Located on a bend in the Kok River, picturesque Tha Ton is essentially a staging post for riverboats that make regular trips from here to Chiang Rai. Excursions can be arranged at guesthouses in town, and may often be combined with visits to nearby tribal villages or hot springs. Tha Ton’s chief tourist attraction is […]

This town was founded as a trading center in 1268 by King Mengrai, who took advantage of the site’s location at the head of a valley. At the beginning of the 19th century the town was destroyed by Burmese raiders, and it lay deserted until 1880. Today Fang is effectively a border town between the […]

Thailand’s northernmost region is, for many people, synonymous with the Golden triangle. this area around the meeting point of three national borders still conjures up images of untamed wilderness, remote hill-tribe villages, and opium barons. there remains more than a grain of truth in this reputation, but the Far North is also developing rapidly as […]

The Far North of Thailand is known as the Golden Triangle – the meeting point of Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos and an area historically associated with opium production. Nowadays, this picturesque region with numerous hill-tribe villages attracts large numbers of trekkers. Less well known delights in the Far North include, southeast of the Golden Triangle, […]

This provincial capital, relatively free of modern development and tourist paraphernalia, features on few visitors’ itineraries. Nevertheless, the town’s location makes it a convenient staging post between the North Central Plains and Northern Thailand. Uttaradit rose to prominence during the Sukhothai era, and just prior to the collapse of the kingdom at the end of […]

This is one of the best elephant training camps in Northern Thailand. About 12 animals, three to five years old, arrive here each year to be trained, and there are about 100 in total. Although their ability peaks between the ages of 40 and 50, the elephants may remain at the camp until the official […]

Celebrated nationwide, but most exuberantly in and around Chiang Mai, Songkran is one of Thailand’s major festivals. Held over three days from April 12th–14th (though celebrations carry on until the 15th in towns such as Chiang Mai), Songkran marks the start of the Buddhist New Year. This public holiday has, over the centuries, evolved from […]

The second-largest town in Northern Thailand, Lampang is still growing rapidly as a trading center. It offers much of the historic interest of Chiang Mai, but without the overt commercialization. Lampang is also a good base for excursions and travel within Northern Thailand The town was originally inhabited in the 7th century. The following century, […]

one of the most famous temples in northern thailand, Wat Phra that lampang luang is also one of the most attractive. the main buildings were constructed in the late 15th century on the site of an 8th-century fortress. this had been built on a mound to protect it from attack and was further fortified by […]

Opium was first grown in Northern Thailand in the late 19th century, when hill tribes arrived from Southern China, where the drug was a major commodity. Grown on poor soil at high altitudes and easily transported, it was in fact their most profitable cash crop. Opium production was outlawed in Thailand in 1959, but flourished […]