On the teak trail in Chiang Mai
Boutique hotel 137 Pillars House Chiang Mai brings the old teak wallahs, or gentlemen foresters, back to life with a historical tour, says Helen Dalley
Uncover the tales and trials of the teak wallahs in Chiang Mai with the 137 Pillars boutique hotel
With its proliferation of old colonial buildings like the gymkhana club, founded in 1898, and ancient temples ( Wat Chiang Man has stood here since 1296), Chiang Mai makes for a great heritage getaway, and there is no more stylish setting to start your historic journey than boutique bolthole 137 Pillars Chiang Mai, a 30-room hotel built around a restored teak homestead that takes its name from the 137 pillars that it originally sat on. Dating back to the late 1800s when it was the northern headquarters of the British-owned forestry firm, the East Borneo Trading Company, the office was opened by Louis Leonowens, whose mother was a British teacher in the Royal Thai Court. The house served as residence of the manager until 1927 and in the post WWII years, was sold to Scotsman William Bain, William’s son Jack joined the family business and raised his family on the grounds, Teak continued to be highly prized in Britain and the rest of Europe due to its durability and resistance to insects, which made it an excellent material for shipbuilding.
The hotel references its former owners in suite names, the most upscale of which are the two Louis Leonowens suites, each sized at 135 sqm and equipped with a private pool, while the East Borneo suites pay tribute to Bain’s Scottish roots with tartan curtains. At Jack Bain’s bar, copper sheet and leather accents – both widely traded in Southeast Asia at the time – complement the existing aged teak architecture, where lime green leather barstools and maroon velvet club chairs are the perfect place to recline with a G&T in hand, which was one of Bain’s favourite tipples.
VINTAGE DETAILING
After an early flight and nimble transfer (the airport is about a 20-minute drive away from the hotel), I’m swiftly escorted to my suite, taking in the blissed-out ambience, the daybeds lined with silk cushions surrounded by frangipanis and the sculptures (there’s an al fresco art exhibition going on). I freshen up before lunch in the Dining Room, an exquisite teak structure given a contemporary touch with diners seated in canopy beds under a cluster of turquoise lanterns. Lunch is light-as-a-feather spring rolls, fragrant prawn or tofu noodles and an upscale twist on mango sticky rice. After lunch, there’s time to make a more thoughtful assessment of the suite’s vintage tiled veranda and rattan rocking chair (there’s a day bed should you prefer to recline) and gaze out over the hotel’s property tropical gardens, where lanterns dangle languidly from the high branches of the trees. The highlight of the en suite bathroom is either the free-standing Victorian bath tub or walk-in closet (I just can't decide), while the framed blackand-white photos adorning the walls document a time in Chiang Mai’s history when elephants were still used to transport teak logs.
As I sit awhile, I’m stunned by just how quiet everything is: in these digital times, I can’t even make out the quiet rustle as the page of a paperback is turned over. Instead, the elderly gentleman sat in my eyeline is on his iPad, not moving a muscle. I can’t see, or hear, anyone else. The quiet continues with a blissful Thai massage at Nitra Spa. From there, it’s a dash to the walking street, where the usual round-up at Asian markets – purses, wall hangings, paintings – are waiting to be snapped up as blind musicians
bang out tunes on old Thai instruments. At night, the turndown service delivers a nightly bedtime story, each with a moral, like the ‘the little mouse’.
TRAILING THE TEAK WALLAHS
Keen to tap into its history, the hotel recently launched the Tales and Trails of the Teak Wallahs day trip, a one day excursion that chronicles the colourful lives of gentleman foresters or “teak wallahs” as they were affectionately known in Thailand.
Oak had become scarce in Europe and adventurers had just discovered the teak forests of Asia, which sparked off a gold rush for the timber. Northern Thailand became the centre of the teak industry in the region with the arrival of the British-owned Borneo Timber Company in the late 1870s. With holdings in Chiang Mai, Lamphun, Lampang, Phrae and Nan, the Borneo Timber Company rapidly became the richest and most powerful teak business in the region. By the end of the 19th century, three more firms had obtained leases in Chiang Mai and Lampang. These British companies controlled 60 per cent of Chiang Mai's teak output. When the Borneo Company obtained a 100-year lease for a huge plot of land on the east bank of the Ping River near Wat Ket in 1888, it dispatched Louis Leonowens to establish a branch office. When he wasn’t gambling with the local chief, he built four lavish teak houses, one of which served as the headquarters of the Borneo Company until it was bought by William Bain. His descendants eventually sold it to the Wongphanlert family, which is now the centrepiece of the hotel. A dominant slice of the expat community at the time, the cast of colourful characters included another Borneo Company teak wallah David Fleming Macfie, the missionary Dr. Marion Alphonso Cheek and the famous British Consul General W.A.R Wood. They brought with them Western customs and traditions, celebrating Christmas with polo and pony races.
The tour starts with an exploration of the temple complex adjacent to the museum, and the Wat Ket Museum, founded by Jack Bain, where gramophones line up against traditional massage tools, fans, busts, statues and the inevitable proliferation of Buddhist memorabilia. After, we cross the Ping river by way of the Chansom Memorial Bridge (it was destroyed by teak logs in 1932 and reconstructed in 1965) and head out to Lampang, a city two hours south of Chiang Mai.
On the way, we stop at the Lanna Ancient House, one of the oldest houses in Chiang Mai, which has stood here since 1867 and once owned by a Burmese logging contractor. Prior to arriving in Lampang and in keeping with the teak theme, we pause at Wat Si Rong Mueang, a teak temple built in 1905 by Burmese settlers where no candles or incense can be burned due to the risk of fire, with teak columns supporting the roof adorned with colourful glass mosaics. We lunch at a riverside restaurant, surprised by the lack of tourists after travelling from busy Chiang Mai, and take a horse and carriage ride around the city’s sleepy streets, to the Horse Cart Museum, which has a carriage that Thai royalty once travelled in, and also acts as a repair shop for the carriages. We then clip-clop our way to Louis House, the former office of Louis Leonowens Company, a charming colonialstyle two-story teak structure that’s currently being restored by the Forestry Department. It’s a house that’s inspired countless paintings and it acts as a backdrop to various local events and performances. From there, we drive to one of Lampang’s most popular tourist spots, Ban Sao Nak, which features 116 teak pillars (21 less than the hotel–so not quite so prestigious apparently). Built by wealthy Burmese merchant Muang Chan Ong, it has stood here since 1895 and is an alluring mix of Burmese and Lanna styles. The rooms are still furnished so you can get a feel for what it was like for the people who once lived here. We arrive late in the day just as a Chinese tour bus is departing and are have the house pretty much to ourselves, the plants and linen on the table making it feel very much lived-in.
THE COOL SIDE OF CHIANG MAI
After a day exploring the teak wallahs’ old haunts, it’s time to experience the cool, contemporary side of the city with dinner at the Woo Café and Art Gallery, where muffins and cakes are displayed under glass covers and juxtaposed against vases of Thai orchids in just about every colour under the gaze of designer lampshades. Each dish is breathtakingly beautiful, clearly curated to stand the fierce scrutiny of social
media but also no slouch in the taste department either. The pad Thai is served on banana leaf and draped in egg, each ingredient reassuringly fresh, while the rice salad is equally zingy, with green mango, dry coconut, torch ginger, pomelo and lemongrass on the side all adding some punch.
Arguably the best spot in the city for cocktails is The Rooftop Bar at the Sala Lanna hotel, a boutique gem with 360-degree views over the Ping River and out to the city. I order up a mojito and gaze out over the skyline as the tassled white lanterns blow this way and that in the gentle breeze. It’s happy hour but surprisingly, enjoyably quiet, the only sounds a lone swimmer doing laps in the pool and the occasional jiggle of a cocktail shaker as another mojito is mixed and poured.
The next day, we head 40 minutes’ west to Patara elephant farm (see box) then there’s time to kick back at the hotel in the afternoon. I do some lengths in the pool, which is set against a backdrop of a live green wall, the water reassuringly green and unchlorinated. Exercise done for the day, it’s time, yet again, to indulge, as our teak wallahs undoubtedly did, with a spot of afternoon tea, which can be served on the verandah of your suite. The three tiers are given a decidedly Thai twist with longan scones underneath the jam and cream and it’s all the more delightful to bite into one and sip an Earl Grey sprawled on the day bed in the late afternoon sun.
After a gin & tonic at Jack Bain’s bar and a western dinner of broccoli & green curry veloute, pasta pomodoro and chocolate lava cake with Chantilly cream at Palette, it’s an early night in preparation for the 03.20am flight back to Hong Kong but not before a soak in the delightfully deep Victorian bathtub. With their love of socialising and the finer things in life, the teak wallahs would have undoubtedly adored the understated elegance of 137 Pillars, and the tour provides a fitting tribute to these gentlemen foresters.
The writer travelled with Air Asia from Hong Kong to Chiang Mai and stayed at 137 Pillars Chiang Mai; 137pillarschiangmai.com. The Tales and Trails of the Teak Wallahs day trip costs US$196 per person and includes transportation by private vehicle, an English-speaking guide, meals and entrance fees