Fang Attractions
Fang
Set amid the grandeur of north-western Thailand's jungle scenery and the foothills of the Himalayas, Fang is a small but thriving place 24 km (15 mi.) from the border crossing to Burma, now Myanmar. The political situation in the neighboring country means this crossing point can no longer be used. The only way to get to Myanmar is by air to Rangoon from Bangkok.
By car: Highway 107 from Chiang Mai (124 km (77 mi.) and Highway 1/109 from Chaing Rai (65 km (40 mi.)).
By bus: several services daily from Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai.
Fang nowadays has little to show for the important position it once held during the Lan Na Kingdom as a trading center and point of strategic significance. Its fascination lies in its role as a meeting place for the peoples of the surrounding hill tribes, the Akha, Lisu and Meo, who come here to sell their market produce. The city also has the dubious distinction of being the gateway to the notorious "Golden Triangle" where the bulk of the world's opium is grown for the heroin trade. The frontier is guarded by former soldiers from Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang forces, some of whom were allowed to settle here by the Thai government after they fled from the Chinese Communists in 1949.
Nearby Chai Prakan, founded around 900 and thus one of the earliest settlements in present-day Thailand, was an important base for earlier Thai tribes in their resistance to the south-west expansion of the Khmer Kingdom.
Fang itself was founded in 1268 by King Mengrai, and from here the Thais embarked on their gradual capture of the Mon Kingdom. It later developed into an important trading center, and for a long time its people held out against conquest by the Burmese, only capitulating in 1732 after a lengthy siege (Chiang Mai had already fallen in 1556). The Thais managed to wrest the town from its captors in the late 18th c., and since the end of the 19th c. Fang has been part of the Province of Chiang Mai, and hence the Kingdom of Thailand. The oil that was discovered around here in the 1950s proved to be of little value, and the dream of "black gold" vanished as swiftly as it had arrived.
Set amid the grandeur of north-western Thailand's jungle scenery and the foothills of the Himalayas, Fang is a small but thriving place 24 km (15 mi.) from the border crossing to Burma, now Myanmar. The political situation in the neighboring country means this crossing point can no longer be used. The only way to get to Myanmar is by air to Rangoon from Bangkok.
By car: Highway 107 from Chiang Mai (124 km (77 mi.) and Highway 1/109 from Chaing Rai (65 km (40 mi.)).
By bus: several services daily from Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai.
Fang nowadays has little to show for the important position it once held during the Lan Na Kingdom as a trading center and point of strategic significance. Its fascination lies in its role as a meeting place for the peoples of the surrounding hill tribes, the Akha, Lisu and Meo, who come here to sell their market produce. The city also has the dubious distinction of being the gateway to the notorious "Golden Triangle" where the bulk of the world's opium is grown for the heroin trade. The frontier is guarded by former soldiers from Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang forces, some of whom were allowed to settle here by the Thai government after they fled from the Chinese Communists in 1949.
Nearby Chai Prakan, founded around 900 and thus one of the earliest settlements in present-day Thailand, was an important base for earlier Thai tribes in their resistance to the south-west expansion of the Khmer Kingdom.
Fang itself was founded in 1268 by King Mengrai, and from here the Thais embarked on their gradual capture of the Mon Kingdom. It later developed into an important trading center, and for a long time its people held out against conquest by the Burmese, only capitulating in 1732 after a lengthy siege (Chiang Mai had already fallen in 1556). The Thais managed to wrest the town from its captors in the late 18th c., and since the end of the 19th c. Fang has been part of the Province of Chiang Mai, and hence the Kingdom of Thailand. The oil that was discovered around here in the 1950s proved to be of little value, and the dream of "black gold" vanished as swiftly as it had arrived.
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Ban Pin, Thailand
(Near Fang)
The village of Ban Pin about 10 km (6 mi.) from Fang has around 50 hot sulphurous springs, some of which are permanently active. Take Highway 1089 north towards Ban Pin then follow the Hot Springs signs.
Experimental Farm
The Tribal Welfare Committee's experimental farm and teaching station north of Fang is worth a visit (take the road to Tha Thon, turn left just before Ban Mae Ai, and follow the road to Doi Pha Hom Pok, Thailand's second highest peak, for about 15 km (9 mi.)). Here the government in Bangkok is putting considerable resources into trying to wean the hill tribes from smuggling and cultivating opium by teaching them how to grow alternative crops such as fruit, vegetables, grain, tea and coffee.
Fortifications
Apart from a few ramparts, little remains of the fortifications thrown up by King Mengrai. The deep well in the center of the town is where King Udom Sin and his queen are said to have hurled themselves rather than fall into the hands of the Burmese.
