Doi Pui Hmong Village

Ban Doi Pui is a Hmong village on the mountain above Doi Suthep, about twenty minutes further up the road from the temple, and its accessibility is the whole story - it is the hill village most visitors to Chiang Mai see, precisely because it is a short songthaew ride from a place they were already going. What is there is a village that has adapted comprehensively to that: rows of stalls selling textiles, silver and souvenirs, a terraced flower garden planted for photographs, a small museum with a room on Hmong life and another on opium, which the Hmong grew here before the royal crop substitution programmes of the 1970s and 80s replaced it. Some of the presentation is staged. It is honest to say this is a commercialised village visit rather than an encounter with traditional life, and visitors expecting the latter come away disappointed.

What you actually see

• The flower gardens - terraced planting laid out for photographs.
• The stall rows - textiles, silver and souvenirs through the village.
• The small museum - rooms on Hmong life and on opium growing.
• The crop substitution history - what the royal projects replaced the poppy with.

When to go

November to February; the flower gardens are at their best then. Combine it with Doi Suthep, twenty minutes down the road. Two hours covers it.

Honest expectations

Heavily commercialised and partly staged for visitors - it is not a window into traditional life. Small entry charge. Persistent selling. Photographing residents without asking is common and is not welcome.

Nearby

Doi Suthep temple is below on the same road; Chiang Mai is at the foot of the mountain.