Thailand Guide
The north
Hill-tribe treks
Trekking in the mountains of north Thailand differs from trekking in most other parts of the world in that the emphasis is not primarily on the scenery but on the region's inhabitants. Northern Thailand's hill tribes, now numbering over 800,000 people living in around 3500 villages, have preserved their subsistence-oriented way of life with comparatively little change over thousands of years. While some of the villages are near enough to a main road to be reached on a day-trip from a major town, to get to the other, more traditional villages usually entails joining a guided party for a few days, roughing it in a different place each night. For most visitors, however, these hardships are far outweighed by the experience of encountering peoples of so different a culture, travelling through beautiful tropical countryside and tasting the excitement of elephant-riding and river-rafting.
On any trek you are necessarily confronted by the ethics of your role. Over a hundred thousand travellers now go trekking in Thailand each year, the majority heading to certain well-trodden areas such as the Mae Taeng valley, 40km northwest of Chiang Mai, and the hills around the Kok River west of Chiang Rai. Beyond the basic level of disturbance caused by any tourism, this steady flow of trekkers creates pressures for the traditionally insular hill tribes. Foreigners unfamiliar with hill-tribe customs can easily cause grave offence, especially those who go looking for drugs.
The hill tribes are big business in northern Thailand: in Chiang Mai there are around two hundred agencies which between them cover just about all the trekkable areas in the north. Chiang Raiis the second-biggest trekking centre, and agencies can also be found in Nan, Mae Sariang, Mae Hong Son and Pai.
Organized treks are typically of three or four days' long, cost from B2000, and are mostly done in groups of about eight people. Everybody usually sleeps on the floor in the headman's hut, with a guide cooking communal meals. They generally follows a regular itinerary established by the agency, and require a reasonable level of fitness.