Mae Salong



Mae Salong (แม่สลอง), also known as Doi Mae Salong (ดอยแม่สลอง) and officially called Santikhiri (สันติคีรี), is a village in Chiang Rai Province, Northern Thailand.

Understand
Mae Salong's early history centered on the opium trade of the Golden Triangle. Its recent history was shaped by the 93rd Division of the Chinese Nationalist Army that refused to surrender to Chinese communists after the Nationalist Kuomintang government was routed in 1949.

Unlike most of the unrelenting nationalists that fled to Taiwan in 1949, a force of 12,000 escaped from Yunnan to Burma and continued an insurgency against the People's Republic. They were at first supported by Taiwan and the USA, but diplomatic shifts—which included US ambivalence towards the nationalists and improved relations between Burma and communist China—later led to the partial disbanding of the nationalist forces in Burma. While thousands left for Thailand in 1961, many remained in Burma.

The soldiers who settled in Mae Salong kept it as a military base in preparation for an eventual counter-attack against communist China. They funded their arms purchases with opium production and rubbed shoulders with notorious Burmese warlord and drug baron Khun Sa, who lived a few kilometres away in Ban Hin Taek and who initially trained with the Kuomintang before founding his own army.

In the 1970s the Thai government struck a deal with the renegades: the battle-hardened soldiers would help them fight Thailand's own communist insurgents in exchange for legitimacy and Thai citizenship. Part of their going straight involved the soldiers' cessation of opium production in favour of the cultivation of mushrooms and above all oolong tea, which is now Mae Salong's main product.

Some guidebooks wax lyrical about today's Mae Salong as a miniature Yunnanese Shangri-La, but if you come with this image in mind you may be a little disappointed: at first glance, Mae Salong looks much like the little Thai town it is. However, the crisp climate, the lingering Chinese influence, delicious Yunnanese dishes and small hotels and guesthouses catering to visitors still make this a popular getaway, worth visiting even on a hurried day trip, but worth stopping in overnight.

Climate


In November, sunflowers bloom, but the peak tourist season is during Dec-Feb when the hills are alive with white plum blossoms and pinkish sakura cherry blossoms. It gets misty and cold during this time, so pack a sweater and decent shoes. Tea production gets into gear toward the end of this season, with the smell of roasting tea wafting through the streets, but the same haze and rising temperatures that affect the rest of northern Thailand are in evidence here too from March onward.

The rainy season is from June-October and is rainy indeed.

Talk
As most residents of Mae Salong are descended from Kuomintang soldiers who fled Yunnan, the Yunnan dialect of Mandarin is widely spoken here. However, virtually everybody speaks Thai as well

Get in
Mae Salong lies on the scenic and very twisty Hwy 1130 - pop a pill beforehand if you're prone to motion sickness.

From the east, access is from Pa Sang (not to be confused with villages of the same name further to the North), a hamlet north of Chiang Rai on Hwy 1 / AH2, which is Thailand's main road going from its capital Bangkok all the way to its northernmost settlement, Mae Sai, on the border to Myanmar.

In Mae Salong, the 1130 bends south and ends at the junction with Hwy 1089. This highways goes in southwesterly direction through Thaton, becomes Hwy 107 and reaches Chiang Mai after some. In the eastern direction, the 1089 ends after in Mae Chan (แม่จัน), where it hits the Hwy1,  north of Chiang Rai.

Public transport to Mae Salong is surprisingly spotty (especially after noon), and having your own wheels may come in handy.

By bus
From Chiang Rai: the bus terminal near the night market has the destination of buses written in Roman letters on the green platform indicators. Take a northbound bus towards Mae Sai or to Chiang Saen. After, these buses will leave the highway AH2 to pass through the small town of  (แม่จัน. 20-25 baht). Get off here, 120 m after the large roundabout.

You will see green songthaews which leave at the scheduled times of 07:30, 09:00, 11:00 and 13:00 for Mae Salong (60 baht, at least 60 min), arriving between the Guesthouses Shin Sane and Little Home. Sometimes, you will have to change vehicle at the half-way point Kiwsatai (20.10327 99.61750), count in some time for waiting around there. After 13:00 the songthaews might still be around, but you must negotiate departure time and price (8*60 baht corresponds to a "full" songthaew).

Blue songthaews hang around between 6:00 to 17:00 at the market (20.14947 99.85283), 120 m west of where you got off. They go to Mae Salong's 7-Eleven shop taking route 1130 (60 baht. 1 hour). They do not have scheduled departures, but leave when full. Unless you are willing to pay for the non-occupied of the 8 seats, it can be a long wait, especially off-season and after noon.

From Thaton (ท่าตอน), there are yellow songthaews that go directly to Mae Salong, but only four times a day.

For the return trip, there are four scheduled green songthaews (among them one at 11:00 and the last one at 15:30) and four yellow ones. Both of them share the same route down to Kiwsatai (20.10327 99.61750). Thus, if you want to go to Chiang Rai (south) or Mae Sai (north) you may take whatever comes first down to Kiwsatai (30 baht) and change there for Mae Chan (another 30 baht). from where you can continue by bus.

In a pinch (or if in a hurry), the motorcycle cabbies can ferry you to Pasang (on the Chiang Rai to Mae Sai Main Road, north of Mae Chan) for 300 baht.

By car
The shortest access is via Hwy 1089. Coming from the road's end on the Hwy 1, the signposted turn off is after 28,6 km next to a police station (7,5 before that, there is already a turn off leading to Mae Salong, but it's a bad road). From here travel about on some of the most amazingly curvy roads imaginable.

The return trip to Mae Chan can be undertaken on Rte 1234 and Rte 1130 which wind through Yao and Akha hill tribe villages; you can also make a diversion north to visit the royal development projects and villas of Doi Tung.

By taxi
You can also hire a car with a driver from a travel agency or even hail a taxi from the street. Price in high-season is around 1200 to 1600 baht from a travel agency (edited in 12/31/17). This can be a more straightforward alternative than dealing with local transport.

Get around
Mae Salong is quite spread out, and while you can cover the central sights on foot, it is very convenient to rent a motorbike to motor around the hills and valleys. Rental cost is about 200 baht per day. Bikes come with empty tanks, so you need to fuel up first.

See




Do
There are many tribal villages (mostly Akha) within easy reach of Mae Salong, and local guesthouses can arrange treks in the area, either on foot or by horse (400 baht for 4 hours).

For those who would prefer to get involved, consider joining the volunteers working in the nearby Akha village. There is no charge or donation required and you can work as little or as much as you like. The volunteers stay at Shin Sane Guesthouse, so ask about the project there or find it on Facebook by searching for "Akha Hill Tribe Project - Mae Salong."

Buy


The thing to buy in Mae Salong is the excellent local oolong tea, grown on plantations all around. The tea bushes here was originally imported from Taiwan, well-known for its high mountain (gaoshan) teas grown in a very similar subtropical climate. As well as tea itself, tea sets from China as well as candies, fruits, and everything else you'd need for enjoying tea Chinese-style are also available.



For Akha handicrafts, Yunnanese street snacks and cheap Chinese imports, check out the two markets in town.



Eat
Take a break from Thai food and try out some Yunnanese cuisine. Dishes worth trying include:
 * Yunnan noodles with dumplins
 * Papa cake, baked glutinous rice with sweet or sour sesame fillings, outside the Morning Market
 * Hot soy milk with deep fried dough sticks (油条 yóu tiáo) at the Morning Market
 * Bamboo worm for the brave. Deep fried and dried, it tastes like crispy biscuit.

Budget
There are a large number of noodle shops around town.



Drink
Aside from a few dodgy karaoke enterprises, there is virtually no nightlife in Mae Salong. Drink tea instead! Or, if you're feeling frisky, sample any of the numerous Chinese liquors with unfortunate pickled bugs and snakes inside.



Sleep
Outside peak season supply tends to exceed demand and prices are usually negotiable.

Stay safe
Any opium warlord action has long since moved across the border to Myanmar. Still, this is a border area, so don't go trekking too close to the boundary and keep your papers with you as there are plenty of police checkpoints around.

Go next

 * Doi Tung &mdash; royal development projects just to the north of Mae Salong
 * Mae Sai &mdash; gateway to Myanmar
 * Thaton &mdash; rafting on the Kok River
 * Ban Rak Thai &mdash; another Kuomintang village