Chiang Mai (Northern Thailand) Tourist Guide


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Far Out and Cool in
Fang District

Text : Thanatouch Changkhammool
Images : Thanatouch & Sungwon

December is the month in the North when the cool breezes are blowing, which makes it a great time for tourists – both foreign and domestic – to bai tio (go on trips) to Chiang Mai. It’s also the Christmas / New Year holiday period so – sorry! – it’s also the time when things get pretty crowded here, both where people and traffic are concerned.

The winter season - November to February – up here in the North attracts tourists who love the genuinely low temperatures we get in such places as Doi Inthanon and Doi Ang Khang, where the mercury can actually sink below the zero marker. Chilly, or what?

Wat Chong Tok

Moreover, since this is also the ‘high season’ tourist-wise, some visitors to Chiang Mai people may look around for somewhere a little less crowded and more ‘down home’, and in this respect we can’t recommend anywhere better than Fang district, up north of the Northern capital by another 160 kms, on a good road – say a couple of hours’ driving. Fang town itself is a bustling and colourful little district centre, where the Northern arts and culture thrive.

If you’re wondering what to start with in Fang, you might well take a look at the Phra Chao Fang Phra Nang Sam Phio monument (of the legendary prince of Farng and his consort, who fought against the invading Burmese), located at the center of the town. At the eastern and western sides of the old city walls are two Tai-Yai (Shan) style temples – Wat Chong Tok and Wat Chong Pan.

Fang is also renowned for its hot springs in the Mae Fang National Park – a recreational site for tourists, abundant with natural resources. The National Park also organizes mountain trips to Doi Pha Hom Pok (the second highest mountain in the country at 2,285 meters) – a 1.2 km route up the mountain where you can see a lot of different varieties of trees and some spectacular views.

About Mae Fang National Park

Mae Fang National Park occupies the areas of Mae Fang, Mae Ai and Chai Prakarn districts and also the Dan Lao Mountain ranges. The forests have an abundance of tree species and wild animals, and has also some notable hot springs. In 1968, Chiang Mai Department of Forestry sent a team of surveillance officials into the forest to up-grade the area into a recreational site. In 1971, the Royal Forestry Department approved recategorising the area as a “hot spring national park”.

The 40-88 Centigrade springs in Fang receive their heat from deep underground, and cover an area of about fifteen acres. The entry fees are 20 baht for adults, children 10 baht, 40 baht for motorcycles and 60 baht for cars. Apart from boiling eggs in the hot water springs, you can try the mineral-water saunas, hot baths and body and feet herbal massages. For people who need more privacy, there are family VIP bathing-rooms available. The water for bathing is mixed with cold water to adjust the temperature and sulfur concentration, making it suitable for use. There are claims that bathing in these hot water springs a couple of times actually cures some skin diseases and alleviates muscle pain, as the heat from the hot water improves blood circulation. The bathing fees are: 30 baht for adults, 10 baht for children and 100 baht for a whole bathing room – twenty minutes per turn. These facilities are open from 7.30-19.00 daily.

Phra Chao Fang Phra Nang Sam Phio Monument

After bathing, try visiting the Huay Mae Jai – a cool stream which flows the whole year round. Although this crystal clear stream is only three hundred meters away from the hot springs, the water temperature, in contrast, is cool and refreshing.

How to get there

Cook Your Eggs Here!

Driving to the National Park:

Take the one-hundred and sixty kilometer Chiang Mai - Fang highway 107, passing Mae Rim. Turn left onto the Farng by-pass and left again onto the minor 4055 road, sign-posted for the National Park, a further drive of eight kms.

Bus:

For first class air-conditioned buses, take the 999 Bankok-Thaton service at the Chiang Mai Arcade Bus Terminal No. 2 (No. 053-242 664). For the normal buses; Chiang Mai-Fang and Chiang Mai-Thaton buses leave Chiang Mai Bus Terminal No.1 every half an hour, taking approximately three hours and a half, at 80 baht per person). For more information, contact 053-211 586

Hot spring saunas

Chiang Mai-Fang air-conditioned vans leave the Chiang Mai Bus Terminal No.1 every one hour, taking three hours to reach the destination, the standard fare 120 baht and 150 baht for VIP class. Note that the ticket stubs can be used for drinks and the toilets at the Chiang Dao bus stop.

***The route going up to the Pha Hom Pok mountain requires four-wheel drive along the Fang-Huay Bon road, and eighteen kilometers of laterite road until reaching the camping site. Going to the hot water springs can be done only on foot. It is a distance of three and a half kilometers, about a two-three hour walk. To go to the hot springs you need to contact the National Park’s office beforehand. It is not an easy path and the right clothing and accoutrements should be prepared personally beforehand.

Mae Fang National Park address; P.O. box 39, Tambon Pong Nam Ron, Amphoe Fang, Chiang Mai, 50110. Call 0 5345 3517-8 to 104.

Big Gusher - 40 m Hot Spring

Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation: Call 0 2562 0760 or visit http://www.dnp.go.th/

**Tips before travelling

Lodgings accommodation, restaurants, souvenirs are available. There are also tents (200-800 baht per night/ tent size 2-6 people), sleeping bags and sleeping facilities (150-200 baht per night) for rent. Contact the National Park Office for bookings and further information.