Phu Chaisai Mountain Resort

Phu Chaisai sits in the Doi Mae Salong hills, forty minutes from Chiang Rai airport and a long way from anywhere in spirit. The founder, an interior designer known locally as Mom Da, built the place from bamboo grown on the land, and the cottages still feel handmade, all woven walls, four poster beds, outdoor bathtubs and terraces facing the valley. There are no televisions and no alarm clocks, so mornings begin with birdsong and mist rising off the ridges. The estate runs to 800 acres of subtropical forest, two reservoirs, a spring fed waterfall, an organic farm, a tea plantation and fruit orchards that supply the kitchen. Days go on trekking, birdwatching, learning Northern Thai dishes in the cooking school, private yoga, or floating in the infinity pool above the Mae Salong Valley. Beyond the gate are Akha villages, the oolong plantations of Mae Salong, Doi Tung and the Golden Triangle.