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AN IMPRESSIVE TRIP -
to the Sukantara Resort
in Mountainous Mae Rim

Last month Chiang Mai got a new tourism resource - and I’d like to clue you in on it.

By a stroke of luck, my boss at the office wanted someone to go look at it, and picked on me, with some office friends to go along too. And no-one’s keener to get out of town once in a while than me and my friends. Cool, fresh air, surrounded by nature and your pals - what could be better?

So there we were, one evening last month, the road north out through Mae Rim and then west along the road towards Mae Sa Falls, and right along a small road to the Tad Morg Waterfall. And with the road empty, owing to the lateness of the hour, and the light fading, we drove into the neatest, most beautiful place imaginable. Waterfalls, forest, gardens - with the Thai owner himself proudly showing us round.

Sukantara means something like - ‘mountain cascade passing over forest boulders’ - and the resort lives up to that name, nature close all round.

When we’d had a look at the surroundings, we then had a chance to admire the accommodation - Lanna/Balinese guest cottages, lots of wood and high ceilings, so that the sounds of nature - the cascading streams outside, the call of the birds came through to us. The owner explained the satisfactoriness of the style as arising out of fact that local craftsmen had been hired to build, furnish and decorate the guesthouses.

We were pretty hungry by this time, so after freshening up, we took our evening meal – gaeng hung le – a curry with coconut: one of my favorites, and many others dishes, and how good everything tasted! The owner, Khun Somporn and his son Phi Tui, told us there was no lack of activities for guests - hiking the mountain forest all round, looking out for the wild orchids and the animals, strolling through the nearby hilltribe village or looking at the orchid farm and the elephant training centre down at the road. Or what about the scenic golf course not more than fifteen minutes drive away?

What more can I say? Sukantara Resort is a great addition to Chiang Mai’s tourism attractions. I’m sure you’ll second my opinion if you pay them a visit.

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