Thai. ‘Scorpion-tail boat’. Name for a historical type of boat characterised by a high, upward-curving stern (fig.), resembling the raised tail of a scorpion (fig.). It has a large cabin covered with a rounded roof and its belly is made from thick, durable wood, able to withstand collisions with rocks, knolls and hillocks in shallow waters (fig.). Scorpion-Tail Boats are traditional boats of Chiang Mai Province. It is believed that scorpion-tail boats were already in use during the reign of Queen Chamadevi of Haripunchai. According to legend, their design originated from the imagination of traditional boat builders in the past, who happened to see a coconut husk floating on the water during the flood season. Living on the husk were ants, worms, insects, and scorpions, and one scorpion was seen raising its tail towards the sky. The shape inspired the structure of a boat. Scorpion-tail boats are well suited to the geographical conditions of Chiang Mai, as the Ping River contains many rapids during the dry season. Made from teakwood, these boats float better than other types of boats and are also very strong. When striking rocks or rapids, the hull does not easily crack or break. The teakwood used to make a scorpion-tail boat must be extremely large, reportedly with a diameter of approximately between 4 to 8 metres. Northern Thailand was once rich in teak forests, and though heavier than softwoods, teak is lighter than many other tropical hardwoods, floats better than most other woods, and does not warp or bend. For these reasons, teak was widely used for dugout boats in the past, and it was also used to make other types of boats. In the early period, scorpion-tail boats were used by the northern nobility. Their golden age was during the reign of Phra Chao Inthawichayanon (พระเจ้าอินทวิชยานนท์), the seventh ruler of Lan Na during the time that it was still an independent state, and the father of Princess Dara Radsami, who later became a royal consort of King Chulalongkorn (fig.). He had a scorpion-tail boat built for Princess Dara Radsami to travel to the capital. In addition, King Rama V also traveled by this kind of boat to the Sai Yohk Waterfalls (fig.) in 1877 and 1888. In later times, scorpion-tail boats were used to transport goods between Bangkok and Chiang Mai, a journey that took approximately six to nine months. It was then a common means of transportation to move up and down the river, before the arrival of the railway, particularly near Bangkok. In the later period, the construction of scorpion-tail boats came to a halt as large teak trees became increasingly scarce due to logging and the timber trade supplying Bangkok. Furthermore, with the construction of the railway into Chiang Mai and the building of the Bhumiphon Dam (fig.) in Tak Province, scorpion-tail boats eventually disappeared from the waters of the Ping River. 回