Historical Scorpion Tail Boating
on the Ping River

TO CHECK THE pulse of a city, you must first locate the main artery. The River Ping has for centuries been a lifeline for Chiang Mai province, and the capital city of Chiang Mai in particular. Since man first settled this region, the waters of the Ping have given life to all manner of crops, and provided a conduit for farmers to move the fruits of their labor to the city's markets.

In the days when Chinese rice merchants and British loggers plied the 760 kilometer long trading route between Chiang Mai and Bangkok, the river was just that, a highway for the mercantile classes. With the advent of the railway, and, later, container trucks and cargo aircraft, life on the river became less frenetic; working barges made way for pleasure craft. One working boat, however, has recently reappeared on the river, its owner having successfully resurrected an ancient workhorse and transformed it into a floating classroom.

Scorpion-tailed boats were, at one time, as numerous on the river's surface as waterborne insects. They ferried passengers from one bank to another, and hauled small freight between farm and city. The scorpion-tails, like the logging barges, disappeared in the early part of the last century, and were replaced by the much noisier long-tailed river craft we still see today.

Legend has it that the scorpion-tails were invented when man first noticed that this much maligned insect would use discarded coconut husks on which to float between the banks of the river. Boats were fashioned in an inverted crescent shape, with prow and sternpost pointing skywards; bamboo and coconut matting were used to create an awning, providing shade for those on board.

Some two and a half years ago, Mr. Samak Laosateerawong and his wife, Mrs. Mee, acquired four such vessels, and the Scorpion Tail River Cruise was born.

Khun Samak explains that his boats are the most environmentally friendly on the river: their engines use benzene, as opposed to diesel, which pollutes the river, they have no toilets on board (so go before you embark!), again avoiding river pollution, are much quieter than their long-tailed counterparts and are, to the best of his knowledge, the only river boats in Thailand with buoyancy compartments, making his scorpion-tailed boats among the safest vessels afloat.

As we glide, almost silently, through the swirls and eddies of the Ping, Khun Samak moves seamlessly from the origins of the scorpion-tailed boat to the history of that stretch of the river that flows through the city. Most of the concrete and steel bridges spanning the Ping today were once made of teak logs, or even bamboo. The latter proving somewhat problematic in the wet season.

Khun Samak has an impressive collection of sepia prints depicting life on the river over the past century. These he uses, along with toys and simple tools made from coconuts, to explain early life on and around the river. I am so absorbed in this history lesson that I have failed to notice that we have been aboard for almost half an hour. And, as the English proverb advises, "Time and tide wait for no man", ergo, I begin to take more notice of events and places along the riverbank.

We have puttered effortlessly north of the Rama IX bridge, turned back downstream, and are now drifting past our point of embarkation, the Wat Sri Khong boat landing.

From here, we glide beneath the Nakornping bridge, and on to where a pedestrian footbridge (Sapan Khaek) spans the river between Wat Gate on the eastern bank and the Warorot Market on the western; this, I am told, was once the site for a royal jetty and boathouse. At this point, you may request the boatman to stop while you visit the Wat Gate Garaam museum, with its interesting array of relics from times past.

All along the eastern bank you will see ancient wooden houses, no doubt once homes to the great and good of this city, but now housing boutiques and riverside eateries.

There are fishermen standing in the mudflats, casting lines into the shallow and slow moving river. Passing under the Nawaratt bridge, with the Governor's residence on our right and the Chiangmai Christian school to our left, we came about once more and headed back towards the Wat Sri Khong boat landing, where we disembarked and said good-bye to Khun Samak and his Scorpion-tailed boat.

For those visitors who would like to continue in the simple, gentle feeling they experienced on the Scorpion Boat Cruise, the Scorpion Tailed Village is open and accepting guests. A group of ten sturdy bungalows each offering an open air terrace in the motif of the bow of a scorpion boat. The one room cottages are air conditioned with large comfortable bed and western mattress. The interior has comforter and lovely amenities found in a home bedroom. Each private bathroom has hot shower and western facilities. The large grounds of the lodging village has a restaurant and plenty of space to relax in the sunny outdoors. Breakfast is provided with the room while lunch and dinner can be ordered separately. Though the Scorpion Tailed Village is on the river, it's not too far from Chiangmai‘s night spots via a short walk on the riverside promenade.

For more information call Mrs. Mee for inspection and or booking. Phone 081 960 9398, 081 951 0791. Located at 381/1 Charoenrasd Road.