Known by locals as Thailand’s Switzerland, Doi Tung (‘Flag Mountain') is an attractive mountain-top destination of forests and nearby Shan, Akha and Lahu tribal villages. Probably the most important attraction in the area is Wat Phrathat Doi Tung – a temple built one thousand years ago which is an important place of pilgrimage for Buddhists from Thailand and overseas. A giant flag was flown from the point where the temple’s chedis were built giving 'flag mountain' its name. Doi Tung is also home to the Doi Tung Development Project, an initiative of Her Royal Highness Srinakarindra the Princess Mother (mother of Thailand’s current monarch) who passed away in 1995.
Doi Tung has traditionally been an area at the centre of Thailand’s opium production, and with a ready supply of the drug in the area, drug use was prevalent, especially amongst the poor. The Princess Mother built a summer palace in the area and initiated the Doi Tung Development Project.
The purpose behind the project was to establish means of overcoming the area’s social problems through education, training, and through “Sustainable Alternative Development” such as changes in agriculture (an Agricultural Training Centre was set up to help people change from opium production to growing crops such as coffee, strawberries and macadamia nuts) and the introduction of trade in such items as local handicrafts (a ‘Cottage Industry Centre’ was also set up alongside an outlet for locally produced goods and to ensure local crafts such as hand carpet manufacturing are passed on to future generations.
The Princess Mother’s palace has been maintained exactly as it was when she stayed there. The grounds of the palace (Mae Fa Luang Garden) are extremely well kept and certainly warrant a visit. Visits to the Doi Tung Development Project’s various activities are also possible.
A trip to Doi Tung is often combined with a visit to Mai Sai. Probably the biggest draw to the region is its scenery. A trip through the mountains to Doi Tung is simply glorious. Hiking here is possible, but you should always arrange a guide – drug production does still exist and the Mong Thai Army and Karen Rebels are occasionally active in the area.
How to get there: The palace is located at kilometre 12 of route 1149. Given the distances to be covered and the fact a motor vehicle is essential to a trip to Doi Tung, an organised tour to the site is recommended.
Contact: Doi Tung Development Project (053) 767-003, (053) 767-015-7
San Kamphaeng Hot Spring, Chiang Mai is situated about 23 kilometers away from San Kamphaeng district and about 36 kilometers from the city. The spring is located in the scenic surrounding of the spectacular hills and in the shelter of the large and shady trees.
San Kamphaeng Hot Spring in Chiang Mai hosts a spectacular lush green park spread over an area of 40-acre.The park has been beautifully landscaped and it has a vast range of beautiful flowers. San Kamphaeng Hot Spring, Chiang Mai is opens from 8:00 in the morning till 4:30 in the evening.
The San Kamphaeng Hot Spring is one of the Chiang Mai Parks and Gardens which is an ideal place to go for picnics. The several facilities in the park include camping area, swimming pool, restaurant dining, mineral water bathing room huts and various other amenities.
If you are hungry you can also stop and eat something at the restaurant, ice-cream stand and other eating points dispersed throughout the premises of San Kamphaeng Hot Spring, Chiang Mai. People interested in sightseeing in Chiang Mai must visit this spring.
This place is the perfect destination for people who are conscious about their health and physical well being. The water at San Kamphaeng Hot Spring, Chiang Mai contains high sulphur content and it cures many diseases and improves blood circulation. The temperature of water at San Kamphaeng Hot Spring, Chiang Mai is around hundred degrees centigrade. The water comes from a deep source many attempts have been made to harness this energy but all had been in vain.
You can reach there by a local taxi which will cost you around 200 baht. Alternatively, you make take a Thailand Tourism - Chiang Mai Bus. It will cost 80 baht per person. The bus will leave for the Hot Spring at 10 am and it will head back to the town at 1 pm.
A short drive from San Kamphaeng Hot Spring will take you to another tourist attraction in Chiang Mai and it is the famous Bo Sang Umbrella Village. It is the place where you will come across an extensive range of handcrafted souvenirs. San Kamphaeng Hot Spring is one of the popular tourist destination in Chiang Mai that attracts numerous tourists every year and helps in promoting tourism in the city to a great extent
The following is a list of mountains in Thailand. The altitudes are in metres. For the names of the mountains in the Roman script the Royal Thai General System of Transcription has been adopted.
Many mountains in the country are not important because of their height, but because of their symbolic and cultural significance. Some mountains have Buddhist worship places on top, like Doi Suthep close to Chiang Mai, while others have been adopted as provincial symbol, like relatively small Khao Sam Muk in Chonburi Province. Nevertheless, since the order of height is convenient, the list follows this order, without in any way intending to diminish or promote the importance of any particular mountain.
The Angkhang Nature Resort is the ideal base from which to explore the area. Visit the local hilltribes and the Royal Agricultural Project. Take a mule-ride up the hillside or for the more energetic hire a mountain bike to go exploring.
There are many walking trails around the resort. Nature lovers will notice many rare species of plant and birds in the surrounding countryside.
This remote mountainous region is located in upnorth Chiangmai. The vast area extends to the border of Myanmar and was once covered with hill evergreen forests. The heavy demand of cultivating land had led to the heavy deforestation and turned the dense woods to fruitlands and paddyfields. However, the natural altitudinal terrain of its 1,928 meter peak and the mingled biosphere of the remaining forests with deformed fruitlands has made Doi Ang Khang home of a myriad of resident and migrated birds. Birders from abroad seldom miss the chance to get there as the weather on the Doi (mountain) is pleasantly cool all year around and there are many superb birding trails.
During the winter, tourists like to travel to the Chaing Mai Province to camp and enjoy the blooming winter plants. Doi Ang Khang standing 1,900 meters above sea level, borders Burma and is located in Amphoe Chai Prakan.
The Road to Doi Ang Khang: While driving to Doi Ang Khang, you will see many multihued flowers adorning the roadside. However, the road here is steep and winding, so viewing should be left to the passengers.
The Doi Ang Khang Royal Project: The Doi Ang Khang Royal Project is an agricultural station where they study horticulture. Here, in this fifty Rais (80,000 square meters) area, you will be able to see a vast array of indigenous and foreign plants.
The San KiewLom Viewpoint: From this viewpoint, you can overlook an ocean of fog in the morning, while the afternoons bring visions of villages and life below.
The Border Village: Three kilometers from the viewpoint is the Border Village. Here you can see the hill tribe people.
The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is a region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean in which a number of aircraft and surface vessels are alleged to have mysteriously disappeared and cannot be explained as human error, piracy, equipment failure, or natural disasters. Popular culture has attributed some of these disappearances to the paranormal, a suspension of the laws of physics, or activity by extraterrestrial beings.
substantial body of documentation reveals, however, that a significant portion of the allegedly mysterious incidents have been inaccurately reported or embellished by later authors, and numerous official agencies have stated that the number and nature of disappearances in the region is similar to any other area of ocean.
Bermuda-Triangle.Org is the web site of Gian J. Quasar. It originally began in 1999 as his massive database on the Bermuda Triangle until the publication of his book, Into the Bermuda Triangle. Now it is also the personal website of the author, not only containing the Bermuda Triangle database but keeping everyone updated on his several other books, events and projects. Gian’s work has been the basis of over a dozen major documentaries and has helped inspire a Congressional Resolution.
To follow countering the BBC’s “new solution” see the Message Board thread here and the complete report on Star Tiger (PDF) and the complete report on Star Ariel (PDF) or this website’s page on the Tudors here and the biography on Star Ariel’s pilot, JC McPhee here.
It is very disappointing to see the BBC trying this transparent spin. The type of information they’re touting as new and a revelation has been on this site for about 9 years. It doesn’t solve anything unfortunately.
The Bermuda Triangle (sometimes also referred to as the Devil's Triangle) is a stretch of the Atlantic Ocean bordered by a line from Florida to the islands of Bermuda, to Puerto Rico and then back to Florida. It is one of the biggest mysteries of our time - that perhaps isn't really a mystery.
The term "Bermuda Triangle" was first used in an article written by Vincent H. Gaddis for Argosy magazine in 1964. In the article, Gaddis claimed that in this strange sea a number of ships and planes had disappeared without explanation. Gaddis wasn't the first one to come to this conclusion, either. As early as 1952, George X. Sands, in a report in Fate magazine, noted what seemed like an unusually large number of strange accidents in that region.
In 1969 John Wallace Spencer wrote a book called Limbo of the Lost specifically about the Triangle and, two years later, a feature documentary on the subject, The Devil's Triangle, was released. These, along with the bestseller The Bermuda Triangle, published in 1974, permanently registered the legend of the "Hoodoo Sea" within popular culture.
ฃ
Why do ships and planes seem to go missing in the region? Some authors suggested it may be due to a strange magnetic anomaly that affects compass readings (in fact they claim Columbus noted this when he sailed through the area in 1492). Others theorize that methane eruptions from the ocean floor may suddenly be turning the sea into a froth that can't support a ship's weight so it sinks (though there is no evidence of this type of thing happening in the Triangle for the past 15,000 years). Several books have gone as far as conjecturing that the disappearances are due to an intelligent, technologically advanced race living in space or under the sea.
In 1975 Larry Kusche, a librarian at Arizona State University, reached a totally different conclusion. Kusche decided to investigate the claims made by these articles and books. What he found he published in his own book entitled The Bermuda Triangle Mystery-Solved. Kusche had carefully dug into records other writers had neglected. He found that many of the strange accidents were not so strange after all. Often a Triangle writer had noted a ship or plane had disappeared in "calms seas" when the record showed a raging storm had been in progress. Others said ships had "mysteriously vanished" when their remains had actually been found and the cause of their sinking explained. In one case a ship listed missing in the Triangle actually had disappeared in the Pacific Ocean some 3,000 miles away! The author had confused the name of the Pacific port the ship had left with a city of the same name on the Atlantic coast.
More significantly, a check of Lloyd's of London's accident records by the editor of Fate in 1975 showed that the Trianglewas no more dangerous than any other part of the ocean. U.S. Coast Guard records confirmed this and since that time no good arguments have ever been made to refute those statistics. So many argue that the Bermuda Triangle mystery has disappeared, in the same way many of its supposed victims vanished.
More significantly, a check of Lloyd's of London's accident records by the editor of Fate in 1975 showed that the Trianglewas no more dangerous than any other part of the ocean. U.S. Coast Guard records confirmed this and since that time no good arguments have ever been made to refute those statistics. So many argue that the Bermuda Triangle mystery has disappeared, in the same way many of its supposed victims vanished.
One of the first stories connected to the Triangle legend and the most famous ship lost in the region was the USS Cyclops which disappeared in 1918. The 542 foot long Cyclops was launched in 1910 and served as a collier ( a ship that carries coal) for the U.S. Navy during World War I. The vessel was on its way from Bahia, Salvador, to Baltimore, Maryland, but never arrived. After it had made an unscheduled stop at Barbados on March 3rd and 4th to take on additional supplies, it disappeared without a trace. No wreckage from the ship was ever found and no distress signal was received. The deaths of the 306 crew and passengers of the USS Cyclops remains the single largest loss of life in U.S. Naval history not directly involving combat.
While the sinking of the Cyclops remains a mystery, the incident could have happened anywhere between Barbados and Baltimore, not necessarily in the Bermuda Triangle. Proponents of the Bermuda Triangle theory point to the lack of a distress call as evidence of a paranormal end for the vessel, but the truth is that wireless communications in 1918 were unreliable and it would not have been unusual for a rapidly-sinking vessel to not have had a chance to send a successful distress call before going under.
The SS Marine Sulphur Queen, a tanker ship carrying molten sulphur, disappeared off the southern coast of Florida in 1963. The crew of 39 was all lost and no wreckage from the tanker was ever found. While the disappearance of the ship is mentioned in several books about the Triangle, authors don't always include that the Coast Guard concluded that the vessel was in deplorable shape and should have never gone to sea at all. Fires erupted with regularity on the ship. Also, this class of vessel was known to have a "weak back", which means the keel would split when weakened by corrosion causing the ship to break in two. The ship's structure had been further compromised by a conversion from its original mission as an oil tanker to carrying molten sulphur. The conversion had left the vessel with an extremely high center of gravity, increasing the chance that it would capsize. The SS Marine Sulphur Queen was all-in-all a disaster waiting to happen and it seems unfair to blame its demise on the Bermuda Triangle.
Missing Avengers become the Triangle's "Lost Squadron"
So how did this tragedy turn into a Bermuda Triangle mystery? The Navy's original investigation concluded the accident had been caused by Taylor's navigational confusion. According to those that knew him he was a good pilot, but often navigated "flying by the seat of his pants" and had gotten lost in the past. Taylor's mother refused to accept that and finally got the Navy to change the report to read that the disaster was for "causes or reasons unknown." This may have spared the woman's feelings, but blurred the actual facts.
The saga of Flight 19 is probably the most repeated story about the Bermuda Triangle. Vincent Gaddis put the tale into the same Argosy magazine article where he coined the term "Bermuda Triangle" in 1964 and thetwo have been connected ever since. The planes and their pilots even found their way into the science fiction film classic, Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Where is Flight 19 now? Well, in 1991 five Avengers were found in 750 feet of water off the coast of Florida by the salvage ship Deep Sea. Examination of the plane's ID numbers, however, showed that they were not from Flight 19 (as many as 139 Avengers were thought to have gone into the water off the coast of Florida during the war). It seems the final resting place of the lost squadron and their crews is still a real Bermuda Triangle mystery.
Phichit (Thai: พิจิตร) is one of the provinces (changwat) of Thailand, located in the north of the country. Neighboring provinces are (from north clockwise) Phitsanulok, Phetchabun, Nakhon Sawan and Kamphaeng Phet.
Bueng Si Fai is a large fresh-water lake to the south of town. It is a Fishery Department’s facility to breed fresh-water. Along the banks is a delightfully landscaped park suitable for rest and recreation. The scenery is at its most scenic in the early morning and late afternoon. On the other side of the park is an aquarium exhibiting species of native fish and local fishing equipment. An eye-catching sight is a gigantic, crocodile-shaped structure within which is a space which could be used for meetings.
Bung Si Fai This 4,800 acre swamp locate 1 km. West of Phichit Market is a fish breeding source surrounded by lotur,grown by locals for the use of its flower and leaves. In the area there is a parked called "Suan Somdet Phra Si Nakharin". It is a nice place for relaxation and picnic dining. The place is also decorated with "Phichit Crocodile Auditorium", an auditorium constructed in the shape of a huge crocodile, since Phichit was once full of crocodiles. The main functional part is the 'stomach' which is an air-conditioned meeting room and can accommodate about 3 persons. Its other dimensions are as follow: 38 meters long, 3 meters high and 4.5 meters long for the part of the mouth. There is also a fish aquarium which is open daily from 10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m..
Phu Chee Fah, Chiang Rai, is one of the popular places to see Sunrise. A chilly night, a 700-meter walk at 4.30am, a sitting against the wind, all just for the morning sunrise at Phu Chee Fah.
The stunning viewpoint of Phu Chee Fah has been long popular with Thai tourists, but remains little known amongst western travellers. On a clear morning, the views out and over a vast stretch of mist swathed Laos, are absolutely breathtaking.
Set in a remote part of the Thai-Lao border in eastern Chiang Rai province, the view from the summit of 1,628m stretches over a vast stretch of Sainyabuli province in Laos. The view is best at dawn on a clear day, when the valley below fills with mist -- November to February is considered the best time of the year to visit.
There are a bunch of guesthouses and camping is also available, but the difficult part is getting here -- you really need your own transport -- either motorbike or car -- to reach Phu Chee Fah.
Phu Chee Fah can be approached from Wiang Kaen in the north or Thoeng in the south, with the latter being the more popular route taken.
If you choose to approach from Wiang Kaen, expect some stunning mountain scenery and some moderately challenging road conditions. Also, if you choose this route, the more northern viewpoint of Doi Patang is also worth visiting.
If travelling by motorcycle, you're best to do this route with others as if you have a problem with your bike you could be stranded for a long time -- very little traffic uses this road -- though it is about 95% sealed.
There are three areas around Phu Chee Fah with guesthouses, one about 2km north of the final turnoff to the summit a second solitary guesthouse about 1.5km north of the turnoff and the other about 500m south of the final turnoff.
On weekends most places are open, but midweek, many are closed and food opportunities may be limited. From the turn-off it is another km to the parking area, then a 700m hike to the summit.
You can reach Phu Chee Fah by motorbike from either Chiang Rai or Chiang Khong, with both trips taking around 3-4 hours. For those with their own transport, an overnight visit to Phu Chee Fah is highly recommended.
Bueng Boraphet (Thai: บึงบอระเพ็ด) is the largest freshwater swamp and lake in central Thailand. It covers an area of 224 km² east of Nakhon Sawan, south of the Nan River close to its confluence with the Ping River.
Originally the area was covered by a large swamp, which was flooded in 1930 with the building of a dam to improve fishing.
This is the only known site for the White-eyed River Martin which used to winter there, but has not been seen since 1980, and may be extinct.
106 km² of lake have been declared as a non-hunting area in 1975. In 2000 it was also declared as a wetland of international importance by the Thai government.
Bueng Boraphet is a semi-natural lake which fluctuates in its water level throughout the seasons. Unfortunately the status of non-hunting area affords it little protection and the reedbeds are greatly reduced due to human disturbance.
This is one of the largest single wetland sites in Thailand and perhaps one of the most famous due to the few sightings of the almost mythical White-eyed River Martin all occurring here. Although it is unlikely that this bird will be seen again, a combination of reedbeds, lotus swamps, open water, grassland and fringing woodland makes for a great birding spectacle at any time of the year although winter will provide the most species.
Boat trips for birdwatching or sightseeing here are a pleasant option for birders and non-birders alike and the crocodile breeding centre offers a chance to see these creatures at close quarters.
Waterbirds are obviously the main reason for a visit to Bueng Boraphet, but many other open-country species can easily be seen here. For me one of the most memorable species is the Pied Kingfisher which can be viewed whilst hovering before it dives to catch its prey. However, for many people the large and colourful waterbirds such as Purple Swamphen, Asian Openbill Stork, Glossy Ibis, Spot-billed Pelican, Oriental Darter, Indian Cormorant, Pheasant-tailed Jacana and Bronze-winged Jacana are the main attraction and Bueng Boraphet has been the site where the populations of many of these scarce species are beginning to make a comeback in Thailand.
Despite declines in recent years, large numbers of waterfowl still use Bueng Boraphet in the winter. The resident Cotton Pygmy Goose and Lesser Whistling Ducks are very common but Garganey are also very numerous in the dry season. Other species regularly found include Ferruginous Duck and Tufted Duck although a pair of Baer's Pochard in 2009 were the first record for more than 10 years.
Apart from large waterbirds, Bueng Boraphet is an excellent site for passerines too. Asian Golden Weaver, Streaked Weaver and Baya Weaver can all be found and this is perhaps one of the easiest places to see Siberian Rubythroat. Oriental and Black-browed Reed Warblers are common in the dry season and in 2008 Thailand's first Blyth's Reed Warbler was trapped and ringed here.
Sightings of Quail are always exciting and many species occur here including Rain Quail, Blue-breasted Quail and Small Buttonquail, although none are easy to see; the grassy areas grazed by cattle would be the best places to look for these species.
This is, of course, the only place that White-eyed River-Martin has ever been found, with the last confirmed sighting in 1978. Read Doug Judell's article about investigating a possible sighting in Cambodia here: White-eyed River Martin
Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park has an area of 307 square kilometers. It lies in Dansai disteict of Loei province and Nakhon Thai district of Phitsanulok province. Phu Hin Rong Kla is blessed with natural beauty and historical significance. Unfortunately, the fighting there during communist years did priceless damage to the forest. The geologied features landscape and natural beauty in the area have been restored and protected after the communist insurgents loss.
From 1968 to 1972, the mountains of Phu Hin Rong Kla were the major strongholds for the communists, who were threatening the political stability of the nation. In 1982, government forces began the battle in Phu Khang, and attempt to drive out the insurgents. Forces from the First, Second and Third Army of the Regional Army Commend joined together with the Aviation Divison, Special Force center, the Royal Navy, the Royal Air Force, and Civilian Thai Forces in trying vanquish the communists. The government forces were unsuccessful, primarily because of the unforgiving terrain, set high up in the mountains in mostly dense forest.
The Army changed its battle plan after initial setbacks and eventually rousted the communests. The Third Army and various military forces, the police and Civilian Forces and the Civilian-Police Military 33, (P.T.T.33) led by Major Pairot Chanurai defeated the communists wihtout bloodshed. Villagers in the area. Mostly Hmong, who had initially sided with the communists, eventually decided to abandon their allies. The communists were forced to give up their territory. After that, the P.T.T.33 began to develop the area by building a road. The paperwork was also begun to establish a national park. The Third Army and the Royal Forest Department begun the discussion about turning the area to be park.
In February 1983, the National Park Division sent officials to survey the area and concluded that it had fantastic natural beauty, served as an important watershed, and had many historical points such as Lan Hin Taek and Lan Hin Pum. It was deemed on agreement that Phu Hin Rong Kla had ability to be national park. The Royal Forest Department proposed the park and the assembly on March 15, 1983. A decree made areas of Nakhon Thai district in Phitsanulok as well as Dansai district of Loei into national park in 1984. Phu Hin Rong Kla officially became Thailand’s 48th national park.
The general topography of the park is steeply mountainous. The northern part of the park in Chaiburi Dstrict borders Laos. The Southern part of the park runs into Phetchabun Province. The mountain range includes the peaks of Phu Phangma, Phu Lomlo, Phu Hin Rong Kla and Phu Man Khao, the tallest in the park at 1,820 meters above sea level. The second tallest is Phu Lomlo at 1,664 meters. The park is the headwaters of many streams, including Huai Mueat Don, and Huai Luang Yai.
Phu Hin Rong Kla’s climate is similar to that of Phu Kra Dueng National Park and Phu Luang National Park. Because of its high altitude, the park is cool all year round, especially, of course, in the cool season, when temperature can occasionally drop to freezing point. Mist can cool and pleasant; the temperature does not rise much above 25 oC
The park has mixed deciduous, dry dipterocarp, dry evergreen, and hill evergreen forests. Mixed Deciduous Forest tends to be spacious and open. The soil quality and moisture is low. Tree species commonly found include Dipterocarpus obtusifolius, Shorea obtusa, Shorea siamensis and Dipterocarpus tuberculatus.
Dry Evergreen Forest has better and moister soil, particularly in higher elevations and along streams. Species include Dipterocarpus alatus, Hopea ferrea, Hopea oborata, Anisoptera cochinchinensis, Dalbergia oliveri, Chukrasia venlatina, bamboo, and Brahm among others.
Hill Evergreen Forest is occurs in cool higher elevations of 1,000 meters and up. Species tend to be soft woods. Important species include Dacrydium elatum, Betula alnoides, Eugenia cumini, Anneslea fragrans Podocarpus imbricatus and Pinus merksii P. kasiya.
The flat areas on ridge tops are sandy and support Sphagnum recuryum, algae and perennial plants such as Burmannia disticha and Osbeckia chinensis. In addition, may orchid species can be found in rocky areas, including Lycopodium phlegmaria and rhododendron. These flowers bloom between the rainy and cool seasons.
In the past, Phu Hin Rong Kla was evergreen forest and had big diversity of wildlife. But later, when the communists and government began fighting, the area turned into a battlefield. Much of the forest was damaged and much of the wildlife was killed or fled to safer areas. Remaining wildlife includes tigers, leopards, Asiatic Black Bears, wild boar, fox, monkeys, leopard cats, wild hare and many bird species, such as boves barbets, common Flameback, Asian Barred Owlet, Brown Hawk-Owl, jungle fowl, bulbuls, and swallows.
