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Published: March 16th 2006
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There’s little I can write about this ancient city because I simply don’t know much. I was eating dinner with my Swedish friend Emma at the Laughing Leprechaun, an Irish Restaurant in Chiang Mai and with the menu, the Thai waitress brought us a local magazine. I was immediately drawn to the picture on the front cover of the magazine that held an article about Wieng Kum Kam, the ancient city that has only recently been unearthed 5 km south of Chiang Mai. The low light prevented me from reading the full article but the pictures all seemed to be from one individual excavation sight.
I hadn’t planned what to do the following day so we decided to take the mopeds we had rented the previous day and head south to find these ruins and see what was to be seen. Morning came and we met up for breakfast as we planned the morning. Our Mission; head to the ruins which would leave me just enough time to make it to the train station for my return to Bangkok.
I can’t read Thai. Northern Thailand is not like southern Thailand where they attempt to label most important sites in
English for tourists as well as their natural Thai. The map said that Wieng Kum Kam was 5km south of the city but I think we went closer to 10km and were about to turn back when we spotted a sign that read exactly what were looking for and that we should turn right. As a novice mopeder in an Asian city, I thought my life was in jeopardy a few times and we missed the first as well as second turns but made the third turn, all of which had signs pointing right towards Wieng Kum Kam.
Leading the charge, I was looking for a single excavation site by the name of Wieng Kum Kam but after circling around the countryside for close to an hour seeing nothing but huts, junk stores and tiny ruins of seemingly prehistoric wats, we headed back to the main road only to realize that the signs all pointed towards the Ancient City of Wieng Kum Kam. This collection of ruins we saw sporadically along the side of the roads were all a part of the city and the ruins of these wats are all that remains today. It was interesting to see
how many temples had been erected and subsequently lost to time but managed to keep their foundations. Some ruins were tiny and were found in the backyard of some family farms, while others were on sites of some current temples that were active and being built up this very day.
Finally, after roaming around the countryside of northern Thailand, gazing at ancient temple ruins at 30 kph, we found the mother load. I thought I would never find the site pictured on the magazine the night before but we eventually landed directly in the belly of the beast. Not only was there a foundation of an ancient temple being cleaned by monks in full orange robing there was also a little tourist town selling Buddhist trinkets, a school and a fully functioning Buddhist temple that had the most Hindu decorations I’ve ever seen. This site appeared to be a conglomeration for the ancient ways of Buddhism fused on the grounds of a newer Hindu temple (that I did not enter so I don’t know) and the two religions appeared to be at odds as to which religion presided over the lands. The Buddhist statues were abundant as my pictures
may show testament to, but the Hindu presence was without question, there, and there to stay. Either way, Wieng Kum Kam was a most unexpected find and a most valued experience.
The fact that I was there on a random weekday afternoon and was allowed to wander the site by myself without another soul in sight was a moment that’s worth remembering. Emma and I arrived together, but without word, we both assumed that we’d rather wander the premises by ourselves, and when three busloads of school children arrived close to noon, we both appeared at our mopeds without knowing where the other was, both knowing that our morning of reflection would easily end with the presence of these rambunctious kids. This taste of the ancient ways, out in the country as made me very anxious for my return to South East Asia in a little more than a month whereby we will wander through Lao, Cambodia, Vietnam, Hong Kong and the Philippines.
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Changjai
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A little preparation goes a long way
I suspect the magazine that the reporter refers to was the march 2006 issue of Good Morning Chiangmai magazine (www.gmorning.info) containing a major feature regarding Wieng Kum Kam's 60th Buddhist cysle anniversary (720 years since being founded). Alongside the opening page of the feature was a quarter page advert for "Wieng Kum Kam - Atlantis of Lan Na" (ISBN 974 85439 8 6) available at most good bookstores in Chiangmai and Bangkok priced Thai Baht 225 (Approx US $4.50). It is the only English Language guide book and history about the ruined city - even the Tourist Authority of Thailand only publishes pamphlets in Thai script about it - very internationally friendly? The book has been reviewed and praised by national and local newspapers and magazines, and has become the defacto information source for local tour guides. If you're going to visit the wieng, a copy in your hand is recommended - it is also available on eBay signed by the author.