Great river views
Justifiably Tha Ton’s best known and most popular guesthouse, Apple Resort boasts a hard to beat formula of great location, value for money rooms and efficient, friendly service.
Situated on the bank of the Kok River, down the southeast-heading lane on the Chiang Rai side of the bridge, the guesthouse affords excellent views of the river, town and Wat Tha Ton. They cover the budget to flashpacker range with either fine riverside air-con chalets or cheaper fan-cooled options in the garden to the rear. Note, there’s only a handful of either so in the high season both fill up fast.

Riverside chalets are tastefully decorated and spacious with ochre-painted walls, varnished bamboo trimmings and a few restrained hill-tribe flourishes. There are good-sized beds, table-lamps, fridges, cable TV and air-con and particular attention seems to have been paid to the excellent bathrooms. Star of the show though are those balconies. We’ve seen far less attractive and well-appointed rooms in numerous north Thai resorts at twice the price and all things considered, these rooms are a remarkable deal.
Garden view chalets come in medium and small varieties and while more simply decorated than the riverview ones are still cute and a very good deal at 500 and 350 baht respectively. There’s a slight high season supplement for river chalets although garden ones keep the same rates all year. Both these options are en-suite, fan-cooled and with small balconies out front.

The in-house coffee shop and bar area are well positioned with an indoor seating area as well as a wooden deck providing views of the river and is certainly a good place to meet people. The restaurant generally serves food during high season only, meaning the complimentary breakfast is only offered during high season. Staff members are efficient and welcoming with plenty of local info on offer and motorbike rental available.
Address: 352 Moo 14, Tha Ton
T: (053) 373 144; F: (053) 373 145
Email: applethaton@yahoo.com
Web: https://www.facebook.com/Apple-Resort-Thaton-305040239594319/
Coordinates (for GPS): 99º21'48.34" E, 20º3'39.84" N
See position in Apple or Google Maps: Apple Maps | Google Maps
Room rates: Under 600B
What we were quoted as a walk-in.
| Dbl fan private bathroom | 350 baht | 350 baht |
| Bungalow fan private bathroom | 500 baht | 500 baht |
| Bungalow air-con private bathroom | 1,000 baht | 1,200 baht |
Reviewed by
Mark Ord
Based in Chiang Mai, Mark Ord has been travelling Southeast Asia for over two decades and first crossed paths with Travelfish on Ko Lipe in the early 1990s.
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