If you read anything about the mountaintop town of Mae Salong, you’ll be told that it doesn’t resemble a typical Thai town at all and that you’ll feel like you’re in northern Laos or southern China. That’s very true; the reason being it was founded in 1961 by remnants of the Kuomintang, (KMT, or Nationalist … read the full post

Following on from our recent post on Chiang Mai’s Arcade Bus Station, here’s some more detailed information on the new Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang service by the 999 bus company. The first thing to note is that the plush new Thai bus with Chiang Mai-Luang Prabang emblazoned on the side is not going to … read the full post

Having been further out and about today we have to state with all honesty that the haze situation is worse than we thought and worse than we may have made it appear in our recent post — and we’re certainly not going to be going out and about anymore in the near future unless we … read the full post

Haze, smog, smoke, dust: at this time of year — every year — the local and international media becomes full of concerned articles on northern Thailand’s air quality, and the government pretends to be concerned and claims to be doing something about it. We’re not certain — and indeed doubt — if this year’s statistics … read the full post

Look up Chiang Mai province in a guide or on a map and you’ll see the same Thai place names cropping up over and over again: Doi this, Mae that and so on. So what do they all mean? Some you may well have already guessed at but here goes with a few of the … read the full post

The Thai name for the Shan people is Thai Yai, meaning great or big Thai. Indeed though possessing distinct cultural traits, a very separate history and inhabiting adjacent rather than overlapping regions, the Shan people are a part of the greater Tai* ethnic family — which also includes Lao, Tai Lu, Black Tai, White Tai … read the full post

Chiang Khong … don’t think we’ve written about this charming little Mekong riverside town yet so to make up for our glaring omission here’s a series of colourful sunrise photos of this remote yet scenic border settlement. Actually first up are a couple of sunset pics taken from a vantage point above Chiang Khong town … read the full post

An Akha village just off the road between Tha Ton and Mae Chan, close to the turn off for Mae Salong in northwest Chiang Rai province, Ban Lorcha is also the site of a community-based tourism scheme run by the Population & Community Development Association (PDA). This pilot project aims to create a sustainable tourism … read the full post

Well, more accurately what we enjoyed visiting most in Lamphun was Wat Chama Devi (or Thewi). Without meaning to be rude, and while being a pleasant-enough spot, the small, sleepy, provincial town of Lamphun isn’t exactly the tourist epicentre of northern Thailand. However in an earlier Mon, Dvaravati period incarnation as Haripunchai it was indeed … read the full post

“To boldly go where no tourist has gone before” — well not so many, anyway! The small town of Tha Ton, located on the border of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces and a mere stone’s throw from the Burma border, used to be a popular stop on the backpacker trail. It’s the starting point … read the full post