Map Sabai Vol.36
In this month's edition of Map Sabai (Vol.36)
Cover Photo: The Chinese Martyrs' Museum in Mae Salong
Northern Attractions
The Kuomintang in Doi Mae Salong
Art Space
Featured Artist:
Featured Artist:
Featured: The Kuomintang in Doi Mae Salong
If one visits the pristine town of Mae Salong high up in the mountains of Chiang Rai district, one will be immediately captured by its unique charm, due not only to its astonishing surroundings of rolling, deep-green mountains, but also due to its rich diversity of ethnic peoples. Besides Thais and a few hill tribes, this mainly includes ethnic Chinese, descendants of the Kuomintang (KMT), who have lent the town its strong Chinese character.
The history of the KMT in Mae Salong goes back to 1949 when they were forced to leave their home territory in Yunnan by the Chinese communists. Many years of struggle in northern Myanmar ensued, after which many of the KMT soldiers and their families sought refuge in Taiwan, while an equally large number fled to Northern Thailand where they were granted refugee status in 1969. The following years were marked by fighting against the Thai communists, which earned the KMT benevolence of the Thai government, and against drug lord Khun Sa and the Shan United Army (SUA) in a power struggle over control of the opium trade in the Golden Triangle. Since Khun Sa’s retreat to Myanmar in the 1980’s, and different crop substitution programs initiated by the Thai Royal family, the role of the drug trade has lost its significance in the area. Nowadays most KMT descendants earn their living from the cultivation of tea, coffee and other crops, and dominate the tourism trade in the Mae Salong, which was later renamed ‘Santikhiri’ (Hill of Peace). The past few weeks have been a special highlight in the lives of many ethnic Chinese people, as they were finally awarded Thai citizenship.
To learn more about the history of the KMT, we recommend a visit to the Chinese Martyrs’ Memorial Museum while in Mae Salong, or have a chat with former KMT soldiers, such as the owner of Little Home Guesthouse. If you want to see history alive, climb up to Mae Salong Villa, whose owner Mr. Lei Yu Tian is the last surviving KMT general, now more than 90 years old.
If one visits the pristine town of Mae Salong high up in the mountains of Chiang Rai district, one will be immediately captured by its unique charm, due not only to its astonishing surroundings of rolling, deep-green mountains, but also due to its rich diversity of ethnic peoples. Besides Thais and a few hill tribes, this mainly includes ethnic Chinese, descendants of the Kuomintang (KMT), who have lent the town its strong Chinese character.
The history of the KMT in Mae Salong goes back to 1949 when they were forced to leave their home territory in Yunnan by the Chinese communists. Many years of struggle in northern Myanmar ensued, after which many of the KMT soldiers and their families sought refuge in Taiwan, while an equally large number fled to Northern Thailand where they were granted refugee status in 1969. The following years were marked by fighting against the Thai communists, which earned the KMT benevolence of the Thai government, and against drug lord Khun Sa and the Shan United Army (SUA) in a power struggle over control of the opium trade in the Golden Triangle. Since Khun Sa’s retreat to Myanmar in the 1980’s, and different crop substitution programs initiated by the Thai Royal family, the role of the drug trade has lost its significance in the area. Nowadays most KMT descendants earn their living from the cultivation of tea, coffee and other crops, and dominate the tourism trade in the Mae Salong, which was later renamed ‘Santikhiri’ (Hill of Peace). The past few weeks have been a special highlight in the lives of many ethnic Chinese people, as they were finally awarded Thai citizenship.
To learn more about the history of the KMT, we recommend a visit to the Chinese Martyrs’ Memorial Museum while in Mae Salong, or have a chat with former KMT soldiers, such as the owner of Little Home Guesthouse. If you want to see history alive, climb up to Mae Salong Villa, whose owner Mr. Lei Yu Tian is the last surviving KMT general, now more than 90 years old.
