Traditions of Chiang Mai

Thai Cuisine at Chiang Mai

Food at Chiang Mai is an indigenous tradition that has been enriched by Arab, Indian, Malay and Chinese influence. Despite being infused with the cooking styles of other cultures, people of Chiang Mai love simple plain rice as it is the main staple for them. They would feel that they have not eaten if they did not eat rice. They even have various food dishes like desserts made out of rice. Like the sweet sticky rice with mango below.


They love also spicy food which is similar to the Thais in Thailand.

At the table the bulk of a meal consists of rice, which Thais flavor by taking small helpings from the central dishes. They use central serving spoons to serve the small portions onto their own plates, from which they eat. Serving themselves from one dish at a time, Thais usually finish each small portion before returning to a different dish for another; thus the full flavor of each dish may be savored in an equable atmosphere. In times of past hardships, this natural manner of sharing food also allowed a small amount of spicy flavoring to go a long way with plain rice.

Disneyization is seen here when the Lanna Tai culture is infused with the culture of other countries. It brings about a global similarity yet distinct in their own way. For example, the style of cooking becomes special when there is a mix.


However to cater to the tourists, Chiang Mai food is sold at food stalls near the Night Bazaar and Sompet Market. These two markets have English menus and there is dedifferentiation of consumption seen here as while Chiang Mai is marketed as a tourist destination. The tourists also have to eat as it is essential for living and the prices of food sold at such markets are usually marked up. Tourists spend obsessively as these food and commodities are unusually seen in their own country.

Transportation

There are various forms of transportation such as rental cars, tuk tuks, trains, songthaew (passenger pick up vehicles for big groups), samlors (rickshaws), bus, bikes and motorbikes.

However getting around Chiang Mai won't be too easy a task as the roads are now congested due to more and more Tuk Tuk cars on the road. And taxis are scarce in Chiang Mai. Therefore a tuk tuk ride is essential for really experiencing Thailand and Chiang Mai, which also a part of this theming.


This differentiates transportation in Thailand/Chiang Mai from other countries or cities as the sides of the car are not enclosed like a rickshaw except that it is motorised, providing a different experience. It sets Thailand apart from other countries which has taxis for transportation.


References:

http://www.chiangmai1.com/chiang_mai/food_in_chiang_mai.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiang_Mai_Province#Local_Food

Indigenous groups

The indigenous people of Chiang Mai are those living in hill tribes which makes up about 13.4% of Chiang Mai's population. Chiang Mai is considered the melting pot of different hill tribes and the special culture that come along with it. They usually live on stilt houses except the Lisu.

There are six major hill tribes with subcategories and clans that further divide the groups of indigenous people. Each hill tribe has its own customs, language, dressing, skills, craft and spiritual belief and this applies to even subcategories within each hill tribe. For example, they have their own dialects even within one hill tribe and dress differently.



I will only touch on certain hill tribes that largely have to do with disneyization and their way of life and such. All the hill tribes come into contact with foreign cultures as they are more than happy to receive tourists as it means that there is money to made. Money making opportunities are welcomed as the hill tribes are rural and most of them are poor.

Karen

The largest minority group in Chiang Mai is the Karen. Some of the tribes are still practicing animism or being buddhist while many of the Karen were converted to Christianity by the missionaries.

They wore woven V-neck tunics of a range of natural colours and turbans. Unmarried women would wear long white V-neck tunics to distinct themselves from the rest. They occupy lowland areas and engage in agriculture. However they are the most environmentally conscious of the hill tribes as they practice crop rotation.



Padaung

The Paduang are part of the Karen people but they escaped and started a different hill tribe on their own.

The Padaung attract many curious visitors on account of their long-necked women. The women had to wear neck rings so that they would resemble their ancestors which are dragons and swans. Long necks symbolised elegance and sexuality. It was also hypothesised that it prevented them from being slaves to other tribes as the women appeared less attractive to other tribes.


Where does Disneyization come in?

Disneyization occurs here when most of the Karen, which is the majority of the hill tribes, were converted to a religion that was of something new to them. This is known as theming as the world is becoming more similar in the sense of religion. Christianity brought about antagonisation at the start because Christian missionaries promote and decry other religions like Buddhist and animism. They said stuff like Christians would go the heaven while people from other religion would burn in hell. Another hill tribe which is the Akha also goes through the same process till majority of the people converted to Christianity. People of these tribes feel that Christianity has diluted their original culture and religion.



A tradition of beautifying women by adding brass rings, up to 5 kilogrammes, to their necks has been preserved largely for generating tourism. Although the neck appears cruelly elongated, it is the collarbone which has been displaced rather than the stretching and weakening of the neck.


The culture of the women having to wear neck rings were almost disneyified under theming as the government of Thailand wants Chiang Mai to be more modernised. So that Thailand will be more in sync with the 20th century world. The government did not allow the younger women to wear the neck rings if they wanted to continue with education. However, some of the young girls continued with their tradition as they knew it was a source of revenue.

Also, the women of Padaung were subjected to emotional labour as they had to pretend that they were happy with being stared at and photographed by tourists. They had to wear the neck rings for tradition and not to generate more revenue for themselves but the hill tribes are run by local businessmen and these people also want to earn from their tradition. They knew that their culture has been exploited due to the surge of tourism and feel antagonised. In actual fact, most of them suffer while wearing the neck rings. For example, their necks are burnt or bruised by the neck rings that are welded on. They are refugees and they are glad to even be alive. Therefore they had to accept tourism and smile to tourists despite feeling unhappy deep down inside as they are safe and can earn some money. Moreover, tourists would expect to get the same friendliness from the locals.

And moreover in comparison to Disney, while the idea of emotional labour may concern some Chiang Mai people, there is a certain similarity with Disney as Disney is not short of people who welcome this as part of their job and want to work at Disney. Similarly, there are people who want to preserve the culture because of their pride and don't mind earning money from it.

The way they dress

For example, some indigenous people and communities, dress in their traditional clothing only when the tourists are visiting them, even though they would only wear it for ceremonies and festivals when the tourists aren’t visiting. The false image that these indigenous cultures present to the tourist is misleading and does not give the tourist a true cultural experience. Like example, the Karen people is usually seen in their traditional clothes as they are a popular settlement to visit when tourists visit Chiang Mai.

References:

http://www.1stopchiangmai.com/culture/hill_tribes/

http://www.chiangmai1.com/chiang_mai/hill_tribes.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiang_Mai_Province

http://www.chiangmainews.com/indepth/details.php?id=469

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kayan_Lahwi

http://www.google.com.sg/imglanding?q=hill+tribes+chiang+mai+houses&um=1&hl=en&tbs=isch:1&tbnid=kNL_V7tU4u83PM:&imgrefurl=http://www.ultimatejourney.com/Chap29.html&imgurl=http://www.ultimatejourney.com/T.BambooHuts.JPG&zoom=1&w=640&h=480&iact=hc&ei=TFL7TIPsCcbKrAfiu_TPCA&oei=TFL7TIPsCcbKrAfiu_TPCA&esq=1&page=1&tbnh=134&tbnw=179&start=0&ved=1t:429,r:21,s:0&biw=1408&bih=714

http://www.google.com.sg/imglanding?q=removal+of+neck+rings&um=1&hl=en&tbs=isch:1&tbnid=J8XHCnjoLTK0FM:&imgrefurl=http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php%253Ft%253D225359%2526page%253D2&imgurl=http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj147/leretserge/femme_girafe.jpg&zoom=1&w=400&h=600&iact=hc&ei=T1X7TN6ZMoa8cI_wlPQO&oei=I1X7TMLJHsLUrQf074DXCA&esq=4&page=3&tbnh=131&tbnw=86&start=64&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:64&biw=1408&bih=714