Cities of silk and elephants

Surin, a northeastern province, is home to the largest number of domesticated elephants in Thailand and hosts the "Surin Elephant Round-Up" every

third week of November. Nonetheless, tourists can expect things other than the annual elephant festival, particularly on the newly introduced route called

BuRin, abbreviated from Buri Ram and Surin. The route, being promoted by the Department of Tourism under a homestay-standardisation project,
emphasises the local ways of life related to elephant-raising, silk-weaving, basketry and cultural diversity.
At Ban Ta Klang in Surin, visitors can observe the demonstration of pre-elephant capturing rituals, feed and ride pachyderms, and visit the elephant
cemetery, where the bodies of more than 200 elephants are buried. Silk woven by local villagers is also available for sale.
At Wat Pa Achiang in Ban Ta Klang, Tha Tum district of Surin, visitors can see a re-enactment of the traditional method of capturing a wild elephant by
the Kui, an ethnic group who settled there during the Ayutthaya period. Also, there will be the display of related rituals and the lifestyle of elephant
mahouts for group visits who make advance reservations.
Only 19km northwest of Ban Ta Klang, or a 30min drive away, is the lesser-known yet unique Muang Ling community in Chom Phra district. It is where
tourists can see local residents of Kui, Lao, Khmer and Chinese descent, and those from the central region of Thailand, living together in harmony and
speaking several languages.
The community dates to the late Ayutthaya period and has numerous century-old houses. The Thai Kui villagers have ancestors who migrated from
Attapu, south of Laos. Tourists can stroll the village's small road, on both sides of which are old houses and shophouses where they can enjoy shopping
for local food, desserts, fruits, handwoven silk and cotton fabrics and handicrafts. They can stay overnight in either local homestay accommodations or
the waterside Jiranon scout camp. From the camp, tourists can start rafting on the clean Lam Chi stream, see fertile forests and organic rice fields on both
sides, and enjoy a fish spa.
The Kui people who used to capture and train wild elephants as an occupation have been dwelling in Ban Ta Klang and nearby villages in tambon Kra
Pho, Tha Tum district of Surin, on the Mun River basin. They are the descendants of mahouts who served Siamese armies in many wars, and retired after
war on elephantback became obsolete following the end of the Siamese-Lao war in 1826. Before 1957, when catching wild elephants became illegal, the
Kui people mainly caught and trained wild elephants for domestic use and for sale, and farmed seasonally. In the past, every two or three months they
went to forests, mostly in Cambodia, to capture wild elephants. The Kui would capture wild elephants under the saek pone method by riding their trained
elephants to chase and catch wild elephants. They would throw a loop of pakam leather rope around one of each wild elephant’s legs. They would throw
a loop of pakam leather rope around one of each wild elephant’s legs. An elephant-catching team would consist of kamluangphued (khrubayai), mor
sadam, mor sadiang, mor ja and ma, terms which categorise elephant catchers by their experience. Kamluangphued were the most experienced in
everything about elephants and had caught 10-15 wild elephants, followed by mor sadam at 6-10 wild elephants, mor sadiang with 1-5 wild elephants,
and last but not least, mor ja, who had yet to catch a single wild elephant. Ma (mahouts) would just assist and sit behind elephant catchers on
elephantback. Ma have never taken part in the pachi ritual, a rite of passage for morchang, or elephant catchers. Men aged 14 and up can become
morchang after rites of passage and training.
On the BuRin route, the second day is dedicated to morning shopping at Talat Khiew, a local market in front of Muang Surin District Office, observing
silk thread dyeing and gold silk brocade weaving at Ban Tha Sawang in Muang Surin district and visiting the silk-weaving Ban Sanuan Nok in Huai Rat
district, Buri Ram. At Ban Sanuan Nok, tourists will enjoy a space shuttle-shaped tram ride to see villagers raise silk worms, spin and weave silk, and
make baskets and cowbells. One can also see century-old wooden houses.
"A highlight is Ban Sanuan Nok, a unique local community which grows mulberry and raises silk worms. A mobile cabinet meeting was held here.
Another impressive thing is the beauty of nature in Muang Ling, where we did rafting. Tourists must feel impressed with beautiful nature, fresh air and
homestay approved by the department," Department of Tourism deputy director-general Wanthana Chaengprachak said.
According to her, the homestay-standardisation project is an initiative pushed for by the department, particularly in 55 secondary provinces and towns, in
line with the Tourism and Sports Ministry's policy to attract more tourists to these provinces in order to ensure equal income distribution.
Muang Ling is a multicultural community in the Chom Phra district of Surin. It has 30 homestays, which can accommodate a total of 90 people at a price
of 300 baht per day per head (inclusive of local-style breakfast and dinner and herbal drinks). Tourists can take a tram ride or ride bicycles to visit
organic rice fields, bio-gas production sources and Jiranon scout camp, and board a raft or boat to see forests on both sides of the Lam Chi waterway.
They can enjoy swimming in the stream and “fish spa” in a part of the waterway. Each tram can accommodate up to 12 persons at the price of 1,300 baht
per tram, for a maximum 30km trip. A boat ride costs 300 baht per small boat for three persons or 1,200 baht per big boat for 8-10 persons. Tourists can
also hire a local guide for 300 baht per trip. Those wishing to listen to local songs by people of Khmer, Kui and Lao descent can hire the village band for
2,500 baht to perform during dinner. Call Muang Ling tourism enterprise at 082-360-4337 or 061-165-1848.
Thirty homestay places in Buri Ram and 56 others in Surin are endorsed by the Thai homestay standardisation project. Surin and Buri Ram are among
the 55 "secondary provinces" included in the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT)'s Amazing Thailand Go Local Campaign. This campaign promotes
community tourism in less popular provinces. The aim is to attract at least 10 million tourists to these provinces and adjust the ratio of tourists in major
cities and secondary ones, from 70:30 to 65:35, this year.
At the end of the day, they can visit Khao Kradong, an extinct volcano, in Satuk district. If tourists follow the BuRin route, they can also visit the
ongoing Chang Fair 2018, with mini elephant shows, entertainment, an amusement park and a trade fair.
The fair is being held at Sri Narong Sports Stadium in Muang district, Surin, until Sunday. This event follows the more famous Surin Elephant RoundUp,
which took place last weekend.
Ban Sanuan Nok is a centuries-old small village in Huai Rat district, Buri Ram, where villagers live simple lives and speak a Khmer dialect. The
majority of villagers are farmers who grow mulberry trees, raise silk worms and weave silk outside rice-farming season. The community is famous for
its hang krarok silk with unique motifs. Tourists can ride a space-shuttle-shaped tram and observe mulberry-growing and silkworm raising, try spinning
silk threads and weaving silk under stilted houses, and visit centuries-old houses where they can wear Khmer-style traditional costumes. At a retro
market in Ban Sanuan Nok, visitors can enjoy shopping for silk and cotton fabrics, handicrafts and local food, including silkworm cocoon som tam,
spicy cocoon salad, cocoon tapas, salted deep-fried cocoon and todma herbal dessert. On Thai New Year Day in April, tourists can watch ram trod, a folk
dance of southern Isan people. The village has 15 homestays. Staying there plus dinner, breakfast and a set of meals for almsgiving costs 350 baht per
person per night. Call village headman Boonthip on 080-472-4435.
Ban Tha Sawang is a silkweaving village in Muang Surin. It is well-known as a centre for people to learn about silk dyeing and weaving. It also has
numerous silk shops for tourists to buy silk and related products. In this village, there is a silkweaving group called Jansoma, famous for silk-brocade
weaving. The group -- led by costume and ornaments designer for the Royal Khon Performance, Veeratham Tragoolngernthai -- preserves the royalcourt
silk-weaving method, and encourages villagers to weave silk in their free time. It has become internationally famed after weaving silk dresses,
shirts and shawls for 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) leaders who attended the Apec meeting in Thailand in 2003. Since then, the village
has been known as the Apec silk-weaving village, with 5-star One Tambon One Product (Otop) goods.

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