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Thailand’s underrated north: 5 places you’re missing

The well-worn tourist trail between Thailand’s biggest tourism centres; Bangkok, Phuket, Ko Samui and Pattaya, has left the north of the country comparatively untouched. Here we reveal the greatest hidden gems in northern Thailand.

Mae Hong Son

Where is it?

 

About 260 kilometres northwest of Chiang Mai, bordering Myanmar

 

Things to do

 

Surrounded by a stunning landscapes and river systems, the Mae Hong Son province is a natural hub for eco tourism and nature lovers.

 

Among the must-visit destinations is the small district of Pai in the northeast, where local rivers make it idyllic place for rafting and camping. The town itself is also becoming increasingly popular for its charm.

 

Looking somewhat out of place in Thailand is the lakes and mountain ranges within Pang Oung, which many have been likened to Switzerland and New Zealand. After rafting your away around, visit Ruam Thai village for local coffee amidst exquisite flower gardens, or six kilometres away in Ruk Thai village is a rich Yunnan Chinese culture and local tea to match.

 

For the more adventurous among us, Tham Lot Cave is a must, characterised by stunning rock formations and measuring over a kilometre and a half.

 

But no visit to the Mae Hong Son province is complete without visiting the twin Burmese-style temples of Wat Chong Kham and Wat Chong Klang overlooking Nong Kham lake. While Wat Chong Kham was damaged in a fire in 1970, much of what you see today is a reconstruction. Wat Chong Klang, however, features a replica of the Phra Phuttha Sihing statue installed on an altar, which is one of the most important Buddha images of Thailand, as well as other renowned glass paintings depicting the Jataka tales, explaining the previous lives of the Lord Buddha.

 

Local tip

 

While it’s a year-round destination to visit, the cooler months of winter are most popular amongst locals, for those seeking a break from the tropical heat in the south.

 

Lampang

Where is it?

 

About 610 kilometres north of Bangkok, and 90 kilometres southeast of Chiang Mai

 

Things to do

 

Lampang’s charming township is gaining more and more attention from travellers, particularly those seeking a slower-paced holiday.

 

With a lengthy history in human settlements, Lampang is rich in archaeological evidence spanning the kingdoms of Hariphunchai, Lanna and Burma, dating back over 1000 years.

 

Here you can enjoy another of the city’s iconic activities – a horse and carriage ride around the spectacular Buddhist temples. Unlike many other cities, horse-drawn carriages aren’t merely a tourist spectacle here – local still genuinely use them every day for transport.

 

Or for something more off the beaten track, nearby Chae Son National Park stretches 786 square meters and is home to a host of hot springs, mineral baths, Chae Son waterfall, walking trails and lookouts.

Local tip

 

Visit in February for the annual Dok Siew Blossom Festival held in nearby Mueang Pan District (about 80 kilometres north of Lampang), which celebrates the blooming ‘dok siew’ (or white Chongko flowers), with folk music, games and local delicacies.

Sukhothai

Where is it?

 

About 440 kilometres north of Bangkok

 

Things to do

 

Once home to Thailand’s Sukhothai Kingdom (Rising of Happiness) from the mid-13th century to the late 14th century, Sukhothai now boasts one of the most visited ancient sites in Thailand. The remains of the kingdom – now known as meuang gòw (old city) – include a vast sprawl of partially rebuilt ruins and iconic classic Thai (or Siam) architecture.

 

For the best taste of the history, be sure to visit the Sukhothai Historical Park and Si Satchanalai Historical Park – both listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

 

One of the best ways to explore Sukhothai is to cycle around.

 

Local tip

 

While the weather is usually moderate all year round, it’s worth visiting for the Loi Krathong festival, celebrated every year on the full moon of November with decorated floating baskets.

Chiang Mai

Where is it?        

 

About 700 kilometres north of Bangkok

 

Things to do

As Thailand’s second largest city after Bangkok, Chiang Mai is favourite amongst families, foodies, wellness seekers and adventurers alike, offering a diverse array of activities.

 

Among the many must-visit local sights is Wat Prathat Doi Suthep (referred to as just Doi Suthep by most people) – the most important Buddhist temple in Thailand’s north.

 

For a spot of retail therapy, Warorot Market is a huge day market in downtown Chiang Mai where you can see Thai locals do their own shopping as well as pick up a myriad of keepsakes for yourself, often cheaper and better quality than the more touristy Night Bazaar nearby.

 

And for nature lovers, Doi Inthanon National Park features waterfalls, caves as well as Thailand’s highest peak – one of the most popular sites for trekking and mountain biking.

 

Meanwhile Doi Angkhang is home to several hill tribe villages and is one of the best places to visit for bird watching (particularly in the cooler months from November to February).

 

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Local tip

 

When visiting Chiang Mai, keep an eye out for beautiful locally-made paper umbrellas, silver and wood crafts – the area is renowned for them.

 

And if you fancy yourself quite the luxury lover, there’s plenty of indulgent resorts and wellness retreats in the vicinity.

Chiang Rai

Where is it?

 

About 800 kilometres north of Bangkok, 200 kilometres northeast of Chiang Mai.

 

Things to do

 

The quieter neighbour of Chiang Mai, this is a land of outstanding natural beauty, where travellers can escape the hordes of more populated centres in place of remote hill tribes, breathtaking landscapes and exotic wildlife.

 

Among its most iconic landmarks is the Golden Triangle; where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar (formerly Burma) come together. This was once the epicentre of opium production – a trade that greatly influenced cultural practices and lifestyles throughout not just the eastern world, but the west as well. The best way to experience it is via a boat cruise.

 

Another must is The White Temple or Wat Rong Khun; Thailand’s most unique temple. A masterpiece by artist Chaloemchai Kositpipat (famed for his extravagant and unique Buddhism-inspired paintings), Wat Rong Khun is a unique take on heaven, hell and Nirvana.

 

Although yet to be finished after construction began in 1997, the temple is a sight to behold with great white walls and glass mosaics, plus plenty of pop culture references including Spiderman and Sailor Moon.

 

Local tip

 

Doi Tung is worth a visit, with spectacular views of both Burma and Thailand from the top.

 

Here you’ll also find the famed Doi Tung royal villa, former residence of the Princess mother (mother of the present king), who played an instrumental in fighting against the opium cultivation and replacing it with cool climate crops, eco-tourism and handicrafts production, which have improved the living of these hill tribes.

 

For more inspiration on what to see and do in Thailand, visit thailand.net.au

 

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These community homestays are changing how travellers experience Nepal

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    After youth-led protests in 2025, this year Nepal elected a 35-year-old former rapper as Prime Minister. In a country where tourism is its biggest industry, what’s next for travellers? 

    In 1986, Nepal changed its clock. It had used India Standard Time since 1920 so, to differentiate, it wound its clock 15 minutes ahead of, not behind, its big-brother neighbour. Boss move. “Nepal is strongly opposed to the idea that our identity is connected to India,” says Community Homestay Network (CHN) guide Bikal Khanal.  

    Tharu dance
    Tharu dance is traditionally set to hand drums. (Credit: Kate Lewis)

    Today, Nepal is the only independent country with a 45-minute deviation to universal time; an oddity that’s become a symbol of national pride. The quirk is nearly as endearing as Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan airport where carved varnished wood and shiny red bricks rule. One sign points to a ‘Travelator’ and another to a ‘Grievance Handling Desk’ while visas are noisily stamped at customs for US dollars, cash only. When am I?  

    Nepal gray langur
    Spot the endemic Nepal gray langur. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

    The 15 or 45 minute anomaly sees me tap out completely on timezone calculations. Why bend my brain calculating if it’s quarter to or quarter past elsewhere when I’m in the honking here and now of Kathmandu where the air is high-altitude crisp, the prayer flags flutter and the street dogs howl?  

    How tourism is changing in Nepal

    Bardiya National Park
    Bardiya National Park is rich with wildlife. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

    India is not the only association many Nepalis would like to shake. With eight of the world’s 10 tallest mountains, including Mount Everest and Annapurna, Nepal has long attracted mountaineers and trekkers, and expedition numbers are continuing to rise.  

    Tourism is one of the country’s biggest sources of foreign currency, so this growth is not negative, per se. But according to Ang Tshering Lama, who co-founded Phaplu Mountain Bike Club, being reduced to a mere trekking destination is limiting.  

    “Trekking is just one layer of our identity,” says Ang. “When it becomes the dominant narrative, it limits how we’re seen and how we see ourselves.” Nepal’s recent success, however, in diverting trekkers to less-trafficked areas such as Manaslu mofuntain, where visitor numbers rose by 117 per cent last year, offers hope that tourism can diversify even more radically.   

    Local men in Bhada village
    Local men in Bhada village. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

    The founder of CHN, Shiva Dhakal, wants that change. “The whole idea of the Community Homestay Network is to promote experiences outside of trekking,” he says. “Community tourism changes lives and helps kids stay home instead of coming to the city or migrating to the Middle East.”  

    Ang grew up seeing people leave, “not because they wanted to but because there weren’t enough opportunities to stay”, he states. Yet from remote villages to living traditions; food, art, music and emerging subcultures, “there’s so much that’s not being seen.” 

    CHN is opening some of those doors. It doesn’t own, or fund, any homes. Rather, it promotes homestays to travellers on a single, slick platform, while fostering entrepreneurship in places where women, marginalised castes, Indigenous people and the youth stand to benefit the most.  

    A new generation demanding more

    Dalla Town Hall
    Dalla Town Hall, where volunteers discuss anti-poaching tactics. (Credit: Bheem Thapa)

    The future prospects of next-gen Nepalis can no longer be ignored. On a Kathmandu tour with 33-year-old guide Monica K.C, we pass buildings torched in the September 2025 ‘Gen Z protests’, including the Supreme Court and Parliament House. Seventy-two people died. “They were anti-corruption protests,” says Monica. “Politicians’ children are living a lavish life but the airports are crowded with youngsters leaving to find work.”  

    We stop in ‘little Tibet’ at the wondrous sixth-century Boudha Stupa. “The wheel of life is Buddhism in a nutshell,” says Monica. “Things such as hate, ignorance and anger keep you rotating around the wheel, so you must follow the principles of Buddhism to detach. If you can’t, there’s no nirvana for you.”  

    Boudha Stupa's prayer wheels
    Boudha Stupa’s prayer wheels are used to recite Buddhist prayers. (Credit: Kate Lewis)

    In a sun-drenched twist to the usual temple visit, we ascend the stupa’s sloping plinth and roam its whitewashed dome. Tendrils of diaphanous prayer flags stream from a steeple-like structure where the Buddha’s unblinking eyes stare out. No nirvana for you… 

    bouda stupa prayer flags
    Tibetan-style prayer flags embellish the whitewashed dome of Bouda Stupa, a Buddhist temple. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

    The dome is delightfully free of guard rails or chiding from security. There is, however, a stern ‘No TikTok’ sign, perhaps in response to the youth’s newly flexed power. The booted-out Prime Minister, K.P. Sharma Oli, was replaced in a resounding election victory in March by 35-year-old Balendra Shah of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) – a former rapper and mayor of Kathmandu. The RSP’s manifesto indicates tourism is a priority, and that Nepal’s cultural identity in areas such as gastronomy will be strengthened.  

    Boudha Stupa vendors
    Vibrant souvenir shops and cafes around Boudha Stupa. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

    A more confronting stop awaits at Pashupatinath Temple. Today is Bala Chaturdashi, a Hindu festival where thousands of devotees gather to honour their dead ancestors. Vendors hauling foam mattresses do a lucrative trade as people set up for a night of vigil. This includes burning the bodies of recently deceased relatives on bamboo pyres in the Bagmati River, which flows into the sacred Ganges.  

    A woman at annual Hindu festival Bala Chaturdashi
    A woman at annual Hindu festival Bala Chaturdashi, in Kathmandu. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

    Wrapped in a shroud, the bodies are positioned with their heads facing north to the Himalayas where Lord Shiva resides. They’re covered with flowers and straw and set alight by male family members.  

    Hours later, the ashes are swept into the river where devotees will take a holy dip the next day. As much as Monica assures us it’s not voyeuristic to watch, I struggle to do so. “Here you see the reality of life because everyone ends up there,” she says, gesturing to the river.  

    Life unfiltered in the Terai region

    tharu woman
    Tharu woman and master weaver Parbati Chaudhary in Bhada Village. (Credit: Bheem Thapa)

    The reality of life needs processing time, which the western Terai region delivers in spades. The Terai is largely separated from India by the Karnali River and Bardiya National Park, where elephants, rhinos and the elusive Bengal tiger roam.  

    Once a nomadic tribe, the Indigenous Tharu people are now the largest ethnic group here. “They didn’t know their daily life was interesting for international travellers but they’re starting to understand now,” says CHN founder Shiva.  

    safari through Bardiya National Park
    Take a Jeep safari through Bardiya National Park. (Credit: Bheem Thapa)

    We fly Buddha Air to Dhangadhi airport and drive five hours to stay in Tharu homes. The journey to Bhada village is a blur of roadside fruit stalls, traffic-stopping sacred cows and fields sown with wheat, rice, mustard, spinach, cauliflower and potatoes. Nepal’s agriculture feeds only Nepal.  

    Marigolds
    Marigolds are an important part of Hindu rituals. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

    “The only thing we export is young people,” says our guide Bikal. As the light dims and we plunge evermore rural, mysterious mounds of compacted hay – some house-sized – loom like the creatures from Where The Wild Things Are. Even our trusty driver gets flummoxed by a dirt road that abruptly ends and we find ourselves hurtling across a paddock.  

    On arrival, some are ferried to mud-walled cottages greened by gourd creepers, with thatched roofs and rustic-chic mosquito nets. Myself and two others are ushered to the home of corner store owner, mechanic and mushroom farmer Man Kumar Chilaruwa and his wife Rajkumari.  

    community homestay entrance
    A warm welcome at a community homestay. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

    They escort us to a bunker-esque back building with steel doors and a folding security gate, behind which is gleaming linoleum, dolphin-printed tiles and a shower cavity that must be gingerly stepped through to reach the toilet.  

    The ceiling lights emit a rainbow of colours (the bathroom light gets stuck in, frankly, a quite frightening red). We’re nevertheless touched that our hosts invested in all this bling when the average salary is around $275 a month.  

    In the coming days, we participate in Tharu traditions such as making moonshine, dancing, weaving straw handicrafts and gold-panning. We’re fed well with staples of rice, mustard greens, lentil pancakes, daal, curried chicken and tomato chutney served on antibacterial saal leaves.  

    food at community homestay
    Dig in. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

    Sonara community homestay president Indradevi Tharu tells us river snails are often served, and the boiled and pickled flesh of rats hunted in the rice fields. “Perhaps next time?” we say and all have a laugh.  

    The power of community homestays 

    community homestay owners in Nepal
    Barda community homestay owners Parbati Chaudhary and Ram Krishni Devi Chaudhary. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

    Immersing Western visitors in foreign cultural practices is not new. But with the Tharu, I never get that uneasy sensation that I’m being performed for. Despite being the only tourists, there’s no ‘othering’; just warm, composed and ultra-dignified welcomes. Like we’ve always been here.  

    “I love to have travellers in my village so I can see the world,” says local woman Parbati Chaudhary. “Why would I travel the world when the world comes to me?” 

    The graceful acceptance the Tharu offer, as well as the slow pace, works miracles on my frazzled nervous system. One day I even take a nap on a vacant homestay bed. 

    Sonara community room
    An authentic stay in the Sonara community. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

    Roosters strut and goats bray as we sit on the ground in al fresco kitchens, rolling rice flour into cylinders steamed to make dhikri (dumplings). When water is needed, we fetch it using a hand-operated pump as a family of ducks strolls by, side-eying us like curious neighbours.  

    Animal lovers will delight in Tharu villages. Kind and resourceful inventions are everywhere, such as snacking stations where two posts lean together, with leafy boughs dangling on rope for baby goats to forage from.  

    CHN’s CEO, Aayusha Prasain, nods knowingly when one in our group says she cried when she left her host, Shayam Chaudhary, in Bhada. Shayam’s 17-year-old son, Prashant, had translated, which deepened the connection.  

    “Community tourism turns travel into a relationship, not a transaction,” says Aayusha. “It places decision-making power in the hands of local communities, especially women and youth.” Since 2018, CHN has hosted more than 4000 travellers from 52 countries in 408 households, and estimates women’s participation has increased by 381 per cent.  

    Elephant watch
    Elephant watch. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

    In the Bardiya community, where vexing human-animal conflict has been a balancing act for decades due to elephants raiding crops, long-time homestay operator Salik Ram Chaudhary says young people keep the older ones on their toes.  

    Gathering greens
    Gathering greens. (Credit: Bheem Thapa)

    “We can’t keep homestays stagnant,” he says. “We have to upgrade our service and redefine our product or young people won’t see it as an attractive business. If we can keep evolving with this travelling trend we’re confident the youths will stay and continue it.” 

    Back in Kathmandu, Monica explains that after the deaths of young protestors in September, a determination had spread to not let their sacrifice be in vain. “We want to keep holding the government accountable,” she says. “We don’t know what situation we’re facing, but we’re ready to face it.”  

    Interested in Nepal but prefer to experience it in total comfort? Read our guide to luxury travel in Nepal.