Pibul, Damrong and the other architects of the new they shared the Thai nationalism common to Thai history agreed that it had to emphasize many modem Thais. In the excerpt below, Pridi national unity. Old centers of power such as extols the glories of Sukhothai's past to the Chiang Mai, Vientiane, and Nakhon Si exclusion of that of Chiang Mai. Thammarat, were peripheral to this purpose and accounts of them were omitted. The Kingdom of the "Free People" is what The Although this new Thai history emphasized Kingdom of The "Thai" means. They had ethnic unity, the rulers of the country had to migrated, these keen apostles of individual and deal with a variety of different groups in their national liberty, from the far off mountains of domain. Even among the ethnic Tai, there were Yunnan, driven, probably, by the Chinese many subdivisions. Seidenfaden's The Thai invasions which spread gradually from North to Peoples, written decades later, [1967] lists as South. They remained for a century at Sukhoday, many Tai (which he calls Thai) groups, such as then advanced again towards the Gulf of Thailand Thai Siamese ("Thais of the Menam Plains"), which forms the southern border of the Indo­ Thai Yuan, Thai Khorat, Laos Kao, Laos Wieng, China Peninsula. [Pridi, 1940, p. 5] and Laos Song Dam (Black Thai) in the country as the non-Thais which included Khmers, Similarly, a history of Sukhothai written in Chinese, Malays, and the different hilltribes. 1945 by a national historical commission headed Maintaining control over these groups and by the esteemed scholar, Phraya Anuman keeping them from falling to the French or Rajadhon, makes scant reference to Chiang Mai British was so difficult that Thai kings and the other Lan Na states in the main text. sometimes resorted to exceptional techniques, [Thai National Historical Commission 1955] including the forcible tattooing ofKayahs living More sophisticated was a history of Thai in the border province of Mae Hong Son in diplomacy written at that time [Thailand Office about 1890.3 of the Prime Minister 1945] which tells that the While the history of Chiang Mai's accession alliance between the king of Sukhothai, Mang by Bangkok has been amply recorded, the social Rai of Chiang Mai, and Ngam Muang ofPhayao implications arising from it have not. was bonded by shared Thainess which enabled Through astute administration and a Sukhothai to control the north. fortuitous geographical position between French Such centerist historiographies are found in Indochina and British Burma, Thailand was able other Southeast Asian countries where the ethnic to retain much of its territory, with the notable group dominating a capital city directs the exception of the present-day Lao PDR the bulk national culture of neo-colonial states. Javanese, of which the French took in 1893. When local Burman, and K.inh ("ethnic Vietnamese") culture rebellions in Thailand occurred, such as the all dominate their particular countries. Scholars 1902 Shan Rebellion in Phrae, they were quickly studying Indonesia have in particular examined suppressed. Even the memory of some has been how the postcolonial state has introduced lost. There was another uprising in Mae Chaem conceptions of hierarchy and potency into its (then called Sut Chaem) District of Chiang Mai national administration but it is no less present that resulted in one or two district officials being in other states. [Anderson 1972, Dove 1985] killed. In this little-known incident, six Taylor's The State in Burma [1987], focusing ringleaders were captured, brought to Chiang on the center, and Hickey's writings dealing Mai, incarcerated in a makeshift jail at the palace with the Central Highlanders ofVietnam [1982a of Chao Burirat, and executed. [Thailand and 1982b] demonstrate how in different settings Department of Corrections. 1982, pp. 310-311]. a single culture came to be pre-eminent. Nonetheless, such rebellions were few; when In Thailand, leaders of the reformulated they arose they were quickly suppressed. bureaucratic state of late-nineteenth century In assuming direct political control over the Thailand decided that the country must appear various ethnic groups in the country, the rulers

Journal ofthe Siam Society 87.1 & 2 (1999) Beautiful Chiang Mai 91

of Bangkok assumed some attributes of the Naradhip, who had already written a historical imperial rulers they sought to escape. From the drama set in the north with his adaptation of the perspective of the Chiang Mai people, they Thai classic, Phra Law, was intrigued by viewed their new Thai rulers as often domi­ Madame Butterfly. neering and insensitive to local ways. Many Prince Naradhip's conception of the north would have agreed with the observation of may well already have been influenced by Lilit Gayatri Spivak, a Third World scholar, who Phongsawadan Nua (Poetic Account of the stated "pluralist aesthetes of the First World Chronicle of the North), written in 1880 by one are, willy-nilly, participants in the production of his uncles, Prince Pawaret Wariyalongkon. of an exploitative society." [1987, p. 179] Although not dealing with LanNa specifically, Not quite lost in the oral traditions of Chiang Prince Pawaret's poem describes northern areas Mai are accounts of unscrupulous central such as Chiang Saen, located to the northeast of officials seeking to take advantage of the people Chiang Mai on the Mekong. The poem admires of the north. A famous story of the young women the area's forests while the peoples there were named Buaban, deceived by a flirtatious central neither disparaged nor made to look inferior. Thai, and who then jumped to her death off a [Pawaret 1967] waterfall on Doi Suthep is still told in song. Yet another influence on Prince Naradhip Through this process of exerting control over was the incorporation of many peoples into the the north and changing its image, the leaders in Thai state. Together with other forward-looking Bangkok took on many of the attributes of First members of royalty who were influenced by World colonial administrators as they dealt with Western learning\ he was intrigued by the areas outside of central Thailand. Their diverse lands and groups surrounding the Chao perception of Chiang Mai and its people began Phraya basin. to change, especially once the threat of rebellion The Prince may well have also been affected by the northerners had disappeared. by the emerging field of ethnography which As the northerners lost control of their studied and classified small ethnic groups. Not kingdom and the writing of its history they part of the outlook by chroniclers of Southeast became both politically harmless and culturally Asian kingdoms5, interest in small groups intriguing. Their image in the eyes of the people opened new vistas to the young outward-looking ofBangkok changed from one of uncouth people modem generation of Thai royalty. from the kingdom's fringe to one having quaint The customs, ways of life, and music of and picturesque customs as well as beautiful diverse peoples inspired many ofthe new dramas women. What the people of Bangkok saw as a then being written at a time when old Lakhon land of potential dangerous renegades came to Nai (Court Drama) were being performed be viewed as a place of harmless beauty. outside the palace for the first time. Thai music thus developed Lao (referring to both the Chiang Mai's Madame Butterfly northern Thai and those peoples living in the lowlands of what is now northeastern Thailand This process had been underway since before and Laos), Khmer, and other musical styles. the tum of the century even before the trip of These groups were encountered by the Vajiravudh to the north. The historian, Nidhi Bangkok officials who began travelling north Aeusrivongse, suggests [1986, pp. 4245] that a increasingly starting in 1884 after the Anglo­ Thai version of the opera Madame Butterfly Thai Second Chiang Mai Treaty that resulted in was soon to be playing a major role in redefining Bangkok gaining more control over Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai's image. With the posting of a viceroy (kha luang) from According to Nidhi, one of King Chula­ Bangkok in Chiang Mai, many members of longkorn's half-brothers, Prince Naradhip Bangkok royalty and their assistants going to Praphanpong, a prolific playwright and director Chiang Mai came to appreciate the life there. in the late nineteenth and early twentieth They seemed to have been caught up in the centuries, heard of Madame Butterfly from the exuberance of a growing state, the bringing of king after he had seen it in Paris in 1907. Prince "progress" to formerly remote areas, and the

Journal ofthe Siam Society 87.1 & 2 (1999) 92 Ronald D. Renard integration of the old portray Sao Khrua Fa that he rewarded her the into Thailand. very substantial sum at that time of 100 baht for Not only did Prince Naradhip -and his royal how she acted the scene in which she slit her and playwright contemporaries gain inspiration throat in the finale. [Mattani 1993, p. 141] from the peoples of the periphery, but they Members of royalty sponsored theatrical intended that their plays reach a wider audience. troupes that competed for popularity. Themes In order to appeal to those not familiar with introduced through these plays, such as the court drama, which the writers apparently felt beauty of Chiang Mai, spread quickly because many would find too restrained, they devised a of the performances' wide appeal. In their own sung dance drama, known as Lakhon Rong. way, these plays were the popular media of Prince Naradhip pioneered the use of realistic their time, the shapers of social values that costumes, makeup, and set design, often inspired the younger generation of the time. receiving ideas from opera. [Mattani 1993, pp. One such person was a younger son of King 102, 144-145,234-237] Chulalongkorn, Prince Penphatanaphong who King Chulalongkom was strongly impressed belonged to the country's intelligentsia. Having by Puccini's opera6, Madame Butterfly, which just returned from England where he had studied he saw on a 1907 visit to Paris [Chulalongkorn agricultural science, the 21-year old prince 1973 II, pp. 642-646]. After returning to (Phraong Chao) became the Director of the Thailand, he told the story of the opera to Prince Sericulture Department, in the Ministry of Naradhip who then wrote up a Thai version of Agriculture. His work often took him from the story. Instead of Cho Cho San being Bangkok to the northeastern provinces ofKhorat Japanese, she becomes Sao Khrua Fa, and Buriram where, with Japanese experts and ("Heavenly Girl"). The American naval officer, old Thai weavers, he endeavored to improve Lieutenant Pinkerton, was made to be the young the quality of Thai silk and make it an exportable Bangkok man Sub-lieutenant Phrom. item. Sub-Lieutenant Prom is posted to Chiang One can only speculate what influence Sao Mai where he finds the lovely Sao Khrua Fa. Khrua Fa had over him, but he was to be smitten She falls in love with him and while he is during a trip to Chiang Mai in about 1890 in a attracted to her, he sees their relationship as way that eventually led to a new expression of only a temporary romance. Broken-hearted when northern beauty in Thailand's mass media. he leaves her behind, Sao Khrua Fa commits suicide. Lao Duang Duan of Chiang Mai and Other Another feature of the play was its reference Influences to ethnic groups in the north. He refers to a variety of Lao groups (different Tai-speaking The source of his infatuation was a lass with a peoples), Khmer, Vietnamese, Khaek (in this round white face, a traditional mark of beauty case probably Indian), hilltribes, as well as "red­ to the Thai of Bangkok. He immediately fell for faced farang."7 the fair-skinned 16-year-old Lamphun princess, Furthermore, the flowers and elegant Chao Chomchun, doubtless delighting in the customs associated with Japan in the opera were sight of her fair cheeks which reddened when transferred by Prince Naradhip to Chiang Mai, she blushed. The poise she no doubt had a shift that began to evoke a new conception of developed from having welcomed other princes Chiang Mai among the people who viewed the from Bangkok also must have impressed him8• play. Among the most interested observers was The fact that she had been to Bangkok as well Princess Dara, with whom Prince Naradhip had where she had learned to speak central Thai consulted in writing the story. added to her allure for the Prince who could not The great popularity of the play spread this speak the language of Chiang Mai. [Prani 1963 new image of Chiang Mai throughout Bangkok 1: pp. 126-135] and beyond. King Chulalongkorn commented On the next day, the Prince asked the Thai to Princess Dara that people preferred this play viceroy in Chiang Mai to request permission to to all others. He so enjoyed watching one actress marry Chao Chomchun. Chao Ratsamphan-

Journal ofthe Siam Society 87.1 & 2 (1999) Beautiful Chiang Mai 93

thawong did not object outright but said that I love thee a thousand-fold, a thousand-fold. since the princess was so young, the Prince Ah me that I must soon depart, should wait until she was 18 when she knew Leaving my heart, but my heart with they more about what she wanted in life. He also Oh fare thee well, my love, oh my love. said that King Chulalongkorn should be consulted. Chao Inthawororot surely knew that Besides being a love song, Lao Duangduan the King had in 1874 issued an edict forbidding shows that members of the Bangkok elite were officials from Bangkok marrying northern now intrigued by the attractions of Chiang Mai women [Rujaya 1988, p. 92] and he remembered and their changing image of the city. Chiang cases of other Bangkok princes taking northern Mai in this way took on a romantic appeal to princess for wives but leaving them later on. To many in Bangkok as Tahiti and the South Seas all of this Prince Penphatanaphong had no did for many in France. recourse but to return to Bangkok where he It was not just the association of broken love found that the King forbade the prince from with Chiang Mai that gave the city a its new wedding Chao Chomchun. appeal. Because of Chiang Mai' s somewhat The King had issued this edict because he cooler climate, the flora of its different was aware of the antagonism caused in the environment brought new flowers to the north by central Thai officials taking northern attention of the people in Bangkok. women as minor wives or temporary lovers. Important in changing the image of Chiang [Phraratcha Bannyat Samrap Khaluang Mai among the people of Bangkok was Princess Chamra Khiram Hua Muang (Laws for Special Dara. As the consort of King Chulalongkorn Judges in the Provinces) 29 November 1874, p. she had been exposed to influences from the I] Although this stricture was relaxed after rest of Thailand and overseas as she witnessed Princess Dara became one of King Chula­ the impact of the West on the court. Fascinated, longkorn's wives in 1887, the king nevertheless she introduced new themes to the arts of Chiang believed that if the prince took the teenage Mai where she returned after King Chula­ Chao Chomchun as a wife, rulers in the north Iongkorn' s death. Through these she was to would be offended. influence the image of Chiang Mai in ways no When it became clear that he would never one could have guessed. be able to live with Chao Chomchun, the prince sought to forget his troubles in music. He Princess Dara in Chiang Mai frequented concerts and composed his own music. Of all his songs, the best known is now After studying with Thai musical masters, such called Lao Duangduan, which he composed not as Choi, Princess Dara became an accomplished long before his untimely death at the age of 27 musician who organized a string ensemble in in 1909. As for Chao Chomchun, she married a her Bangkok palace. On her return to Chiang distant cousin, gave birth to one son, and then Mai she used her musical talent to transform the also died early, at the age of23. performing arts of Chiang Mai. The song shows the love of Prince Penpha­ Not only did she introduce central Thai plays tanaphong for the fair-skinned round faced Chao such as Sao Khrua Fa and Phra Law to the Chomchun. Comparing the face of a young girl north, but she brought Thai musical instruments to the full moon (duangduan) is a popular means which led to the pioneering of new musical of praising the girl's beauty. [translation from arrangements, and dance choreography in the Seni Pramoj 1973 p. 71] troupes she maintained in her Chiang Mai palaces. On special occasions she organized 0-la-nor, pale moon-light, here to show my love musical presentations. When King Rama VII, of Chulalongkorn' s son, visited Chiang Mai in Pray thee guide me to my only love 1927, Princess Dara entertained the king with a As dawn draws nigh, so I must leave. dance program portraying the presentation of a Great is my grief, oh pale moon above. white elephant to an early Thai king. [Pra­ 0-la-nor, my moon gold. phaiphat & Narongsak 1995, pp. 81-86]

Journal ofthe Siam Society 87.1 & 2 (1999) 94 Ronald D. Renard

The princess also contributed to the rest of Thailand enabled them to set up shops association of Chiang Mai with flowers. She and start forming regional commercial networks. introduced a fragrant rose to the north that the As they did so, since were most young men, king may have taken back to Thailand from they married into Chiang Mai society. They France. Having a large bloom and no thorns this often linked up with women entrepreneurs who rose was then given the name "Chulalongkorn" had controlled much of Chiang Mai's market when she brought it to Chiang Mai. [Suthon centers until this time. Their Thaiized descend­ 1993, p. 23]9 ants built these advantages into control over Not surprisingly the news of this rose in the much of Chiang Mai's economy. Ownership of capital added to the positive image of Chiang the city's central market for example was Mai. reportedly lost by the Chiang Mai royal family Yet another cultural import from Bangkok in an evening of gambling. she promoted was brocaded silk10• Called yok Muslims came, both from Yunnan in China dok (raised pattern), this warp fibers of this and from Bengal (there are four mosques in material is raised into design over the flat weft, Chiang Mai city). Yunnan merchants had been a technique that actually has Chinese and English plying trade routes from distant points on the antecedents. Princess Dara taught the technique Silk Road from Central Asia to Yunnan. When at her palace in Chiang Mai where the tradition the British traveller and official Dr. D. endures to this day with new designs created Richardson first came to Chiang Mai in 1829, continually. One difference between the northern he learned much from the Muslim merchants. and Bangkok brocade was that the former came Thai policy also brought a new military to include indigenous patterns that gave it a presence in Chiang Mai. Troops from Bangkok distinctive yet familiar (and all the more popular) were initially posted at the Krom Thahan style to the people of both northern and central (Military Department) base (now Kawila Camp) Thailand. Ironically, thus, this example of on the east bank of the Ping just south of the "northern tradition" was not only an overseas Navarat Bridge. Later a new and much larger import but has been modified through new base was set up to the north of town along the designs to the present day. The production of base of Doi Suthep reaching all the way to Mae silk and cotton textiles was, nonetheless, to Rim. To the south of town, the Thai air force become one of the "characteristics" of early­ established an airbase including land on which twentieth century northern Thai life. the Chiang Mai International Airport is located. In both places, entire villages, their temples, The Movement North and rice fields were displaced. One known as Wat Pa Kluai was replaced by an airport runway. Princess Dara was not the only person heading [Sommai 1975, p. 12] north in the early-twentieth century to make an Stationed at these bases were soldiers mainly impact on Chiang Mai. Others were of Chinese from elsewhere in the country. Together with ancestry. From the 1840s on, economic ceritral Thai civil servants posted in the north opportunity in the Bangkok area attracted many there now were more Thais from outside the from southern coastal regions of China such as region living in Chiang Mai than ever before. Swatow to work in Thailand as laborers. Although many earned enough money to return Tourism to home and buy land, quite a few settled in Thailand where as soon as possible they went Together with this movement north and the into business themselves. changing image of Chiang Mai, tourism to the From the time of Bangkok's taking greater north grew. It was not until after 1920 when the control of Chiang Mai with the two Chiang Mai rail line to Chiang Mai was completed that this treaties in the late-nineteenth century, would-be became feasible on a popular level. Chinese merchants moved to the city en masse. Chiang Mai was advocated as a tourist They flair for trade and industriousness as well attraction starting in the 1920s. As in England as their ties with other Chinese merchants in the and North America during the previous decades,

Journal ofthe Siam Society 87.1 & 2 (1999) Beautiful Chiang Mai 95 railways were the first promoters of tourism in "chatty", "sweet-eyed" girls in the shops. On the the country. Following the State Railways way to Doi Suthep, they visited Princess Dara in completion ofthe line to Chiang Mai on 2 January her lush flower and orchid garden. They saw 1920 and the starting of express service the dancing at the Chedi Luang Monastery to music following year [State Railway of Thailand 1932, that caused his "heart to beat faster". [Khloi 1933]. pp. 12-13], the railway set up a publicity The railway published a guidebook to department to provide receptions for visitors and Bangkok with information on the rest of Siam facilities for their travel arrangements. Where in 1932. Chiang Mai' s attractions were described there had been sleeping quarters along the routes as including temples, forests, and hilltribes. for use primarily by officials, resthouses for [Seidenfaden 1932, pp. 286-287] A few years tourists were soon built "for the greater comfort later, an English-language guidebook to Chiang for passengers during their travel" on the northern Mai was compiled by Reginald le May. line in Lampang and Chiang Mai. Within the decade, however, reports similar Railway policymakers observed that in Chiang to the Thailanguage accounts ofbeautiful Chiang Mai "the scenery was beautiful, many important Mai were appearing in English language sites existed, there were a variety of delightful publications. Clearly showing the change in ancient traditions, the population was polite and perception Bangkok people held towards Chiang mild-mannered, all of which made the place Mai, Rabil Bunnag (in the same old noble family appropriate for tourists to visit". Soon thereafter as the author of Phongsawadan Yonok), wrote, the Chiang Mai resthouse was made into a hotel. "To the dwellers of the flat central plain of [State Railway ofThailand, 1964, p. 23] Thailand, the North is a land of magic, poetry Thai officials also recognized that motion and romance." [Rabil 1941, p. 11] pictures could promote tourism. The first feature film made in Thailand was produced by The Promotion of Tourism and Handicrafts Hollywood's Universal Company in 1923-1924. Directed by the American, Henry Macray, the The romance of this land did not escape story, Nangsao Suwan (or Suvarna of Siam 11 ) consumerism. Following World War II, in a portrayed the struggles of a young couple to gradual process beginning in the 1950s and succeed. In the melodramatic closing, the 1960s, the attractions of the region were (presumably attractive) heroine rides by train from "developed" for the benefit of the tourist Hua Hin (where there was another Railway Hotel) industry. This included modifying old festivals to Chiang Mai to save the hero from execution. and traditional handicrafts as well as the Enroute, many sites of the country were shown emergence of different facilities. as well as various ceremonies and customs in an Traditional ceremonies, such as Songkran effort to attract tourists. [Mattani 1993: p. 186] were changed to encourage tourism. In about Tourist promotion continued into the 1930s. 1960, the provincial government introduced a As in Europe and North America, railroads procession on the first day of the Songkran encouraged tourism. Railway executives festival whereby the revered Sihing image was publicized various destinations to increase taken around the town and followed by musical revenue, with Chiang Mai among the most and other groups. The Loi Krathong festival supported. In 1933, the railway organized a was similarly modified. From a simple festival promotional tour of the Songkran festival 12 • at the end of the rainy season during which According to the railway, "The city of Chiang small floats were released in waterways to atone Mai is one of the most beautiful and compelling for one's wrongdoings, the festival became a cities to visit in the Kingdom of Siam: the city two-day celebration. Loi Krathong Yai (the Big has a beautiful natural environment, ancient Loi Krathong), featuring a procession of large ruins, and girls. Everything about it is beautiful." floats through town was added to the traditional Even simple earthenware water jugs were day which became known as Loi Krathong Lek praised as elegant. [Khloi 1933, pp. 1206-1207] (Little Loi Krathong). A beauty contest was During this trip, the author's group visited also introduced by central authorities at both Lamphun and probably Pa Sang, where they met Songkran and Loi Krathong.

Journal ofthe Siam Society 87 .I & 2 ( 1999) 96 Ronald D. Renard

Not only did these popularizing efforts own including control of its destiny. In recent secularize the traditional nature of the festival, years, however, the central Thai government has but they injected a central Thai influence into recognized the loss oflocal autonomy and culture the old northern events. While this was that occurred in the early part of the twentieth comparable to the mixed music and dance century and sought to decentralize authority. popularized by Princess Dara, the promoters of Economically, Chiang Mai has grown as the these new Chiang Mai "customs" were not from regional center of the north. The airport in Chiang Chiang Mai and the activities were not developed Mai has direct international connections, for the benefit of the local people. educational institutions attract tens of thousands, Chiang Mai handicrafts such as silk and and the marketplace is the biggest in Thailand cotton cloth, silverware, teak woodcarvings, outside of Bangkok. Although the new histories lacquerware, umbrellas, and ceramics also were of the north that have begun to be written have popularized. Although it would take decades left many basic issues untouched, this still for all of these items to gain popularity, the represents the beginnings of new ways of thinking. process was underway by the 1930s. Prominent Chiang Mai University social Pioneers such as Chiang Shinawatra in the scientist and historian, Anan Ganjanapan, has development of cotton and silk-weaving, as well often stated that Chiang Mai historians, instead as Mrs. North in celadon manufacture were to of dealing with important issues, only write adapt traditional crafts and modernize them for about the superficial. As the process of a new market. Much of this production was for decentralization occurs, it remains to be seen to people outside of Chiang Mai. New designs what extent local authorities can respond to the were created and new purposes for the goods new opportunities for writing their own history produced were devised. and incorporating within it the voice of the As Chiang Mai has become part of modem Chiang Mai people that has been all but lost Thailand, the north has lost much that was its amid its romanticized beauty.

Notes Mai on the Bestowing of the Golden Seal to the Ruler of Chiang Mai]. In Ruang Songtang Chao 1 Chat is derived from the Indic term,jati, meaning Prathetsarat Krung Rattanakosin Rachakan Thi 1 "birth." Although the term can be found in writing [On the Establishment of Tributary States by King prior to the reign of King Vajiravudh, its use to mean Rama I] 1971. Bangkok: Office of the Prime Minister "Thai nation" seems to date from this time. [Attachak Committee for the Publication of Historical 1993) Documents], p. 38. 2 Phraya Prachakitkorachak wrote that Lao Chiang 6 Puccini was not in fact the originator of the story was an early Tai group whose descendants comprised which seems ultimately to have been based on Pierre part ofthe Tais who founded Chiang Mai. Loti's novel written in 1871, Madame Chrysantheme, 3 Names of 500 individuals, apparently representing about his life with a Japanese entertainer. Also drawing household heads (and a total population of about inspiration from John Luther Long's Madame Butterfly, 2,500) are in a register kept in the Thai National the theme of the two formed the basis for David Archives records [1890] This list is incomplete; Belasco's Broadway play, Madame Butterfly which perhaps another 100 were tattooed. opened on Broadway in 1900. Puccini's contribution 4 In particular, Romanticism found nature and was to make the story an opera which opened at La "primitive" peoples of special interest. Scala in 1904. Although the opera initially flopped, 5 The first reference to Karens in English, 1759 by Puccini revised it with the new version opening at the Captain George Baker [cited in Hamilton 1976, p. Brescia Theater to much acclaim. The theme of the vii], seems to predate the earliest extant reference in story recently became the basis of the popular play central Thai (calling them "Yang", which was in Miss Saigon. [Boublil: 1993 rev ed., p. 5] about 1807. Rangtra Thung Muang Chiang Mai Nam 7 Khaek refers in Thai to peoples from the Middle Song Phrasuphannabat Khun Pai Phraratchathan East (including Jews and Christians there), South Phrachao Chiang Mai ... [Charter Sent to Chiang India, and the Malay regions of Southeast Asia. In a

Journal ofthe Siam Society 87.1 & 2 (1999) Beautiful Chiang Mai 97

general sense it correlate with "Moor" as Farang Chulalongkom, King. 1973. Phrarachaniphon Ruang does to "Frank." Klai Ban (Royal Writing, Far from Home). 8 There is a good chance that this princess was part Bangkok: Phrae Phittaya. 2 vols. Karen. Her brother, Chao Koson, later married a Damrong Rajanubhap. 1971. Thai Rap Phama. [Thai Karen himself and spent many years in the Karen Wars with Burma] Bangkok: Khlang Withaya. village ofHuai La in Ban Hong District ofLamphun. 6th printing. According to persons who lived in the old Lan Na Dove, Michael. 1985. "The Agroecological Myth­ courts [i.e. Buakham Singhanet], "many Karen girls" ology of the Javanese and the Political Economy married to the chao, who were noted for their fair oflndonesia." Indonesia (39), pp. 1-36. skin and round faces. Karen stories, supporting these Garrett, H.B. & A. Kerr. 1952. "Doi Angka: The accounts, recall Karen girls fleeing at the site of Highest Mountain in Siam". Journal of Siam Chiang Mai royalty so as not to be taken to a lowland Society. pp. 119. palace. Some Karens add that the Chiang Mai people Hickey, Gerald. 1982a. Sons of the Mountains: are fair-skinned because of considerable intermarriage Ethnohistory of the Vietnamese Central High­ with the Karen. There were some sources in Lamphun lands. New Haven: Yale. in the mid-1970s who thought that Chao Koson's Hickey, Gerald. 1982b. Free in the Forest: mother was Karen which, if so, would mean Chao Ethnohistory ofthe Vietnamese Central Highlands Chomchun was also half-Karen. 1954-1974. New Haven: Yale. 9 There were roses native to Chiang Mai, such as Khloi Phetkla. 1933. Thiao Songkran Nakhon Chiang Rosa gigantea, that although growing at about 2,000 Mai [Going to the Songkran Ceremony in Chiang meters in elevation on , were known to Mai]. Withayachan 33:10 pp. 1174-1245. the scientific community in the 1920s. [Garrett & Liulalong Bunnag. Interviewed in 1993. Bangkok Kerr 1952, p. 10] These may have heightened local lawyer, gourmet. consciousness about roses in Chiang Mai. Mattani Mojdara Rutnin. 1993. Dance, Drama, and 10 The term "brocade" refers generally to rich Theatre in Thailand: The Preocess of Develop­ textiles. However, so many are the techniques for ment and Modernization. Tokyo: Centre for East brocading, that specialists prefer to use the term as a Asian Cultural Studies for UNESCO. verb rather than a noun. McGilvary, Daniel. 1912. A Half Century Among 11 Efforts by Thai film afficionados to locate a copy the Siamese and the Lao. New York: Revell. of the film in the United States have so far failed. Naradhip Praphanphong, Prince. 1963. Sao Khrua 12 Songkran is the traditional Thai new year, on 12- Fa. In Royally Sponsored Cremation Volume for 14 April of each year, when the sun moves from the Luang Prasoet Akson. Bangkok. Ca. 1910. house of Pisces to the house of Aries. Nidhi Aeusrivongse. 198. "Sao Khrufa Fan Thi Pen Ching" [Madame Butterfly: A Dream Come References True]. Sinlapawatthanatham pp. 180-185. Nongyao Kanchanachari. 1990. Chao Dara Ratsami Anderson, Benedict. 1972. "The Idea of Power in [Princess Dara Ratsami]. Chiang Mai: Suriwong. Javanese Society." In Claire Holt, ed. Culture Pawaret Wariyalongkon, Somdet Krom Phraya. 1967. and Politics in Indonesia. Ithaca: Cornell Lilit Phongsawadan Nua (Poetic Account of the University, pp. 1-69. Chronicle of the North). Bangkok: Royally Asia Training Centre. 1995. Workshop on "AIDS Sponsored Cremation Volume for Chaithawat Impact on Ageing Society". Chiang Mai: Asia Phekanan. Training Centre on Ageing & Care International Penth, Hans. 1992. "King Kawila of Chiang Mai in Thailand. 17421816"Anuson Anusawari Phrachao Kawila Atthachak Sattayanurak. 1993. "The Formation of Khroprop 20 Pi (Memorial Volume: The 20th the Absolute Monarchy in Siam: An Analysis of Anniversary of the Chao Kawila Monument). Its Intellectual Aspects". Chiang Mai: typescript. Chiang Mai. Boublil, Alain. 1993. "From Madame Chrysan­ Phraratchabanyat Samrap Khiram Hua Muang (Laws themum to Miss Saigon". In Miss Saigon. London: for Special Judges in the Provinces). 1874. Dewynters. rev ed. Souvenir Brochure for Miss Ratchakitchanubeksa (The Royal Gazette). Saigon, originally published in 1990. Bangkok.

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Prachakitkorachak, Phraya (Chaem Bunnag). 1935. State Railway of Thailand. 1964. Phithi Poet Akhan Phongsawadan Yonok [Chronicle of the North]. Rongraem Chiang Mai (Opening of the Chiang Bangkok: printed at the cremation ofMaha-amat Mai Railway Hotel. Bangkok:. State Railways of Tho Chaophraya Suthammontri [Plum Thailand. Sucharitkun]. Suthon Sikpisit. 1993. "Lasting legacy of a Princess". Phraphaiphat Khamkoet & Narongsak Khanotham. Bangkok Post. (23 October), p. 23. 1995. "Phrarachaya Chao Dara Ratsami Kap Taylor, Robert. 1987. The State in Burma. Honolulu: Natasin Lae Dontri Thai" [Princess Dara Ratsami Hawaii. and Thai Music and Dance]. Dontri Thai Tettoni, Luca Invemizzi. 1989. A Guidebook to Udomsuksa Khrang Thi 26 [Thai Higher Chiang Mai and Northern Thailand. Bangkok: Education Music 26]. Chiang Mai n.p. Pacific Rim. Edited by Richard Lair. Prani Sirithon. 1963 Phet LanNa (LanNa Jewels). Thai National Historical Commission. 19 55. Chiang Mai: Suriwong, 2 vols. Prawatisat Sukhothai. Bangkok: Prime Minister Pridi Banomyong. 1940. The King of the White Phibun Songkhram on the occasion of his Elephant. Bangkok: University of Moral and birthday, 14 July. Political Sciences. Thailand Department of Corrections. 1982. Prawat Rabil Bunnag. 1941. "Through the Pituresque [sic] Kanrachathan 200 Pi [200 Years History of North with Rabil". Thai Pictorial. 1:3 (Sep­ Corrections]. Bangkok: Department of Cor­ tember), pp. 1118. rections. Rujaya Abhakom.1988. "Changes in the Admin­ 1hailand National Archives. 1889. Records of the istrative Systems ofNorthem Siam, 1884-1933". 5th reign: M58/30 26/44; 58/31, 50177, 58/32 27/ In [Ronald D. Renard], ed. Changes in Northern 56, Banchi Sak Muang Mae Hong Son [Mae Thailand and the 1886-1940. Hong Son Tattoo Register] R.S. 108. Singapore: Southeast Asian Studies Program, pp. Thailand Office of the Prime Minister. 1945. 63108. Prawatisat Kanthut Khong Thai [History of Thai Seidenfaden, Erik. 1932. A Guide to Bangkok with Diplomacy]. Bangkok: Office of the Prime Notes on Siam. Bangkok: Royal State Railways, Minister. 3rd ed. Rangtra Thung Muang Chiang Mai Nam Song Phra Seidenfaden, Erik. 1967. The Thai Peoples. Bangkok: Suphannabat Khun Pai Phrarachathan Phrachao Siam Society. Chiang Mai ... Chunlasakharat 1196 [Document Seni Pramoj. 1973. Interpretive Translations ofThai to Muang Chiang Mai Delivered by Phra Poets. Bangkok. fdfdf Suphannabat Royally Conferring the Title of Sommai Premchit, tr. 1975. Raichu Wat Lae Nikan Phrachao Chiang Mai] In Khanakammakan Song Boran Nai Chiang Mai [A List of Old Chatphim Ekasan Thang Prawatisat [Committee Temples and Religious Sects in Chiengmai]. to Publish Historical Documents] 1971. Ruang Chiang Mai: Chiang Mai University Department Songtang Chao Prathetsarat Krung Ratanakosin of Sociology and Anthropology Transliteration Rachakan Thi 1 [Regarding the Appointment of Series VII. Original ca. late-nineteenth century. Tributary Rulers during the Reign of King Rama I] Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. 1987. "Draupadi." In Bangkok: Office of the Prime Minister. pp. 33-38. In Other Worlds: Essays in Cultural Politics. Vachara Sindhuprama. 1988. Modern Education and New York: Routledge, pp. 179-196. Socio-Cultural Change in Northern Thailand: State Railway of Thailand. 1932. Chalong 30 Pi 18981942. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Ph.D. R.F.L. 26 Mi.Kh. 2475 [Celebrating 30 Years of Dissertation. the SRS 26 Mar. 1932]. Bangkok: State Railway Wells, Margaretta B. 1963. Guide to Chiang Mai. of Thailand. Bangkok: Christian Bookstore.

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