Outlaw in Chiang Rai
No matter how lovely and cozy it looks during the day, the flower market in Chiang Rai is an outlaw at night.
Close to our house is a small town called Sirikorn. In the morning there is a covered market with vegetables, fruit and meat, surrounded by flower shops that sell both real and imitation flowers. What many people don't know is that you can buy and consume alcohol in Sirikorn, regardless of the time and day of the year. You will never find the police there as long as it is dark.
On a square next to the covered market hall are four restaurants that sell food, beer and spirits. If you didn't know, you wouldn't suspect its existence, but between the restaurants is a gambling hall with mainly slot machines. Unlike in the Netherlands, apart from the state lottery, all forms of gambling, including slot machines, are illegal. Apparently a deal has been made that this area is a no-go zone for the police in the evening and at night.
Every local Thai will advise you not to come here in the dark hours and I have never seen a foreigner there at night, but to know a country you have to explore the borders as far as you can, at least I think so.
The most interesting part is usually much too late for me, but if I can't get to sleep I very occasionally find it challenging to get here. When the last nightspots close around 3 o'clock, it gets busier in Sirikorn. It gets busy earlier on mandatory alcohol-free days for cafes and restaurants during elections, Buddha days and birthdays of the king and queen.
Tipsy groups arrive on scooters or in cars to fill their stomachs while enjoying even more booze. Judging by their loud tone, the women who come along are often quite hot. Besides the occasional ladyboy, you don't see women alone here. With the exception of a few gays and the occasional alcoholic, the same applies to men. There is a hotel close by in the still safe area, so my attitude as a 'lost' tourist is to watch everything 'undercover' for an hour with a bottle of Heineken.
Normally, when I drink beer, I drink Leo. I also understand that my undercover is not very strong, but it's also about the feeling you have and what you possibly radiate, I think. Around this time, boys often come from Myanmar, who, as I understand, offer themselves as prostitutes, probably partly to pay for their yaba addiction.
Yaba is a methamphetamine and caffeine drug. If you search the internet, the pill will have the letters WY on it. This stands for Wa Yaba and means it comes from the United Wa State, a mysterious officially unrecognized China-oriented state with its own army of 30.000 and state TV in Mandarin, located in the middle of Shan state, Myanmar. There seems to be plenty of dealing in Sirikorn, but I prefer not to go to the side streets where this happens.
Fortunately, almost everyone allows me to observe in peace. A few times a drunk and/or drugged boy sat down at my table to get a drink, my reaction is invariably that I turn around in time and ignore him, possibly with a hand gesture of getting out if it goes on too long. I have learned not to speak and never to make eye contact in such cases, lest people think you are showing any kind of sympathy or empathy. As far as I have it, it's not the time for it.
In another case, a heavily drunk hobo crawled up to my table and lay down on the sidewalk begging for a drink. After a quarter of an hour without anyone paying attention to his groans, he slowly crept away again. A sad sight.
The times I was there I never experienced a fight or a fight, as I regularly saw outside discotheques and karaoke places. Mama, at least that's what I call her, a sturdy woman in her 50s is one of the managers. In the meantime she greets me kindly. Occasionally I see her secretly keeping an eye on things, but she never had to intervene.
The night in Sirikorn feels like an outlaw, but, just like in Wa State, there is an unofficial autonomous authority.
– Reposted message –
Excitingly written.
If I am correct, Sirikorn market is near the bus station and North hotel, a short distance from the Nightbazar, accessible from Phaholyotin Road. The Old Dutch restaurant, run by an Amsterdammer, was located on Phaholyotin Road for quite some time. Talked to him once, things weren't going so well. Despite the very reasonable prices, in my opinion, there were hardly any Thai guests because, according to the owner, his prices were too high for the Thai themselves and so he remained dependent on tourists, from which he only really benefited during the high season. Near Phaholyotin Road, but on the other side of the Nightbazar, is the Wangcome hotel where I have stayed several times. Not far from there is a small 'bar street', mainly frequented by the Thai themselves, with a few restaurants and terraces. All small-scale and of course not comparable to Walking Street in Pattaya. It is no exception that there are hardly any police in your Sirikorn district after sunset. In fact, this applies to many places in Thailand, except for tourist spots. Jokingly, my Thai acquaintances sometimes say that the agents have to go to bed early to be fresh and ready to pick up their 'teamoney' the next day. It is logical that you do not go into (lugubrious) side streets where dealings take place, you have no business there. You also give an excellent and important tip not to start the conversation in certain cases and not to make eye contact. Ignoring, an art the Thai are masters at, can save you from further unpleasantness. Wish you a good night's sleep and otherwise a nice Heineken beer at 'Mama'.
Sounds exciting – especially if, like me, you cycled through the streets in question earlier today. I also walk through it regularly, but have never noticed anything of the above. But I see it's a repost - how long ago are we talking about here?