Highway 108

Look close! That's Marcia standing
on the wobbly bridge over
Ob Luang gorge. We used to like 
stopping there on the way to
Mae Sariang before the fees
got too expensive.

What we generally called “the road to Mae Sariang” is more properly called Highway 108. An  AI overview from a Google search says, “Highway 108 in Thailand is a famous, winding mountain road, part of the scenic Mae Hong Son Loop in Northern Thailand, connecting Chiang Mai, Mae Sariang, Khun Yuam, and Mae Hong Son, known for its dramatic landscapes, steep climbs, numerous curves (over 2,000 in parts!), and popularity with motorcyclists and tourists seeking adventure and stunning views.” 

In 1984, I’d say most of the AI overview is accurate except I doubt anyone would have called the road to Mae Sariang “famous”. Tourists rarely came whether they were seeking adventure or not. For us, other than the only way to get to Mae Sariang, it was most famous for snail paced, massively overweight logging trucks creeping up and down the long steep grades. On down hill runs we could tell a logging truck, cargo truck or bus was ahead of us by the smell of overheated brakes. When the overheated brakes gave out, we also saw more than we wanted of crashed trucks and buses.

 If not famous, Highway 108 was at least a well known route used to get to places like Doi Inthanon (the highest mountain in Thailand), with it’s gorgeous vistas, waterfalls, and picturesque villages and fields. In fact, the AI description of dramatic landscapes, steep climbs and numerous curves is spot on for most of the trip between Chiang Mai to Mae Sariang and beyond.

By the time we moved to Mae Sariang, we’d travelled Highway 108 a few times already. But Chiang Mai was the main hub for the Karen Baptist Church as well as much of the Baptist mission work in northern Thailand. That meant there were trips to and from Chiang Mai for meetings, gatherings, celebrations, supplies, materials for our projects, etc. We soon became so familiar with Highway 108, at least the part from Chiang Mai to Mae Sariang, I think we had all 2000 curves memorized. To be honest, we made so many trips to and from Chiang Mai there were times we wondered why we had ever moved!

A sample of the mountain vistas along Highway 108

In 1984, Highway 108 started as a two-lane road heading south out of Chiang Mai. Though there were officially only two lanes, one going north and one going south, it was common to have 4 – 5 vehicles abreast filling those two lanes with half going one direction and half the other direction all at 60 mph. It could be a gauntlet at times and it was critical to know exactly just how wide your vehicle was. Drivers would shoot through gaps between vehicles without even flinching. And drivers would pass slower vehicles veering into the opposite lane darting back into their lane in the nick of time. Or not…They might also keep going in the opposite lane and depend on those drivers to leave room. Yes, there were accidents and when they happened, they were bad, but drivers generally knew their vehicles and what they could get away with so there weren’t as many accidents as one might expect. Plus, it was just the way everyone drove. Seeing another vehicle on “my” side of the road caused no excitement or concern. There was almost always room for everyone as long as no one panicked.

A hill rice field along Highway 108

Survival demanded that we learn to drive like the locals so we soon figured out how wide our vehicle
was and would pass in places and shoot gaps between cars we’d never dream of if driving in the US. I guess we didn’t even know we were doing it until we came back. Fresh from Thailand, I know I gave my brother a ride a few times and had him stomping the floor trying to find a brake pedal on his side of the car and generally gave him heart palpitations.

Soon, the government started a project to widen Highway 108 to 4 lanes but it took years and years before it was completed. Because of the construction though, for much of the time we were driving Highway 108, it was dirt and gravel with no lanes marked at all so vehicles wandered hither and yon going all directions at all speeds.

Traffic got a little lighter once we got beyond the town of Chom Thong and became a little more organized. Then we could begin to enjoy the scenery. There were high mountains on the right and the Ping River Valley on the left. In the river valley were sprawling orchards of Lamyai (Longan) and Linchee (Lychee). Continuing south, it got increasingly rural and there were more orchards and agricultural land. Eventually, we’d cross the Mae Chaem River and enter the town of Hod. We might stop at a road side stand in Hod for a bite of lunch and likely fill up with gas because Highway 108 made a right turn to head west and climb up the mountains for the next 106 km. We knew we’d be downshifting and the engine would be sucking up the gas in a hurry as we tried to keep up our momentum on the climbs.

But before climbing in earnest, there was a stretch of road that followed the Mae Chaem River. We’d bob and weave along the river hoping no one too slow was in front of us as it was hard to pass. Soon, we’d come to Ob Luang, an impressive gorge cut through rock where the Mae Chaem River had made a path for itself. In our early years in Thailand, we could visit there at will. There was a metal pedestrian bridge that had been built across the gorge. It was pretty wobbly and scary with rusted metal and rotten wood, but we walked out on it a few times. There was a small park there and it was a nice place for a picnic along the river.

Rice about ready to harvest in paddy fields along
Highway 108

Somewhere along the line though, Ob Luang became a national park and they started to charge admission. Signs were posted saying the admission was 20 Baht for Thai and 200 Baht for foreigners. The signs were written in Thai with Thai numerals that look nothing like our numbers. But we could read Thai so we knew we were being charged 10 times more than the Thai even while we paid taxes like everyone else. For a while, we could talk our way out of paying the foreign price. Eventually though, the gatekeepers were unmoved by our arguments and we’d have to pay full price if we wanted to enter. We didn’t like having to pay for what had been free for years and downright resented paying more than others did so we no longer stopped there.

Past Ob Luang, the road would climb and twist in earnest. There were no automatic transmissions in Thailand at the time, so as much as a road, this stretch of highway was an advanced course in shifting gears. Shift too early or too late and our usually loaded pick up truck would bog down with no chance to regain any momentum until the next downhill stretch. Slow moving logging trucks, heavy cargo trucks, overloaded pick up trucks, and buses added an element of a slalom course to the road as we’d bob and weave going around them. It was rare to see oncoming traffic very far ahead on all the curves so we often passed slow vehicles on faith as much as anything else. We’re still here, so I suppose we were faithful enough!

At a Lawa village called Kio Lom was a turn off that went to the town of Om Koi. It marked the top of the mountain and Highway 108 would then do milder ups, downs and curves as it cruised along the ridge top. Most of the villages from here on out were of Karen people. Pwo Karen were generally on the left (south side of the road) and Sgaw Karen more or less to the right. The OMF and New Tribes Missions were working in the Pwo Karen areas along the road to Om Koi and the left side of Highway 108 while the right side was more linked to the Karen Baptist Churches and American Baptist work.

Marcia among the sunflowers alongside Highway 108 at
Mae Hau Village. In the distance, the road disappears.
That's where the road heads downhill all the way
to Mae Sariang.

Mae Hau is a Hmong village at the last mountain top before a long, twisting downhill run into Mae
Sariang. Even in 1984, it was known locally for it’s “sunflowers” that would bloom along the road. Broader sunflower fields became a popular tourist spot further north and the Hmong, being generally pretty savvy business people saw an economic opportunity. So as we left Thailand, Mae Hau had allowed the sunflower fields to expand, they’d set up some coffee shops and the like, so that it now contributes to the “popularity with motorcyclists and tourists seeking adventure and stunning views” as noted in the AI overview.

Downshifting and coasting so we didn’t overheat the brakes, we’d leave Mae Hau and plunge down hill for the final 16 km. When we crossed the Mae Sariang River, the road flattened and it was time to slow down. Mae Sariang was just ahead.

Our neighbor across the street. 

Highway 108 would make a sharp turn to the right and begin to follow the Yuam River valley and eventually reach the town of Mae Hong Sorn. But for us, we’d veer off the left side of the road and avoid the curve if we wanted to go to down town Mae Sariang. If we needed gas, or wanted to go more directly to our house, we go around the curve, head north a bit then turn left. Our house was just across a few streets, then at the last street that as parallel to the Yuam River, we’d turn right, go past the Mae Sariang Christian Hospital to our house on the right.

Welcome home!