# my trip to Shan State in Burma



## Pivra (Nov 20, 2007)

Its the largest state in Burma and the majority speak Tai languages and had a very long relationship with the history, both cultural and political, of Northern Thailand. For our SSC members here who can speak Northern Thai, go there, its anthropologically interesting for you guys lol.

first we entered from Mae Sai (แม่สาย) in Chiang Rai province in Northern Thailand into Tachilek (ท่าขี้เหล็ก) in Shan.










now in Shan










a Burmese monk,local Tai (Shanese) monks would wear the same colored robes as ours.









now in Tachilek



















on our way from Tachilek to Mong Hpyaek (เมืองพแยก), a stop point between Tachilek and Chiang Tung










In Mong Hpyaek




























Left Mong Hpyaek from a 3 hours ride to Chiang Tung เชียงตุง 


















































































The muddy river down below the cliffs is called Naam Taalüea, for Thai SSC members 'taalüea' in Shanese means 'taa maduea' ท่ามะเดื่อ in Thai (fig pier) 
























































finally we arrived in Chiang Tung's administrative district



















into Chiang Tung





































we had 2 meals at this restaurant, Singha beer comes far into Chiang Tung hahaha:lol:










































































the golden tip shining on the back is a 2200ish years old stupa in Chiang Tung 









Shan language, for those who live in Northern Thailand and have been a monk or have grandparents who can still read Kam Meaung they can read and understand it too, we had a guy who was a monk from Phayao with us on the trip and it was awesome cuz he could read signs and stuff.




































inside the main chapel of a monastery 



















a peacock, an animal held sacred by Tai peoples outside of Thailand and Laos (in Yunnan and Shan mainly)






















































wall mural painting of the scene of the Mahaparinibbana



















the statues of the Buddha in this chapel is different because none of them has an identical face










flower glass mirror 


















this is the aforementioned shining tip 2200ish years old stupa 



























Chiang Tung from the hill




























more pictures to come


----------



## Pivra (Nov 20, 2007)

still with Chiang Tung



















to my compatriot members look what I found in the chapel of the stupa temple  Long Live the Princess 























































one of the remaining 12 gates of Chiang Tung





















Stay tuned for pictures of my journey from Chiang Tung to Mong La (เมืองลา) once part of the Sipsongpanna in southern China


----------



## Pivra (Nov 20, 2007)

at Nong Ngoen หนองเงิน village outside of Chiang Tung,


----------



## icracked (Feb 15, 2007)

Not many of us are likely to travel to Bruma in our lifespan so this is a real treat to have a glimpse of this secretive country. The countryside looks simply beautiful and I'm astonish that even in the 21st century, their culture is largely intact. I hope you had fun traveling through Bruma


----------



## l'eau (Jul 7, 2008)

kewl pics, thank you


----------



## Juan Pilgrim (Apr 3, 2008)

Interesting pictures of Shan State!

What brought you to this part of Burma?






:horse:


----------



## Pivra (Nov 20, 2007)

Juan Pilgrim said:


> Interesting pictures of Shan State!
> 
> What brought you to this part of Burma?
> 
> ...


Shan State speaks a language that can be classified as Thai and ethnically we are the same, so going there buying some treats for the children in the villages is like giving them some hope that we have not yet abandoned them to Burma.

here is how the lake in the middle of Chiang Tung looks like in the morning


----------



## Saigoneseguy (Mar 6, 2005)

You can visit Northwestern Vietnam provinces of Son La, Lai Chau where there are a large Tai population. Also Xishuangbanna in Kunming.


----------



## Pivra (Nov 20, 2007)

Saigoneseguy said:


> You can visit Northwestern Vietnam provinces of Son La, Lai Chau where there are a large Tai population. Also Xishuangbanna in Kunming.


We were less than 1 kilometers away from Sipsongpanna when we were in Shan, in fact the last city we visited in Shan was historically and culturally part of Sipsongpanna but there wasnt anything interesting about it just Chinese casinos and stuff so I took only 2 very boring photos.

ps. there is a very old Laotian song about how they lost cities with Tai locals (Thais and Laos are the same people under different flags) to Vietnam during the Indochina War.


----------



## OshHisham (Nov 14, 2005)

had Japanese ever invaded Shan State? bcoz looking at the style of the structure, it looks something 'japanese colonial'....


----------



## Pivra (Nov 20, 2007)

OshHisham said:


> had Japanese ever invaded Shan State? bcoz looking at the style of the structure, it looks something 'japanese colonial'....


no, but Siam did during WWII, to reincorporate it back from the British rule and to push to help Japan in the China-India-Burma theater but we never got there and had to 'return' Shan State to Britain after the war was over. Not only that we had to return regions that we got back in return with the help of the Japanese (such as Cambodia and Laos) we also further lost more territory (if you take a look at modern days Laos you will see a region that goes beyond the Mekong River), and plus Shan State of course.


----------



## MonsieurAquilone (May 12, 2007)

Very interesting cultural information and pics.  Thank you.


----------



## Saigoneseguy (Mar 6, 2005)

OshHisham said:


> had Japanese ever invaded Shan State? bcoz looking at the style of the structure, it looks something 'japanese colonial'....


It looks nothing like Japanese architecture.:nuts:


----------



## OshHisham (Nov 14, 2005)

Saigoneseguy said:


> It looks nothing like Japanese architecture.:nuts:


it is not 'japanese architecture' literally, but a type of architecture widely used by japanese for public building in japan and its colonial territories (especially Taiwan) :yes:


----------



## Pivra (Nov 20, 2007)

The guide said it was built during the British period... so, earlier...


----------



## MexiQuebecois (Sep 22, 2008)

Interesting photos, don't get to see pictures of Burma everyday so thank you


----------



## Saigoneseguy (Mar 6, 2005)

OshHisham said:


> it is not 'japanese architecture' literally, but a type of architecture widely used by japanese for public building in japan and its colonial territories (especially Taiwan) :yes:


That's what I meant. These houses are not of japanese colonial style, which only exists in Taiwan and Korea. Japan occupied South East Asia only for several years as an invasion army during war time and not as a colonial power. They destroyed more than they built (if they'd built anything at all).


----------



## Pivra (Nov 20, 2007)

Saigoneseguy said:


> That's what I meant. These houses are not of japanese colonial style, which only exists in Taiwan and Korea. Japan occupied South East Asia only for several years as an invasion army during war time and not as a colonial power. They destroyed more than they built (if they'd built anything at all).


that bridge over the Kwae River in Western Thailand :lol: other than that I'm not sure...


----------



## Skyprince (May 2, 2006)

Many travel./ backpackers site rate Myanmar as the most excitin country to visit in ASEAN and it has the nicest people... don't know whether its true because I always thought Thailand is the most exciting . What differences ( apart from level of development ) did you spot when you crossed the border from Thai to Myanmar ?


----------



## Pivra (Nov 20, 2007)

Skyprince said:


> Many travel./ backpackers site rate Myanmar as the most excitin country to visit in ASEAN and it has the nicest people... don't know whether its true because I always thought Thailand is the most exciting . What differences ( apart from level of development ) did you spot when you crossed the border from Thai to Myanmar ?


well Shan State is pretty much a continuation of Northern Thailand, its not the 'real Burma' yet, the roads are really bad and there were checkpoints every 100 kilometers or so and if you are a girl of less than 25 yo. you cannot leave your area without a permission because they occupied Shan State You are also not allowed to take pictures of anyone in the police force or in the army or any checkpoints. All the products are Thai, the television channels are Thai, the cars drive on the wrong side of the road like in the USA, the food are not really spicy for me at all and we had to bring our own 'sembal', the people there can all speak Thai (the local languages are also variations of Tai languages), not many things to buy, they prefer Yuans or Bahts or Dollars to their own currency, depends where you are in Burma, as for Shan they prefer bahts. Burma is really not populated compared to Thailand which is smaller. Burma only has about 45 million people and its about the size of Thailand and Malaysia combined. 

aside from that, Burma is cooler in temperature, the closer we got to Thailand when we were driving back, the hotter it got, the mountains became 'balder', less trees, sunnier, no more fog, the roads became better, even the signs turned into Thai like 300 kilometers towards the main crossing point. Everything, barbers, temples, shops, cement quarry, lumber companies. 

Burmese people also look more Indian than average SEAsians too, they have nice noses and a lot of people have nice brown eyes and good skin tone. You will be able to tell if the people in Shan are Burmese or local Tais because Tais tan more 'yellowly' while Burmese tan 'bronzely'. and yes they are nice people and polite, which makes it even more depressing that they are living with that type of A-hole military government. Without the support of countries like Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, Burma would not even be in ASEAN, and plus why did ASEAN even allow communist countries with no free elections to join anyways??? It should just be Brunei Singapore Malaysia Indonesia Thailand and the Philippines, now even East Timor is in...


----------

