Far to the north of Thailand and located within the Udon Thani province lies the lake of Nong Han Kumphawapi. According to the folklore of the region (lore which encompasses both northern Thailand and neighbouring Laos), the lake plays a pivotal role in the tragic love tale of Phadaeng and Nang Ai, as do the flows which bloom within it (in their memory) and the wetlands within which it sits – wetlands that were designated as being of international importance in 2001, due to their biodiversity.
The lake is also, as of June 2024, the latest setting Jade Koltai has used as inspiration for an in-world region design. In doing so, Nong Han Kumphawapi joins Jade’s Painjin (2023) in depicting another of the physical world’s wetland areas within Second Life (see: A Red Beach in Second Life).
Covering an area of just under two square kilometres, with the surrounding wetlands covering a total of just over 4 square kilometres, the lake is also known as Talay Bua Daeng – Red Lotus Sea or Red Lotus Lake – due to the fact that while the water is more open that the surrounding wetlands, it is home a huge array of flowers which, which in bloom, turn the lake into a carpet of pink and red.
That the plants are tropical water lilies rather than lotus plants makes no difference – the sight of the flowers blooming across the water from around late November through until around late February give it both a mystical air and mark it as a tourist attraction. The lilies serve to hide a secret of the lake: whilst it may well cover an area of almost two square kilometres, it is for the most part little more than a metre in depth.
As noted, both the lake and the wetland are noted for their biodiversity, sustaining as it does a variety of fish, birds and plants. Water from the area also serves part of the Udon region to the south, providing them with water for agriculture, etc. However, it is within the tale (or rather, tales, as the story takes multiple forms) of Nang Ai and Phadaeng that the lake is best known to the peoples of northern Thailand and neighbouring Laos.
In essence the story goes that Nang Ai (and also known as Aikham), daughter of King Ek-Thita, became famed for her beauty, bringing forth suitors from far and wide; one of whom was Prince Phadaeng. Another was Prince Pangkhee (or Pangkhii to some), the son of the Grand Nâga, ruler of the deep. He was said to have been married to Nang Ai in at least one past incarnation and was determined to be so again. As neither Despite Nang Ai clearly being in love with Phadaeng, her father insists a contest is held for her hand – and neither Phadaeng nor Pangkhee succeed in winning it. Nang Ai’s uncle does, but he’s disbarred from wedding her, leaving everyone a tad miffed. However, both Pangkhee and Phadaeng determine they will each see the princess again.
Being the son of a shape-shifting deity, Pangkhee turns himself into an albino squirrel for his visit. In doing so, he successfully finds himself on the menu when Nang Ai sees him and decides stewed squirrel would go down rather well for lunch. Killed by Nang Ai’s hunter, with his dying breath, Pangkhee requests that his father avenge him and kill all who eat squirrel – and just to help sort out who this should be, turns himself into 8000 cart loads of ready-to-cook squirrel meat. This goes down very well (literally) for the townsfolk – and Nang Ai even serves the visiting Phadaeng squirrel soup.Enter the Grand Nâga and his angry horde to carry out the requested vengeance. As the killing rages, Phadaeng and Nang Ai attempt to flee on horseback, but the Grand Nâga floods the land, creating the lake and Nang Ai carelessly falls into it and drowns. Stricken with grief Phadaeng dies as well – only to bounce back as a ghost leading an army of ghosts, no also out for vengeance, this time on the Nâga’s horde, who are indeed defeated, but not before the land around the lake is flooded, forming the wetlands.
With her design, Jade particularly captures the flowering nature of the lake, although the setting perhaps suggesting it has been transposed to a more coastal location. The waters are shallow, the lilies in bloom, and here and there the land rises above the water. On one sits the remnants of an ancient temple, while more ruins and the remains of wood houses rise from the waters like romantic apparitions, watched over by cranes. A modern raised deck sits out over part of the water, clearly awaiting the arrival of tourists, whilst sampan-like boats float out among the lilies, just like the ones used to carry visitors over the shallow waters of the real Nong Han Kumphawapi.
Rich in bird song and setting under s sky in which a westering Sun is slowly setting, the region includes multiple places to sit and be serenaded by bird song and the gentle sounds of lapping water. Recommended.
SLurl Details
- Nong Han Kumphawapi (Overland Hills, rated Moderate)
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 