Doi Phachi / Santisuk is an old Hmong village way up in the mountains straddling the Nan / Phayao border.
Once upon a time it was the Phayao HQs of area "Khet 7" of the communist in the battle for North Thailand.
Like many other remote out of the way ethnic villages in the mountains it was ignored & neglected for decades by the governments of the day.
Vulnerable it was then to communist infiltration & influence. The first communists to make contact came from Laos. Two men came together a Hmong guy & a Thai, to engage the villagers, offer them help and support. It soon became a base for communists, & the anti-government people of the day who were forced to flee Bangkok after the 1976 massacre.
Perhaps the most famous escapee from Bkk now, who fled to the safety of Doi Phachi & stayed a few years is Chaturon Chaisang. He ended up serving as Minister of Justice, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Education in the cabinets of Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra!
The main road to Doi Phachi used to be R1172 one from Ban Lung off R1091.
The road in the late 80s
The Hmong in Doi Phachi / Santisuk were engaged in a tussle with the NP officials trying to restrict their land use & force them out, even though they had been there for decades.
The establishment of the Doi Pha Chang NP- WS sanctuary was a serious issue. It affected not only the Hmong.
In late 1999, ethnic minority Mien farmers in Phayao Province of Thailand’s north used drastic measures to defend their farmland and their rights. Having petitioned all levels of provincial and national authorities for years, the farmers resorted to an act of sabotage, burning down several buildings at a wildlife sanctuary’s headquarters. At no time did the protesting farmers convey themselves as ethnic minority peoples. In their letters, in the confrontation with sanctuary staff, and at the many meetings that followed the burning, the farmers presented themselves as national—Thai—in language, manners, aspirations, frustrations, and claims on the state.
In 1981, the Royal Forestry Department established a Wildlife Sanctuary in the sub district of Pha Chang Noi, in Pong district of Phayao province, to close off a former area of CPT insurgent bases in the forest. By 1992, the RFD declared five of six registered villages illegal and announced their eviction. Nothing happened at the time. After the protest in 1999, there was still no change. In 2003, the RFD declared the whole sub district a Primary Watershed (Class A1); all settlement and farming was illegal and should be erased. Judging from a visit in 2005 and from correspondence in late 2008, the villages are still in place and farming continues.
A bridge built on R1172 was burned down.
To this day, it still has not been repaired & the Ban Luang road has become a goat track not long after Ban Phi Nueua as it enters the NP - WS.
Late 80s riding into Doi Phachi on the Ban Luang road
One of the controversies re building the big road into Doi Pha Chang was the claim it was built for mates of the WS - NP chief chief to go hunting, as there was supposedly once plenty of big cats, bears & deer in the region.
The locals claim that there was way more forest & wildlife before the officials built the road - they, the officials & their cronies, helped themselves to riches of the forest.
Today the main & only road into Doi Phachi is all concrete. The amazing R4030 from off R1178 near Pong.
It is an amazing narrow twisting winding, steep concrete road.
Up & over the ridgeline, for a super long ascent / descent both sides.
Start of the descent into Doi Phachi / Santisuk.
The beauty of the hidden Santisuk valley.
Santisuk has a stream that runs through it & that stream is the border between Phayao & Nan provinces.
Dr Dave "Livingstone" DKT, does the biz straddling the Phayao - Nan borders.
It is a quaint little compact village, with friendly people. The smiles, waves, hello's & hi's, we received were extremely genuine & heart warming.
We hung out at the what seemed the main shop in town, near the school.
Having a chat with a 84 yr old Hmong guy, who remembers well the war & life's struggles.
The Hmong in Santisuk have obviously done their duty strengthening their clans, because there was an absolute abundance of young women & kids around.
Hmong guys preening their cocks for a fight
It never ceases to amaze me in these remote mountain communities the standard of some of the houses being built.
Dave DKT & I thought this hilltop house had the drive / pathway of the century.
More to come....
Once upon a time it was the Phayao HQs of area "Khet 7" of the communist in the battle for North Thailand.
Like many other remote out of the way ethnic villages in the mountains it was ignored & neglected for decades by the governments of the day.
Vulnerable it was then to communist infiltration & influence. The first communists to make contact came from Laos. Two men came together a Hmong guy & a Thai, to engage the villagers, offer them help and support. It soon became a base for communists, & the anti-government people of the day who were forced to flee Bangkok after the 1976 massacre.
Perhaps the most famous escapee from Bkk now, who fled to the safety of Doi Phachi & stayed a few years is Chaturon Chaisang. He ended up serving as Minister of Justice, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Education in the cabinets of Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra!
The main road to Doi Phachi used to be R1172 one from Ban Lung off R1091.
The road in the late 80s
The Hmong in Doi Phachi / Santisuk were engaged in a tussle with the NP officials trying to restrict their land use & force them out, even though they had been there for decades.
The establishment of the Doi Pha Chang NP- WS sanctuary was a serious issue. It affected not only the Hmong.
In late 1999, ethnic minority Mien farmers in Phayao Province of Thailand’s north used drastic measures to defend their farmland and their rights. Having petitioned all levels of provincial and national authorities for years, the farmers resorted to an act of sabotage, burning down several buildings at a wildlife sanctuary’s headquarters. At no time did the protesting farmers convey themselves as ethnic minority peoples. In their letters, in the confrontation with sanctuary staff, and at the many meetings that followed the burning, the farmers presented themselves as national—Thai—in language, manners, aspirations, frustrations, and claims on the state.
In 1981, the Royal Forestry Department established a Wildlife Sanctuary in the sub district of Pha Chang Noi, in Pong district of Phayao province, to close off a former area of CPT insurgent bases in the forest. By 1992, the RFD declared five of six registered villages illegal and announced their eviction. Nothing happened at the time. After the protest in 1999, there was still no change. In 2003, the RFD declared the whole sub district a Primary Watershed (Class A1); all settlement and farming was illegal and should be erased. Judging from a visit in 2005 and from correspondence in late 2008, the villages are still in place and farming continues.
A bridge built on R1172 was burned down.
To this day, it still has not been repaired & the Ban Luang road has become a goat track not long after Ban Phi Nueua as it enters the NP - WS.
Late 80s riding into Doi Phachi on the Ban Luang road
One of the controversies re building the big road into Doi Pha Chang was the claim it was built for mates of the WS - NP chief chief to go hunting, as there was supposedly once plenty of big cats, bears & deer in the region.
The locals claim that there was way more forest & wildlife before the officials built the road - they, the officials & their cronies, helped themselves to riches of the forest.
Today the main & only road into Doi Phachi is all concrete. The amazing R4030 from off R1178 near Pong.
It is an amazing narrow twisting winding, steep concrete road.
Up & over the ridgeline, for a super long ascent / descent both sides.
Start of the descent into Doi Phachi / Santisuk.
The beauty of the hidden Santisuk valley.
Santisuk has a stream that runs through it & that stream is the border between Phayao & Nan provinces.
Dr Dave "Livingstone" DKT, does the biz straddling the Phayao - Nan borders.
It is a quaint little compact village, with friendly people. The smiles, waves, hello's & hi's, we received were extremely genuine & heart warming.
We hung out at the what seemed the main shop in town, near the school.
Having a chat with a 84 yr old Hmong guy, who remembers well the war & life's struggles.
The Hmong in Santisuk have obviously done their duty strengthening their clans, because there was an absolute abundance of young women & kids around.
Hmong guys preening their cocks for a fight
It never ceases to amaze me in these remote mountain communities the standard of some of the houses being built.
Dave DKT & I thought this hilltop house had the drive / pathway of the century.
More to come....
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