By John Hoskin
Floating downstream, it
was as if we were lost amid the vast greenness that swept down
from the surrounding hills to the water's edge. Only rarely
did we glimpse a solitary fisherman, or a lone villager
cutting bamboo on the banks, his small canoe piled with the
thick green stems already gathered.
Now
and then thatched roofs pushed above the tree tops to announce an isolated
hilltribe village, but mostly we were alone, the silence broken only by the
swirl of the river and the lapping of the water against the side of the
raft.
From
the idyllic idleness of watching a stream slip by to the thrills of
white-water rafting, rivers hold an irresistible attraction. In these days
of high-tech and a shrinking world, it is perhaps the river journey which
offers the last true sense of travel, with the spice of adventure and a
sense discovery.
Flowing amid the high forested hills
of Thailand's far north, the Kok may not be a world-ranking river,
but along its modest 100-kilometre stretch between Thaton, close
to the Burmese border, down to the town of Chiang Rai, it presents
one of the most picturesque river journeys you can still make
in the country.
A tributary of the Mekong, which it joins northwest of Chiang
Rai, capital of Thailand's northernmost province, the Kok enters
Thai territory from Burma through a steep-sided valley in the
heart of the mysterious 'Golden Triangle", that part of
Burma, Thailand and Laos which produces the bulk of the world's
opium supply and where the rule of opium war lords still largely
holds sway. In the early decades of the 20th century, French
logging companies used the river to float timber down to the
Mekong on what was the beginning of a long journey to the sawmills
of Vietnam. Today, however, the Kok has reverted to being a backwater
-- and luckily retains a near pristine character.
The same is essentially true of the
landscape through which the river runs. Typified by mountain
ranges peaking a 2,000 metres, the whole of the region is one
of exceptional scenic beauty, the grander of nature complemented
by the fascination of villages representing all six of northern
Thailand's major hilltribe groups -- Yao, Akha, Lahu, Hmong,
Lisu and Karen. These are tribal people who retain independent
lifestyles, most readily witnessed in the elaborate and colourful
dress peculiar to each group. With the addition of such varied
attractions as temples, river rafting, elephant riding and trekking,
the whole area is arguably Thailand's most undervalued region.
And travelling the Kok river affords the perfect introduction.
It is in its upper reaches that the
river is most interesting. Thaton is the first Thai settlement
along its banks and it is here the journey begins. Nestled on
the slopes of a densely forested mountain range, Thaton was originally
two villages, a mostly Shan settlement of the north bank and
a Thai base on the south bank, and although now administered
as one Thai town, the two sides of the river still retain their
individual characteristics. During the 1880s it was an important
centre for trade between Thailand and Burma, and while that significance
has been lost today, Thaton retains that air of expectancy common
to border towns -- the present divide between Thailand and Burma
is just two kilometres upstream.More
A tributary of the Mekong, which it joins northwest of Chiang
Rai, capital of Thailand's northernmost province, the Kok enters
Thai territory from Burma through a steep-sided valley in the
heart of the mysterious 'Golden Triangle", that part of
Burma, Thailand and Laos which produces the bulk of the world's
opium supply and where the rule of opium war lords still largely
holds sway. In the early decades of the 20th century, French
logging companies used the river to float timber down to the
Mekong on what was the beginning of a long journey to the sawmills
of Vietnam. Today, however, the Kok has reverted to being a backwater
-- and luckily retains a near pristine character.
