Um Phang & Around

Introducing Um Phang & Around

Route 1090 goes south from Mae Sot to Um Phang, 150km away. This stretch of road used to be called the ‘Death Highway’ because of the guerrilla activity in the area that hindered highway development. Those days ended in the 1980s, but lives are still lost because of brake failure or treacherous turns on this steep, winding road through incredible mountain scenery.

Along the way there are short hikes off the highway to two waterfalls, Nam Tok Thararak (26km from Mae Sot) and Nam Tok Pha Charoen (41km). Nam Tok Thararak streams over limestone cliffs and calcified rocks with a rough texture that makes climbing the falls easy. It’s been made into a park of sorts, with benches right in the stream at the base of the falls for cooling off and a couple of outhouse toilets nearby; on weekends food vendors set up here.

The eucalyptus-lined dirt road leaves the highway between the Km 24 and Km 25 markers. A side road at the Km 48 marker leads to a group of government-sponsored hill-tribe villages (Karen, Lisu, Hmong, Mien, Lahu). Just beyond Ban Rom Klao 4 – roughly midway between Mae Sot and Um Phang – is a very large Karen and Burmese refugee village (called Um Piam) with around 20, 000 refugees that were moved here from camps around Rim Moei. There are also several Hmong villages.

Sitting at the junction of Mae Nam Klong and Huay Um Phang, Um Phang is an overgrown village populated mostly by Karen. Many Karen villages in this area are very traditional, and elephants are used as much as oxen for farm work. Yaeng (elephant saddles) and other tack used for elephant wrangling are a common sight on the verandas of Karen houses outside of town. You’ll also see plenty of elephants in other Karen villages throughout the district. The name for the district comes from the Karen word umpha, a type of bamboo container in which travelling Karen carried their documents to show to Thai border authorities.

An interesting hike can be done that follows the footpaths northeast of the village through rice fields and along Huay Um Phang to a few smaller Karen villages. At the border where Amphoe Um Phang meets Myanmar, near the Thai-Karen villages of Ban Nong Luang and Ban Huay, is a Karen refugee village inhabited by more than 500 Karen who originally hailed from Htikabler village on the other side of border.

South of Um Phang, towards Sangkhlaburi in Kanchanaburi province, Um Phang Wildlife Sanctuary (admission 400B) is a Unesco World Heritage site. One of its most popular attractions is Nam Tok Thilawsu, the largest waterfall in Thailand. Um Phang Wildlife Sanctuary links with the Thung Yai Naresuan National Park and Huay Kha Kaeng Wildlife Sanctuary (another Unesco World Heritage site), as well as Khlong Lan and Mae Wong National Parks to form Thailand’s largest wildlife corridor and one of the largest intact natural forests in Southeast Asia.

Last updated: Mar 24, 2009