Trekking in Thailand

Chiang Mai is where trekking in Thailand began and still the easiest place to book one, with dozens of agencies around the old city. Most treks follow a set pattern: a one to two hour drive into the hills around Chiang Dao, Mae Taeng, Mae Wang or Doi Inthanon, two or three days walking four to six hours a day between villages, and often an elephant sanctuary visit or a bamboo-raft float on the last morning. Expect to pay about 1,500 to 2,000 baht (about $45 to $60) for a day trek and 3,000 to 5,000 baht for two or three days, including transport, food, guide and homestay.

Quality varies a great deal. Before you book, ask the group size (six to eight is ideal), how many hours you walk each day, where you sleep, and whether the guide is licensed and from the area. Small, community-run treks, where you sleep in a family’s house rather than a tourist hut, put more of your money into the villages. Our hill tribes guide covers the peoples you will meet and how to visit respectfully.

For day hikes without a tour, take the Monk’s Trail from the back of Chiang Mai University up to Wat Pha Lat and on to Doi Suthep, about an hour to the first temple, inside Doi Suthep-Pui National Park.

Doi Chiang Dao, also called Doi Luang Chiang Dao, is a 2,175 m limestone massif 80 km north of Chiang Mai and Thailand’s third-highest peak. The summit trek is the toughest common hike in the country: a steep four to six hour climb to a campsite below the top, then a dawn scramble to the summit for the sea of mist. It lies in a wildlife sanctuary, so it opens only in the cool season, numbers are capped and you must go with a registered local guide, booked through guesthouses in Chiang Dao town. In some recent years it has stayed closed for forest recovery, so check before you plan around it. Afterwards, visit the Chiang Dao cave at the foot of the mountain.

Doi Inthanon, at 2,565 m the highest point in Thailand, is gentler. The Kew Mae Pan Nature Trail near the summit is a 3 km loop through cloud forest and rhododendrons to an open ridge, guide required at the trailhead, closed from June to October. Karen and Hmong villages on the lower slopes run homestays and waterfall walks.

Chiang Rai treks head into the hills toward the Golden Triangle, where Thailand meets Myanmar and Laos. Akha, Lahu and Karen villages here see fewer visitors than those near Chiang Mai, and routes often take in limestone caves and a longtail ride on the Kok River. Doi Tung and the ridge of Phu Chi Fa on the Lao border make good sunrise hikes.

Pai is the laid-back base for the northwest: two to three day treks to Shan and Lisu villages with plenty of uphill, and rafting on the Pai River in the wet months. Routes toward Mae Hong Son pass Pang Mapha and the huge Tham Lod Cave, explored by bamboo raft with a lantern guide. Mae Hong Son itself, in the far northwest corner and on the Mae Hong Son Loop road, has the least-trodden trekking in the north: misty valleys, rice terraces and Karen hamlets, with treks arranged by guesthouses in town or from Mae Sariang to the south.

Nan, on the Lao border, has forested ranges and Thai Lue and Hmong villages around Doi Phu Kha National Park, with almost no other foreigners on the trails.

Thi Lo Su, in the Umphang Wildlife Sanctuary near the Myanmar border, is Thailand’s largest waterfall, about 250 m high and several hundred metres wide in the rainy season. Getting there is the point. From Mae Sot, a winding mountain road reaches Umphang in about four hours, and local operators run three and four day trips combining rafting on the Mae Klong River, jungle walking and a night at the falls camp. In the dry season you can drive most of the way; from about June to November the road is closed to private cars and the river trip is the way in. Bring leech socks.

Khao Sok National Park is the best rainforest trekking in the south: trails through ancient forest under limestone cliffs, and a night on Cheow Lan Lake with guided walks to caves from the floating raft houses. Lucky hikers spot gibbons, wild elephant tracks and the rafflesia, the world’s largest flower, which blooms mainly from December to February. Guides are required beyond the main riverside trail.

Khao Yai National Park, three hours north of Bangkok and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has guided treks through evergreen forest and grassland to waterfalls and salt licks, with gibbons and hornbills almost guaranteed and a chance of elephants. Most trails need a ranger guide, hired at the visitor centre. Entry is 400 baht. For more on what you might see, read our wildlife and nature guide.

In Isan, Phu Kradueng is a flat-topped mountain reached by a steep 5.5 km path to a pine-covered plateau at about 1,300 m. Porters carry your bags by the kilo, you camp on top, and the cliff-edge sunrise is the reward. It closes in the rainy season, usually June to September.

November to February is the trekking season: dry trails, clear views and cool nights, down to near freezing at the top of Doi Inthanon and Doi Chiang Dao, so pack a warm layer. From late February to April, smoke from crop burning in the north cuts visibility and air quality is often unhealthy; Khao Sok and the south are better then. The rainy season, roughly June to October, brings leeches, slippery trails and full waterfalls, and several summit trails close.

• Guides: licensed guides carry a TAT guide card. Many national parks require a ranger or local guide on longer trails, hired at the headquarters for about 500 to 1,000 baht a day.
• Park fees: foreigners pay 100 to 400 baht a day at most parks, plus camping fees of a few hundred baht.
• What to bring: broken-in shoes with grip, leech socks in the wet season, a headtorch, a warm layer, and cash for village purchases.
• Insurance: check your policy covers trekking and rafting.