- Pak Nam Pho could then start out on Chao Phraya River, the last leg of the journey to Bangkok maneuvered with the help of two huge oars in the front of the raft. After the last raft had left, Garde also started out, but he was travelling north in a ‘manpowered’ boat of the company. Because of all the cataracts in Nan and Yom River, steam boats could no longer be used. It was then his task to find stranded logs between Sukothai and Phrae, where the rafts had not been formed yet. Pak Nam Pho was back then the outpost of the local edition of civilization. Small steamships easily reached its wooden quays. We know that King Chulalongkorn in 1881 asked, then Captain, Andreas Richelieu to sail the Norwegian explorer Carl Bock up here. It took four days and nights and a lot of coal against the current. Also The Royal Gendarmerie had a post and a block house in the town. Colonel Carl Springer, then captain, was most active in trying to reclaim stolen teak. The logs were often hidden in the big swamps to the East of Pak Nam Pho. Later Colonel Springer resigned from the Gendarmerie and for the rest of his life lived in Phrae where he worked for EAC. During our short stay of 3 days, the water level in the rivers rose tremendously fast and the current got even stronger. Dykes of at least 2 meters had been erected on top of the quays, but the water had already started to lick over them, more sandbags were added. The peaceful rivers and the landscape had turned to be an inferno of water running at high speed. High time to leave. It took us 11 long hours to reach the outskirts of Bangkok.
Travel there In the dry season travelling to Nakhon Sawan by ‘The Asian Highway’ 1 and 32 is easy and the town and surroundings are really worth it. There is a steep hill - or rock, in northern part of town; prominent in the landscape also because of antennas and radars, but nevertheless there is public access by a serpentine road. The road starts by the pompous Greek inspired white Town Hall at the foot of the hill. On the top there is a little temple and a
magnificent view over the town, the rivers and the swamps. As an extra, a lot of birds will surround you. As an exception, I would like to recommend a hotel, namely The Vissanu Grand Plaza. Although absolutely affordable, the hotel offers good value (and a good breakfast) for money. As all over the world you can be sure when you note all the cars of the sales representatives and the technicians parked safely inside the hotel campus.
Source: Mazar de la Garde, Ernst (1945): ’Blandt Teaktraeer og Elefanter’ [Among Teaktrees and Elephants]
Post Scriptum We left Nakhon Sawan the fifth of October 2011. The water situation was as the photos show. But I really feared how this would end; the amount of water was extreme and the speed fast and powerful as an iron fist. Two days later the town was totally inundated up to the foot of Khao Kop Mountain. Nakhon Sawan paid a high price and it will take a long time to rebuild. Whether people can live in the town without fear in the rainy season, I don’t know. January 2012 • ScandAsia.Thailand 21