OK KPOP: Destination: Mae Salong / Santikhiri – former mountaintop home of opium warlords

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While up north to see the Golden Triangle and the Hall of Opium, we decided to check out the Mae Salong area in northernmost Thailand. Officially called Santikhiri, or ‘hill of peace’, the new name was given only in the late 1980′s. The hope was to make the area’s relatively recent opium production and warring factions a distant memory. The area is also called ‘Little Switzerland’ for its spectacular views, and features at least as much Chinese as there is Thai.

But Thailand doesn’t grow opium anymore… Well, not in any sizable quantities anymore – but that didn’t really happen until recently. While I wasn’t thrilled by it, the Hall of Opium gives some background to the history – but doesn’t mention the modern history of this area. The brief version: a unit of the Chinese Kuomintang Army refused to surrender after Mao Zedong’s forces won the Chinese civil war in 1949. Some troops fought their way into Burma’s jungles, and as you might guess, Burma wasn’t too thrilled about another country’s army hiding in their own. After years of fighting, 4,000 troops were given asylum in Thailand and entered the Mae Salong area. In exchange, the troops would police this border area against communist infiltration. It took decades of fighting before the soldiers were able to resume some sort of normal life; in 1982, the Thai government awarded citizenship to the soldiers who countered the communist uprising.

It was the opium trade that helped to fund the war against communism, however – a trade the Thai government more or less eradicated in the late 1980′s with Khun Sa and his army pushed onto the Myanmar side of the border. The area now grows oolong tea, among other legal crops, and has been working towards ‘tourist attraction’ status since 1994.

The main destination in Mae Salong / Santikhiri is the Chinese Martyr’s Memorial Museum, giving you the longer version of the history behind the fighting and more recent peace. Be aware most of the descriptions along the wall are in Thai and Chinese:

For what it’s worth, there are about a dozen English-language panels that tell the story of the various wars. Most of the more recent peace, however, doesn’t get mentioned – this is about the martyr’s, of course.

The second room, or the central room. As you’ve already figured out, each soul tablet / ancestral tablet represents someone that died either defending Thailand or preventing communism from coming into the country.

There’s a lot of them…

The final room to the martyr’s museum is a sign of the more recent peaceful times. There’s a fair chance most locals over the age of 50 have this war (and/or the opium farming) in their memories, and/or are pictured here in the various training programs.

With this main attraction visited, we meandered around the town. This town has definitely seen plenty of growth, in terms of tea manufacturers and hotels – but there are few destinations here. Presumably visitors come to enjoy the views and the tea, not necessarily a place that brings people out.

With views like these, however, maybe traveling here for a specific destination is a little overrated. What do you think?

Down a side road that leads to a dead end is the mausoleum of the town’s founder and drug warlord Kuomintang General Tuan Xi-Wen. This is clearly not set up for English-speaking tourists, as everything is in Chinese and Thai. A Chinese-looking guard stood watch over the tomb, so be on your best behavior. Also nearby is one of many souvenir stores, almost all of which will offer free samples of the town’s famous tea.

Go on, you know you want to climb the hundreds of stairs to the top (not pictured). To the left of this picture are the stairs, which lead to one of the best views around.

Before leaving, make sure you stop by the Mae Salong Flower Hills Resort:

This is a superb example of what can happen when you hire an excellent gardener and give them a budget to play with… Seriously, though – it’s huge, off-limits, but easy viewable from a pavilion. You need not be a guest of the resort to take this in.

While a little disappointed at the relative lack of places to see around town, there’s an interesting history afoot. The martyr’s museum helps to make some of the history come alive, and the area is beautiful. The tea growing, while not my thing personally, is one that will give tea lovers an excuse to spend a couple days here.

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Name: Mae Salong (แม่สลอง)/ Santikhiri village (สันติคีรี)
Address: For the museum, along route 1089, Tambon Mae Salong Nok, Chang Wat Chiang Rai 57110 (GPS: 20.153811,99.620449). For the flower resort, along route 1234, Tambon Mae Salong Nok, Chang Wat Chiang Rai 57110 (GPS: 20.162767,99.645339)
Directions: Two options, neither of which is particularly convenient. Option one is a bus or minivan from Chiang Rai, about an hour’s distance. Minivans are fairly regular, while the bus should be met at platform 5 for Mae Sai (ask to be dropped off at Mae Salong). These are very curvy roads – anyone that may suffer from motion sickness would do well to buy and use the medicine necessary to keep lunch where it belongs.

Your other option (and the one we went with) is a scooter or some wheels from Chiang Rai, about 65-70 kilometers worth of riding one-way. Take route 1 north from Chiang Rai, then go about 23 kilometers from the Mae Fah Luang airport. The one big turn will be a left onto route 1089 – stay on this curvy mountainside route for about 29 kilometers. When you reach a police checkpoint (that may block the intersection), turn right and go another 13 kilometers or so to the Martyr’s museum. Heading on, you can continue through town on this same road, which turns into route 1234 (and later, once out of town, route 1130). Route 1130 ends once you reach route 1, so if you’re up for an extended version of the curvy roads, don’t double back!

IMPORTANT: leave town with a freshly filled tank of gas! Between the curvy, uphill nature of the roads and a lack of gas stations along the way, you’ll want to be as full as you can get before hopping on and going!
Hours: For the museum, 8am-5pm. The rest of the town, no hours posted.
Admission: For the museum, 20 baht. The rest of the town, free.
Phone: none
Website: none

Ratings out of 5 globes (How do I rate destinations?)

Ease to arrive: