Thailand Guide
The north
Mae Salong (Santikhiri)
Perched 1300m up on a ridge with commanding views of sawtoothed hills, the Chinese Nationalist outpost of MAE SALONG is the focal point for the area's fourteen thousand Kuomintang. The ruling party of China for 21 years, the Kuomintang (Nationalists) were swept from power by the Communist revolution of 1949: one group fled to Taiwan, and the other settled in northern Thailand and Burma, becoming major players in the heroin trade. The Thai government has since worked hard to "pacify" the Kuomintang by introducing crop programmes to replace opium; around Mae Salong at least, this seems to have been successful, the slopes now covered with tea bushes.
It's the details of Chinese life in the back streets – the low-slung bamboo houses, the ping-pong tables, the sounds of Yunnanese conversation – that make the village absorbing. Free cups of tea are offered nearly everywhere, and it's possible to visit, for example, Mae Salong Villa's own estate and factory.
Towering above the town on top of the hill, the Princess Mother Pagoda, a huge, gilt-topped stupa, is a long and steep climb up 718 steps. At the western edge of town, the Chinese Martyrs Memorial Museum (daily 8am–5pm; B30) recounts the origins of the Kuomintang in Thailand.
Treks on horses, a rare thing in Thailand, to Akha, Lahu and other Chinese villages can be arranged at the Shin Sane Guest House from B500 for four to five hours. Armed with a sketch map from one of the guest houses, it would be possible to walk to some of the same villages yourself.
Practicalities
Accommodation in Mae Salong includes Shin Sane Guest House (053 765026, www.maesalong-shinsane.blogspot.com; from B200), a friendly place on the west side of the main road, which has small rooms in a funky wooden building plus smart bungalows; motorbikes can be rented too. At Mae Salong Villa (053 765114, maesalongvilla@yahoo.co.th; from B600), towards the eastern end of the village, choose between large, comfortable rooms in a block and Chinese-style bungalows.