is a roller coaster ride, up and down
steep valleys and ever winding roads, pictured below is a
Karen refugee village at about half distance from Mae Sot.
A a perfect place for trekking in the hilly
tropical jungle. Rafting on the river and visiting a great waterfall
plus the wildlife sanctuary
and more. Umphang is a ideal place for holidays and to switch off the
upper region to free the mind and spirit.
Here is the other side
of Thailand tourism, no beaches only wild green nature for
all kind of adventure trips, trekking, hiking, river
rafting, caving and other
outdoor
activities, ask the
outdoor expert for more.
This is
south of Mae Sot in the mountain jungle
wilderness of the
Thailand Myanmar border area. Probably
one of the best great outdoor destination in Thailand but it
is very difficult to reach since some self declared
"environmentalists" blocked the forestry department of Thailand in
Bangkok to extend the road from Kampheng Phet near
Nakhon Sawan in central Thailand. Just to put this into context, this is not what I am
thinking, I simply don't know, I am a foreigner. This is
what the local people told me. That means an almost 500 km detour
via Mae Sot which naturally
most people try to avoid since the road from Mae Sot down to
Umphang is simply dangerous.
This is real raw outdoor
and often
people mix the place up with Doi Inthanon, trekking
Pai, Mae
Hong Son, Mae Sariang,
Mae Sot and
Khao Sok,
but all this has nothing to do with it, that's at totally
different locations hundreds of kilometers away elsewhere.
Unfortunately the Thai Tourist Authorities or TAT in
Thailand will give only minor information
on
anything except
Bangkok and the
beaches of the
south. This is
one of the major
problems in
Thailand since
Bangkok neglects
the regions of
the north, east
and
north west
of the country. Thailand, several NGO’s and EU agencies give a
helping hand to the Myanmar Karen, actually most of the
people at the border area are Thai Karen, the Thai
government call
them hill
tribes. Many of
them probably
live better here
than many Thai’s
elsewhere
because
of the
foreign
help.
The
Myanmar
Thailand
border
is close
and this
small village
maybe maybe 3,000
inhabitants,
mainly Karen, Mon and Thais. Almost all tourists come to
this
area for
rafting,
trekking
and
sightseeing..
There are no banks or
moneychangers at Umphang, that means take enough cash with you. The
3 - 5
hour
ride
from Mae
Sot is
through terraced
paddy fields,
banana groves,
fruit
plantations,
remote villages
and Karen
refugee villages
or camps.
If you
want to
know
something
about
the real
situation
on
Myanmar
Karen
refugees
in
Thailand
take a river rafting tour, you
will
find
that
practically
all
people
related
to
tourism
are
since
they got
some education in Myanmar, including to
speak English, almost no Thais in that area speak English
and usually has only rudimentary education that's the reason
why the
tour and
hotel
operator
employ
them.
Coming
to this remote area means
Thailand outdoor
and
Thailand adventure, the
good news is, it's a peaceful
environment. Don’t
believe this media reports which
constantly telling about fighting at
the Thailand Myanmar border
in this area on
the Myanmar side.
There is no
fighting unless some Karen guys attack the
Myanmar military which might respond
to it, the real almost civil war on
the Myanmar side has faded away
already more than 10 years ago.
Do a hike through the lush
mountain rain forests, but be
aware don’t do it on your own always
take a guide with you, the guide
almost always are Karen people
either from the Myanmar or Thai side.
There is a great
variety of birds and wildlife, camp
out with local tribes and see their
lifestyles, their culture, their
food and costumes.
is one
of the adventures and be amazed by
the raw mountain jungle nature the
area around. There is a wildlife
sanctuary south of the city and
around there you will find the
reason why adventure travel Thailand
is so popular. You will experience
something real different, with a
different twist as what your live
usually has to offer. Umphang is a unique
and exciting Thailand travel
destination may not be for everyone
since you need a good physical
condition, but the outdoor adventure
can be managed to a
certain extend even for people who
are not so fit or handicapped. There
are a plenty of helping hands around
who are pleased to help you for a
little extra fee, since in
Thailand
almost everything is quite cheap,
around $ 10,- can go a long way. The
average income in Thailand is around
$ 7,- per day, sometimes even less.
Also older people can try that out
and having a marvelous time.
You
too could be the one to head out
on
this Thailand adventure travel
trip, there's nothing stopping you.
The beaches of Thailand are only about a day away; an travel adventure trip could easily
be combined
with great southern
The
western &
northern
Thailand is not a
favorite destination for mountain
climbers, if you like climbing in
Thailand there are marvelous places
in
Krabi
province where you can climb the
limestone walls just at the beach or
at Krabi islands. Very popular is
around
Railay beach
at
Ao Nang.
-
For Thailand
Adventures
it
is in an ideal setting right at the
Myanmar Thailand border wilderness
with plenty of still virgin jungle
areas, scenic rivers and the biggest
waterfall in Asia. River rafting,
jungle trekking and everything
around which is called Thailand
outdoors, except beaches. Hidden in
this remote area is a Thai gem in
the wilderness unfortunately some
environment fanatics in Bangkok did
everything to block the forestry
department to build a shortcut, now a detour of over
500km via Mae Sot is needed and the
local people suffer because only
very few traveler come because of
this, read
more.
Thai River Rafting and Trekking
After the
rather flat and hilly green surrounding at
the village limestone formations with
spectacular beauty surrounds us, in silence
we glide downstream, the rapids are cutting
the brown fast water after every bend a new
surprises.
The cold brown water full of sediment
drives the raft beside rapids and waves.
Steep limestone walls, sharp bends and a
waterfall from time to time are a challenge
for our guides. Rushing water
catapults us over wave crests, its good
not to sit in a rickety canoe. Incoming
streams and fallen trees provide additional
turbulence, see the
Umphang Video.
Only a few
hundred visitors make the trip to this
remote area every year over the
ever winding hairpin road. But this
wilderness along the Thailand Myanmar border
is something special. Most locals handling
the tour are Karen from the Myanmar side,
the reason is, they speak English, the Thai
Karen don’t. In Myanmar they teach English
already in the school in Thailand they
don’t.
Brown water
rafting is a sport nearly anyone can do and
here its very safe if its done outside
the monsoon time, during monsoon times
river's water level moves up and down
dramatically and flashfloods are frequent
and they bang away everything. Booking a
rafting trip is simple, almost every
guesthouse has its own rafting crew with a professional experience.
They are good organized and know the river,
the inflatable boats (known as rafts) and
the gear. Actually all rafting crews are
Myanmar Karen since they are the only ones
in the region speaking English, they do all
the paddles and steering, the trip also
includes breakfast in the jungle.
Jungle river rafting
stops during monsoon because of rough torrents
and flash floods during the monsoon time there are
no rafting trips at that period of the year,
the main reason for this is there are too
many hidden trees and boulders in the river
which brake off every day during monsoon, it
simply becomes to dangerous. The other time
of the year, river rafting and trekking is almost
perfect.
Discovery
adventure means
jungle river rafting if
you are only one the crew from the hotel
will do all the work and you can just have a
look around, if you are single it costs
about Baht 1200,- for a extended half day
trip, means from 8 am to about 2 PM
including visiting the probably biggest
waterfall in Asia.
Most guys handling the tour are Myanmar
Karen, they fled Myanmar a few
years ago because of the guerilla war which almost
died down in resent
years, not to mix this up with the Thai Karen, which
are basically of the same people but are lucky enough
to live on the Thai side of the border, read
more.
Most people
come to this place to do the rafting trip down the Mae Klong River,
passing small rapids and
a incredible mountain - limestone - waterworld. Visit Karen villages, caves,
hot springs, and the greatest waterfall - Thee Lor
Sue Falls- in Thailand and maybe in Asia at all plus
jungle river rafting
Feel the
nature at Umphang
The noise of the water is a constant
companion through the gorge. Intermediate rocks,
shrubs and trees rustled the River. His bed is a
world made of limestone, from the smallest pebble
until the meter-high boulders. More and more and deeper the trekking and rafting
tour leads us into the mountain jungle at the
border of Thailand and Myanmar, or Burma. A unknown,
dangerous wilderness and a great nature experience.
We flow with the water, here in the gorge between
limestone boulder you can feel the enormous power
that is developed between the stones. Water sprays,
wet penetrates the body what is hidden beneath the
foamy brown water? At the firth break of the one hour rafting tour is
breakfast time and then we board the “pick up”
to have a look for the largest
waterfall in Asia,
also waterfall picture below.
-
Here are some hotels and guesthouse contacts:
Gift
House
Phone : 055-561 181
Rim Nam Pa Kha Bungalow
Phone : 055-561 028
Baan Suan Boonyaphon
Phone : 055-589 4307
Baan Huay Nam Yen
Phone : 055-561 092; Bangkok office:
02-377 7959
Phu Doi Camp site
Phone : 055-561 279
Guesthouse
Phone : 055-561 021
Country Hut
Phone : 055-561 079; Bangkok phone:
02-981 5508
