Friday, December 31, 2021
Exploring the Southwest Quadrant

It is the last day of the year and I have no special events planned. While eager to return to yoga practice at Wild Rose Yoga, I am avoiding going until the results of my second PCR test are available. I entered Thailand on the “test and go” plan in which I had a PCR test before leaving the United States, then a one-day quarantine with PCR test on arrival in the Kingdom. Because of the Omicron COVID variant, the government is requiring those who entered by the “test and go” program to undergo a second PCR test 5-7 days after the first test. I’ll try to get that test tomorrow, and the results should be known later the same day. So even though I am not in a quarantine, it seems best to avoid close gatherings. I headed out on a walk with my camera to see familiar parts of the old city.

Along the South of the Wall/Moat

Chiang Mai was built as a walled city surrounded by a moat. The wall is almost exactly square, 1600 meters on a side. The wall was larger and the moat was wider than are seen today. And around 1910, the moat was narrowed to provide space for what is now called the “outer moat road.” And when the Japanese occupied Thailand during World War II, they dismantled much of the old city wall to use the bricks to pave the road to Pai to move military equipment as construction materials were in short supply. The gates, the corner bastions, and some parts of the wall were restored in the 1960s and more so in the 1980s. Here is a photo from about 1906 showing the larger, but somewhat deteriorated wall:

II walked south from See You Soon, and as I passed Wat Jed Lin (also known as Wat Chetlin or Wat Nong Chalin) thought to have a look at the large pond in the back to see if any turtles were out in the sun. I did see a few, and got a fairly clear picture of one:

From there I continued south, exiting the old city at Chiang Mai Gate, one of two gates on the south side. I walked west along the moat finally approaching Ku Huang Corner, the southwest corner of the old city wall.

And, a closer view shows the corner bastion more clearly:

An interesting part of Chiang Mai history is that there were two walls. The primary wall was a square, brick wall surrounded by the moat. Also, to protect the city from flooding of the Mae Ping River, a second wall of earth and clay called the Kamphaengdin. It is most evident along Kampangdin Road (the modern spelling) between Thapae Road and Loi Kroh Road east of the old city. This earth and clay wall is 5-6 meters high (15-18 feet), and in some parts was fortified with brick at the base. The Kamphaengdin surrounded the city at the east and south, and came up to the Ku Huang Corner. Just south of Ku Huang Corner is a park along which the Kamphaengdin is very evident. Here is a map drawn in 1904 of Chiang Mai showing the Kamphaengdin :

I walked across the busy outer-moat road – there is no pedestrian crossing close by. One must just wait for a break in the traffic. Often, when it seems no break will ever come, a large break appears and one can safely cross the road. Walked down into the park. The park is quite nice, and because it is 5 meters below the road, and there are many trees, it is quiet. I am always surprised that there are so few people here, but there are always some, so the park is in use. The Kamphaengdin wall is prominent to my left:

Walking a little further, I wanted to find what is called the Thipanet Bastion in the map, but there is a clear dead end to the park, beyond which are buildings blocking my exploration. Maybe another day I can explore from the south. Here is another view of the wall where the brick reinforcement at the base is quite evident as I made my way back up to Ku Huang Corner:

Back at Ku Huang corner and a front view of the corner bastion and the moat stretching north on the left:

Walked for a bit up along the west side of the moat, and given that I had no firm plan, entered the old city at Ratchamanka Road. See You Soon is at the corner of Ratchamaka and Prapokkloa about a kilometer to the east. I walked east past where Jane’s Kitchen used to be. Jane’s Kitchen was outstanding, food clearly made with love. Jane moved back to Bangkok about 4 years ago to help care for her mother.

Wat Mengrai

I turned right at Soi 6 to a less-well-known temple, Wat Mengrai, also known as Wat Phra Chao Meng Rai.

This temple was built about the same time as Wat Chiang Man, the temple King Mengrai built in which to live and worship as he supervised the construction of the walls, moat, and the city. The story is that King Mengrai had a new Buddha image cast, called King Ka King. It was travelling to be installed at Wat Chiang Man when the cart carrying it broke a wheel. Instead of repairing the cart and proceeding on, King Mangrai took the breakdown as an omen and decided to leave the Buddha image here and establish a new temple around it. 

One of the favorite aspects here are the artistic, dancing thewada (angelic beings that live in the heavenly realm) on the front of the main viharn.

Much of the temple was closed. I did manage to get a view of the King Ka King statue in a secondary structure build for it:

And off to the side is this statue of King Mengrai:

Wat Chiang Man

Still in a wandering mood, and not being overly hot, I wandered up some of the back road sois and found myself fairly close to Wat Chiang Man and made my way there. As I mentioned, Wat Chiang Man was built by King Mengrai as a place to live and worship as he supervised the construction of Chiang Mai. I did not spend a lot of time there today but did get a few photos. I’ll return and explore inside the viharn another day.

Returned to See You Soon, showered, rested, and went out to Kat’s Kitchen for a Pad Thai dinner. Kat’s is a very basic Thai restaurant just down the street from See You Soon. Many people were out going to Thapae Gate where the countdown to 2022 celebration will be held. I chose to avoid the crowds and stay in for the evening. The fireworks display at midnight was impressive, lighting up the sky with many colorful bursts. Asians do like to celebrate the new year. Everyone is hoping for a much better year 2022.
Happy New Year!

Next: PCR Test and Khao Soi