Pang Oung

Pang Oung is a small reservoir in the hills near the Myanmar border, built as part of a royal project, with pines planted around its shore and hills behind - a combination that produced the Switzerland of Thailand branding and made it one of the fixed stops of the northern cool-season circuit. The scene people come for is specific and time-limited: before dawn on a cold morning, mist rises off the water with the pines silhouetted and, in the shot everyone takes, black swans on the surface. The swans were introduced. Camping on the shore and homestays in the Hmong and Shan villages nearby are the accommodation, and both fill in December and January. Ban Rak Thai, a Yunnanese Chinese tea village on the border, is a short drive further and usually combined with it. Nights are genuinely cold, the road is winding, and outside the misty dawn window the reservoir is ordinary.

What you actually see

• The dawn mist - rising off the water with pines around the shore.
• The reservoir - small, planted, and built under a royal project.
• The lakeside camping - tents and homestays on the shore, full in season.
• Ban Rak Thai - the Yunnanese tea village a short drive on.

When to go

November to February, and specifically before dawn - the mist burns off within an hour or two of sunrise and the place is unremarkable after that. Book accommodation ahead for December and January.

Honest expectations

Only worth it for the dawn mist, which needs a cold morning. Very cold at night; camping without proper gear is unpleasant. Crowded in peak season and accommodation books out. Winding mountain road in.

Nearby

Ban Rak Thai is a short drive west; Mae Hong Son town is east.