Thailand (Lonely Planet, 13th Edition) - China Williams [409]
Srng·ta·ou to Ban Khwao (17B, 30 minutes, every 20 minutes) park in front of Pat Pat internet cafe in Chaiyaphum.
Tat Ton National Park
The best known of Chaiyaphum’s natural reserves, Tat Ton National Park (0 4485 3333; admission 200B) is a scenic little spot on the edge of the Laenkha mountain range, 23km north of the city. Covering 218 sq km, Tat Ton is best known for its photogenic namesake waterfall, which is only 6m tall but stretches to 50m wide during the May to October rainy season. Some people think it’s more beautiful from January to April, Because the water is clearer then. On weekdays when school is in session, you’ll probably be the only sightseer at the park’s smaller waterfalls. Tat Fah is the next most beautiful and functions as a 20m waterslide during the rainy season.
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MÁT·MÈE
Thanks to growing interest from both Thais and foreigners, the once-fading Isan tradition of mát·mèe has undergone a major revival and is now one of Thailand’s best-known weaving styles. Similar to Indonesian ikat, mát·mèe is a tie-dye process (mát is ‘tie’ and mèe is ‘strands’) that results in a geometric pattern repeatedly turning back on itself as it runs up the fabric. No matter what the design, every mát·mèe fabric has an ever-so-slight blur to it, which, more than anything else, makes it so distinct.
To start, the weavers string their thread (either silk or cotton) tightly across a wooden frame sized exactly as wide as the finished fabric will be. Almost always working from memory, the weavers then tie plastic (traditionally the skin of banana plant stalks was used) around bunches of strands in their desired design. The frame is then dipped in the dye (usually a chemical colour, though natural sources such as flowers and tree bark are regaining popularity), which grips the exposed thread but leaves the wrapped sections clean. The wrapping and dipping continues for multiple rounds, which results in intricate, complex patterns that come to life on the loom. The more you see of the process, the more you realise how amazing it is that the finished product turns out so beautifully.
Most of the patterns, handed down from mother to daughter, are abstract representations of natural objects such as trees and birds, but increasingly designers are working with weaving groups to create modern patterns, which invariably fetch higher prices. On the other hand, a thin silk with a simple pattern that can be turned out quite fast, might cost as little as 100B per metre.
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The park has campsites (per person with own tent 30B, 3-/5-person tent hire 320/525B) and 15 bungalows (0 2562 0760; www.dnp.go.th/parkreserve; 2-14 people 600-3500B), most along the river near Nam Tok Tat Ton, plus a restaurant and snack shops.
Srng·ta·ou (30B, one hour, every half-hour) from Chaiyaphum pass the park entrance road (a hilly 1.5km walk from the falls; the park guards will get you a ride if you wait), but after 9.30am they rarely return along this route. You can continue north to Ban Tah Hin Ngin and loop around from there, but it is faster just to hitch a ride back to town, which is quite easy to do.
Mor Hin Khow
Promoted as the ‘Stonehenge of Thailand’, Mor Hin Khow (small hill with white rocks; 04481 0902; admission free) is the most popular part of Phu Laenkha National Park. It comprises a line of five natural stone pinnacles, Grun Sao Hin, with tapered bottoms that rise to 15m. Between these and the sunset-perfect Pha Hua Nak (Naga-head Cliff), another 2.5km up the mountain, are three more fields of less dramatic, but still oddly sculpted, rocks.
Most of the well-signposted route, 21km northwest of Tat Ton National Park, is on smooth new roads, but it’s dirt for the last 5.5km.