Khua Tae: the Woven Bamboo Bridge of Northern Thailand

Khua tae (ข฿วฯแตะ, Kham Mueang reading khua tae) is a woven bamboo bridge in Kham Mueang (Northern Thai). Khua (ข฿วฯ, khua) means a bridge, and tae (แตะ, tae) is bamboo split into thin strips and woven into a close panel, laid as the deck to walk on. A bridge like this is a villagers' bridge over streams and rice fields, and the Su Tong Pae bridge in Mae Hong Son is the best-known long bamboo bridge, one that several media call the longest in Thailand.

This post is part of our series Kham Mueang Word of the Week, where we take one Lanna word and tell the story behind it. Every word comes from the Moradok Lanna dictionary. It is a word for the cool season, when many people travel north.

What does khua tae mean?

The dictionary explains khua tae as a "bridge of woven bamboo panels", with a deck made of closely plaited bamboo for walking across, and adds that it is "a small bridge that villagers build together in the community, over rivers and canals near the village or across the rice fields".

The word has two parts. Khua is a bridge (the dictionary says the Lanna dialect word for a bridge is khua) and tae is "bamboo split into small pieces and woven into a panel". The dictionary adds that the word is also used for a kind of open-heeled sandal, called koep tae.

Khua: bridge words in Kham Mueang

Kham Mueang has a whole set of words for using a bridge.

Kai khua means laying a pole across, while a khua tae is a bridge with a woven bamboo deck to walk on.

Tae: bamboo woven into panels

Phai (ไผ่, phai), bamboo, is per the dictionary a plant that grows in clumps, with clear joints and sections, whose wood is used for furniture and woven ware. The craftsman starts with chak tok (จักฯตอฯก, chak tok), splitting bamboo into thin flat strips, and then khat tae (ขัดฯแตะ, khat tae), weaving them into a panel (the dictionary records this as "to weave tae"). The dictionary explains tae as "a closely woven bamboo panel".

The dictionary uses the word "closely woven" for this kind of deck: the strips are plaited tightly together into a panel.

Su Tong Pae, Mae Hong Son: a bridge of temple and village

Mae Hong Son (แม่ฮ่อฯงสอฯร, mae hong son) is one of the eight Lanna provinces, which the dictionary calls the "city of three mists". Here stands a bamboo bridge called Su Tong Pae at Ban Kung Mai Sak, Pang Mu subdistrict, Mueang district. It joins a temple to the village across rice fields and the Sa-nga River. Su Tong Pae is a Tai (ไท, tai) word, that is Tai Yai (Shan), which Manager Online (2015) renders as "a wish fulfilled". The Moradok Lanna dictionary does not yet have the name as a headword (on the Tai Yai, see The Tai Peoples).

Pin Butri (Manager Online, 5 March 2015) tells that the bridge was built through faith: monks and novices of Suan Tham Phu Sa Ma and the villagers of Ban Kung Mai Sak, led by Phra Palat Chittaphat Akkhapanyo. The landowner donated the land, and others gave timber, bamboo, labour and money. It is about 500 m long and about 2 m wide, built on timber posts and beams with some steel, and its deck uses several bamboo styles, including a "khat tae deck" and a "woven bamboo deck". Monks walk across it on their morning alms round, and villagers use it between the temple and the village.

The sources disagree on the length and the year it was built, so we show all three. What they share is a bridge hundreds of metres long across the paddies, built through the faith of a temple and its community.

Alms on the bridge, and what to know before you go

At dawn people stand waiting to sai bat (ไส่บาฯระฯต, sai bat), to offer alms, as a tu chao (ทุเจั้า, tu chao), the Lanna word for a monk, walks across. Chao (เชั้า, chao) is the time before sunrise. Thai Holiday Guide suggests going between November and February, when mist often sits over the paddies, and arriving around 6:15 a.m. to see the monks collect alms around 6:30 a.m. The bridge is open daily 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., with a donation box at the entrance, and the flexing planks creak, so wear shoes with a good grip.

This is a path for the temple and the villagers. Manager Online (2015) asks visitors not to damage the bridge and not to jump on it, because that wears it out faster. We suggest walking quietly and keeping out of the monks' way, because the bridge was built from the sat-tha (ระฯศัทธฯาฯ, sat-tha), the faith, of the temple and the community.

Related words

• Khua / khua tae: a bridge, and a bridge with a woven bamboo deck
• Tae / khat tae: a closely woven bamboo panel, and weaving a panel
• Kai khua / tai khua / tok khua: lay a pole as a bridge, walk on a bridge, fall off a bridge
• Nam pa: a flash flood from forest or mountain
• Na (นาฯ, na) and nam mae (นาฯแม่, nam mae): a rice field and a river, the two things a bridge crosses. Read more field words in Rice and Fields in Kham Mueang.

Summary

• Khua tae is a bridge with a woven bamboo deck. Khua means bridge and tae is bamboo woven into a panel. The dictionary calls it a small bridge that villagers build across streams and fields.
• Kham Mueang has a full set of bridge words, such as kai khua, tai khua and tok khua.
• Su Tong Pae in Mae Hong Son is a long bamboo bridge built through faith; sources differ on its length and year.
• The bridge was damaged by flash floods in August 2026 and was being repaired; check its status before you go.
• It is the temple's alms path, so walk quietly and do not jump on it.

Look up the full meaning at ขัวแต๋ะ in the Moradok Lanna dictionary, and read on about Mae Hong Son in Eight Lanna Provinces.

Sources

• Moradok Lanna dictionary (in Thai): ขัวแต๋ะ · ขัว · แต๋ะ · ขั๋ดแต๋ะ · ก่ายขัว · น้ำป่า · ใส่บาตร
• ปิ่น บุตรี. (5 March 2015). “ซูตองเป้” สะพานไม้ไผ่ยาวสุดในไทย สร้างจากใจศรัทธา อย่า“ทำร้าย”!!!กันเลย [“Su Tong Pae”, Thailand's longest bamboo bridge, built from faith]. In Thai. Manager Online
• Su Tong Pe Bridge, Tham Phu Sama Park. Thai Holiday Guide
• สยามรัฐ. (21 September 2026). “สะพานซูตองเป้” เร่งซ่อมหลังน้ำป่าซัดขาด คาดเปิดรับนักท่องเที่ยวปลายสัปดาห์นี้ [Su Tong Pae bridge under urgent repair after flash flood]. In Thai. Siam Rath
• ผู้จัดการออนไลน์. (3 August 2026). “สะพานซูตองเป้” ทรุดต้านกระแสน้ำไม่ไหว จำต้องรื้อบางส่วน เพื่อให้ยังปลอดภัย [Su Tong Pae bridge gives way to the current; part dismantled for safety]. In Thai. Manager Online
• แนวหน้า. (3 August 2026). น้ำป่าถล่มแม่ฮ่องสอน! ซัดคอสะพาน'ซูตองเป้'ขาด ตัดขาดทางเดินวัด-หมู่บ้าน [Flash flood hits Mae Hong Son; Su Tong Pae bridge head cut]. In Thai. Naewna