สันติชล 山地村歡迎您 Santichon Village (Chinese Yunnan village)

Saturday, November 25, 2023 10:04:07 PM

Mae Hong Son Province > Pai Town > Places of Interest > สันติชล 山地村歡迎您 Santichon Village (Chinese Yunnan village)

สันติชล
山地村歡迎您
Santichon Village
(Chinese Yunnan village)
南湖山地村

Ban Santichon or Yunnan Chinese Cultural Centre village. A popular tourist attraction, which has more than 1,000 Chinese hill-tribe villagers. A nice little village nestled in mountains of Pai. Geared toward tourism but still a functioning village.

China Town of Santichon Village was formerly Chinese Yunnan Culture Center

China Town of Santichon Village (formerly Chinese Yunnan village) include hill tribe people, immigrants from Yunnan and 48 are formal nationalist Chinese solders. The villagers built this culture center to attract tourists.

This is a Chinese Village and not those typical Chinatown you see around the world. This is one of 100 over Chinese villages situated in northern Thailand populated by Yunnan tribes people.

A village in Thailand with Chinese historical significance

On a hilly region in North Thailand is this Santichon Village with Chinese historical significance. Story tellers like to link this village to the mysterious Golden Triangle and conflict-ridden opium fields. But Golden Triangle is in Burma and the villagers here never planted any poppy fields. However, its real heroic historical link to the war ridden China just half a century ago is not a story....

Little known mountain village Santichon is on a hilly region 5 km away from PAI Town. Thanks to the stories, thousands of tourists were lure to this mystery destinations seeking for a different holiday experience. The business minded Chinese do not disappointed them. The Chinese villagers developed a colorful Culture Centre at the foot hill and beautify their village walls on the hills. Providing the visitors colors for tones of essential Facebook snaps to return home.
Other-wise, Santichon is just another quiet and ordinary village like hundred of other "Chinese" Villages in North Thailand.
Santichon Village 's historical significance was Thailand merciful refuge for Chinese Nationalist soldiers after their defeat by the Communist Red Army in 1949. The Thai people call this a Chinese village because the villagers are mainly Chinese. Though also a small number of other hill tribes also live in the same village.

Why such a group of Chinese living in such a remote mountain town in northern Thailand?
The story began with the civil wars in China in the 1940s between the Nationalist Government (Kuomintang國民黨 ) and the Communist Party.
The Nationalist Government (Kuomintang國民黨 ) lost the civil war in 1949. The defeated Kuomintang party retreated to Taiwan Island. Their veterans in the West of China retreated to Burma Golden Triangle region and North Thailand.
These retreated army and family members had a total 100,000 of them. The Thai government was willingness to give them a long-term residence as refugees with a restriction to the areas assigned to them. Thus 100 of such Chinese villages appeared in remote hills in North of Thailand. This Santichon Village in Pai is one of the hundreds such villages.

70 years has passed, the first batch of Chinese refugees by now has gone. What you meet today are their decedents, many are legal citizens. Although they were born or have lived in Thailand for many years, they have not changed their life style.
Gradually by 2004, many young decedents have obtained legal Thai status. But their Chinese traditions and customs still exist in all these refugees villages. There are schools in the villages which taught in Chinese language.
After many decades, the living conditions in these Chinese villages have improved. As for Santichon Village, it has also become a tourist attraction which brought them some economy improvement. Most of the tourists who come here to visit this village are mostly Thai tourists.

山地村 Santichon Village

Santichon Village has three visitors places of interest:
1- China Town at the foot hill中國城
2- Oversea Education School for the Chinese villagers海育中學
3- Yun Lai Viewpoint above the village on a hill top 雲來觀景台

1- 山地村中國城 China Town of Santichon Village

泰國泰北華校山地村海育中學 Oversea Education School of Santichon Village
2- Oversea Education School for the Chinese villagers 海育中學

泰國泰北華校山地村海育中學 Oversea Education School of Santichon Village

3- 雲來觀景台 Yun Lai Viewpoint at Santichon Village above the village on a hill top 雲來觀景台

Mud houses for two are for rent at Bt1,000 per house, two-bed houses for four at Bt1,500 and six-bed houses for 12 people is at Bt4,000. This splendid viewpoint is about 800m high above the village hill. Here you can enjoy a pot of Chinese tea for Bt20.

Yunnanese restaurant

The popular dishes in the restaurant in Culture Centre – braised pork’s leg with Chinese bread. Support the community by buying local souvenirs.

The Chinese people here are descendants of part of the "Lost Army" of the 93rd Division of the Kuomintang, who retreated south after the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949.

Visitors can dressed up in traditional Chinese clothes and had heaps of photos taken for only 100thb each. There was Arrow Shooting, small horse ride (20thb) and fish feeding. A pleasant experience to wander around - interesting display of story of the village. Great to contribute to the village to survive on tourist money rather than drug trade.

Nice Little Village

You know this is a Chinese Village with a lot of Chinese writings and drawings appear on the village wall.