Mae Kampong

Mae Kampong sits at around 1,300 metres in the hills east of Chiang Mai, a village of wooden houses on stilts strung along a stream in a steep forested valley. It was founded about a century and a half ago by people who came to grow miang - tea leaves fermented and chewed, a traditional northern product - and later added coffee, and both are still grown. From 2000 the village set up a community-based tourism scheme with homestays in family houses, and it has since won national and international awards for it and become one of the best-known examples in Thailand. That success has changed it: coffee shops, viewpoint cafes and weekend traffic from Chiang Mai now shape the village as much as farming does, and residents have spoken publicly about the pressure. It is cold at night in the cool season and the access road is steep with tight bends.

What you actually see

• The stilt houses - wooden buildings along the stream in a steep valley.
• The miang and coffee - the crops the village was founded on and still grows.
• The homestay scheme - the community tourism model running since 2000.
• The pressure - weekend traffic and cafes reshaping the village.

When to go

November to February for the cool and the mist; that is also the busiest period. Weekdays are far quieter than weekends. Overnight in a homestay is the intended format.

Honest expectations

Weekend crowds from Chiang Mai are substantial and the village is small. Homestays are simple with shared facilities. Cold at night in the cool season. The steep winding road is unpleasant for anyone prone to motion sickness.

Nearby

San Kamphaeng hot springs are below; Chiang Mai is west.