Thailand (Lonely Planet, 13th Edition) - China Williams [309]
Rai Saeng Arun (0 5391 8255; www.raisaengarun.com; 2 Moo 3, Ban Phakub; bungalows incl breakfast 3000-3750B; ) Located 22km from Chiang Khong on the quiet rural road that leads to Chiang Saen, this resort brings together 14 bungalows in an attractive, natural setting. Some are perched on a hillside, while others are near stream-bordered rice fields, and three are at the edge of the Mekong River. All are stylish and comfortable, feature balconies and open-air showers, and are connected by bridged walkways over rice fields. The restaurant looks over the Mekong and serves dishes using vegetables and herbs from the resort’s organic farm. Considerable discounts are available during the low season.
Eating
Sabay Dee (no roman-script sign; 08 3594 0676; Th Sai Klang; dishes 15-20B; 4-7pm) Stick around long enough, and it seems like just about everybody in Chiang Khong stops by this family-run cart for a bag of curry or chili dip to take home. For those of us who don’t live here, the owners are more than happy to provide dishes and seating. Prepared by natives of Chiang Khong, you’re at the mercy of whatever local dishes they’ve made that day, but if you’re lucky you’ll get to try the delicious gaang hoa lee, banana flower soup, or a spicy northern-style lâhp made from pork, buffalo or fish (raw or cooked – your call). Regardless, make it an early dinner, as choices become slimmer the darker it gets. Sabay Dee has no English sign, but is located directly adjacent to the soi that leads to Baan-Fai Guest House.
Rim Nam (dishes 30-90B; 11am-9pm) On a narrow road down beside the river, is this simple indoor-outdoor restaurant that overlooks the Mekong. The bilingual menu is much shorter than the Thai menu; yam (spicy salads) are the house specialities, but the kitchen can whip up almost anything.
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MEKONG’S GIANT CATFISH
The Mekong River stretch that passes Chiang Khong is an important habitat for the lah bèuk (giant Mekong catfish, Pangasianodon gigas to ichthyologists), among the largest freshwater fish in the world. A lah bèuk takes at least six and possibly 12 years (no-one’s really sure) to reach full size, when it will measure 2m to 3m in length and weigh up to 300kg. Although the adult fish have only been found in certain stretches of the Mekong River, it’s thought that the fish originate in Qinghai Province (where the Mekong originates) in northern China and swim all the way to the middle Mekong, where they spend much of their adult lives.
In Thailand and Laos the mild-tasting flesh is revered as a delicacy and the fish are taken between late-April and June when the river depth is just 3m to 4m and the fish are swimming upriver. Before netting them, Thai and Lao fishermen hold a special annual ceremony to propitiate Chao Mae Pla Beuk, a female deity thought to preside over the giant catfish. Among the rituals comprising the ceremony are chicken sacrifices performed aboard the fishing boats. After the ceremony is completed, fishing teams draw lots to see who casts the first net, and then take turns casting.
In recent years only a few catfish have been captured in a typical season (some years have resulted in no catches at all). The catfish hunters’ guild is limited to natives of Ban Hat Khrai, and the fishermen sell the meat on the spot for up to 500B or more per kilo (a single fish can bring 100,000B in Bangkok); most of it ends up in Bangkok, since local restaurants in Huay Xai and Chiang Khong can’t afford such prices.
Although the lah bèuk is on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) list of endangered species, there is some debate as to just how endangered it is. Because of the danger of extinction, in 1983 Thailand’s Inland Fisheries Department developed a program to breed the fish in captivity. Every time a female was caught, it was kept alive until a male was netted, then the eggs were removed (by massaging the female’s ovaries) and