Mae Salong, officially Santikhiri, is a hill village in Chiang Rai province settled by Chinese Nationalist soldiers in the 1960s and now known for its oolong tea plantations, Chinese food and cool mountain weather. It lies in Mae Fah Luang district north of Chiang Rai city, and you reach it by road via Mae Chan; most visitors stay one night.
The village sits high on the mountain, with tea terraces on the slopes around it. It feels unlike anywhere else in Thailand, and the reason is its history: the people who built it came from the losing side of China's civil war. Today it is a quiet place of tea shops, guesthouses and viewpoints, at its best in the cool, clear mornings of December and January.
Mae Salong in brief (checked October 2026)
- Official name
- Santikhiri, usually translated as "hill of peace"
- Where
- Doi Mae Salong, Mae Fah Luang district, Chiang Rai province
- Altitude
- Roughly 1,100–1,300 m; no official figure published
- Known for
- Oolong tea, Chinese food, the history of the Kuomintang (KMT) settlers
- Main roads
- Route 1130 from Ban Basang near Mae Chan; Route 1234 from the south
- Best season
- November to February: cool and dry, often misty in the morning
- Smoky season
- Roughly February to April, when haze can hide the views
From a soldiers' camp to Santikhiri: the history in brief
When the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949, some units of the Nationalist (Kuomintang, or KMT) army refused to surrender. Remnants of the 93rd Division retreated from Yunnan in southwest China into Burma's Shan State, where they stayed for years. In 1961 about 4,000 of these troops, led by General Tuan Shi-wen, moved across the border to Mae Salong.
The Thai government allowed them to stay on condition that they help guard the frontier against communist insurgents. For years the area was also part of the Golden Triangle opium and heroin trade, until the 1980s, when farmers switched to tea, coffee and fruit. Most of today's residents are descendants of the soldiers and their families. The government gave the village the name Santikhiri, meaning roughly "hill of peace", to mark a break with that past.
Two places tell the story. General Tuan, who died in 1980, is buried in a tomb on the hillside above the village, and the Martyrs' Memorial Hall is a small museum about the KMT soldiers. We found no official opening hours or fees for either, so check locally. This account follows long-standing news reporting on the village; we could not read an academic or provincial history, so treat the details of numbers and dates as approximate.
Oolong tea: plantations, tea shops and tasting
Tea is the reason most visitors come. Mae Salong grows high-mountain oolong from stock brought from Taiwan, on terraces that cover the slopes around the village. The Tourism Authority of Thailand has promoted tea from Doi Mae Salong as one of the products that represent their community, and has held a Mae Salong tea-tasting festival at Ban Santikhiri in the cool season (the 2019–20 edition ran from 28 December to 2 January). We found no announcement for 2026–27.
Tea shops in the village sell directly to visitors, and many let you taste before you buy. Ask whether the tasting is free, and if you have tried several teas it is polite to buy something. Compare a few shops, ask how each tea was processed, and buy vacuum-packed bags if you are taking tea home.
Walking among the tea rows is the other pleasure. Paths and small roads lead from the village down into the plantations; keep to the paths and do not pick leaves. Thailand's coffee, which grows in the same hills, and everyday Thai tea drinks are covered in our guide to Thai coffee and tea.
Check your home country's rules before buying a lot of tea. Dried tea is usually fine to take home in normal amounts, but rules on plant products differ by country, and some customs services ask you to declare them. Our page on what you can't take home from Thailand explains the general picture.
Chinese food in the mountains
Because the village was founded by soldiers from Yunnan, it is one of the few places in northern Thailand where Chinese home cooking, rather than Thai food, is the local food. We found no official guide to the dishes, so ask in the family restaurants what the house specialties are, and expect tea with your meal.
Mae Salong is small and quiet, so do not count on late dinners. If you want to compare with northern Thai food, our guide to Thai dishes by region covers the Lanna dishes you will eat back in Chiang Rai.
Mornings, views and the cool season
Mae Salong is at its best early in the morning, when mist sits in the valleys below the ridge and the tea terraces catch the first light. Go for a walk before breakfast, while the air is still cool. The Tourism Authority of Thailand includes Doi Mae Salong in its list of northern places with rice fields and community tourism, and the cool season brings cherry blossom on the hills around December and January.
There is no weather station in the village. The nearest official one, at Chiang Rai (388 m), records an average January minimum of 13.8 °C and a record low of 1.5 °C in December, according to the Thai Meteorological Department's 1991–2020 figures. Mae Salong is several hundred meters higher, so nights are colder. Bring a warm layer from November to February.
The rains peak in August, when Chiang Rai averages 372.9 mm, and the roads can be slippery. Late in the dry season, roughly February to April, smoke from field and forest fires drifts over the hills and the tea terraces may vanish in the haze; read our page on PM2.5 air pollution before booking a trip in those months.
Getting to Mae Salong via Mae Chan
There is no train to Chiang Rai. The usual public-transport route is from Chiang Rai to Mae Chan, a market town on the main road north, and from there up the mountain:
- Chiang Rai to Mae Chan. Local buses heading north toward Mae Sai pass through Mae Chan. No official schedule for this short leg was available to us, so ask at Chiang Rai's bus terminal in town.
- Mae Chan to Mae Salong. Shared songthaews (pickup trucks with benches) and minibuses go up to the village. One travel guide gives a fare of about 100 baht and departures in the morning and early afternoon, but says its details may be outdated, so check in Mae Chan. Our guide to songthaews explains how they work.
- By car or scooter. Route 1130 climbs from Ban Basang near Mae Chan, and Route 1234 comes up from the south. Both are steep and winding. Our sister site's guide to mountain roads and hairpin bends is worth reading before you ride up.
Coming from Chiang Mai, take the Greenbus to Chiang Rai first; our page on Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai has the classes and fares. From Bangkok, see Bangkok to Chiang Rai. If bends make you queasy, our page on motion sickness has practical tips for mountain roads.
Fitting Mae Salong into a Chiang Rai trip
A day trip from Chiang Rai is possible by car, but one night lets you see the village in the early morning, when it is at its best. Combine it with the city's temples, such as the White Temple, and use our Chiang Rai guide for the rest of the province. If you are touring the north by bus, our northern Thailand itinerary shows how the pieces fit.
Frequently asked questions
Why is there a Chinese village in Mae Salong?
It was settled in 1961 by soldiers of the Chinese Nationalist (KMT) army who had retreated from Yunnan into Burma after the civil war. Thailand let them stay in return for help guarding the border, and most residents today are their descendants.
How do I get from Chiang Rai to Mae Salong?
Take a local bus north to Mae Chan, then a shared songthaew or minibus up the mountain. With your own transport, take Route 1130 from Ban Basang near Mae Chan. Check the songthaew times in Mae Chan, as they were not published in a source we could verify.
When is the best time to visit Mae Salong?
November to February, when the weather is cool and dry and the mornings are often misty. Nights can be cold, so bring warm clothes. From about February to April, smoke from burning in the north can hide the views.
Can you visit the tea plantations in Mae Salong?
Yes. The plantations surround the village and you can walk along the paths and small roads between the tea rows. Tea shops on the main road offer tastings, and buying directly from them is the usual way to take Mae Salong oolong home.
Sources
- Tourism Authority of Thailand – Let's #GoNorthThailand this Green Season (Doi Mae Salong, Mae Fah Luang) (checked October 2026)
- Tourism Authority of Thailand – Cool-season events: Mae Salong Tea Tasting Festival (checked October 2026)
- Tourism Authority of Thailand – Community products fair: tea from Doi Mae Salong (checked October 2026)
- Thai Meteorological Department – Climate normals 1991–2020 (Chiang Rai station) (checked October 2026)