DOI INTHANON… A ROYAL PROJECT

Go on a DAY TOUR from CHIANG MAI to DOI INTHANON. The highest mountain of THAILAND has been famous in the whole country since the years 1960s. In that time, poppy fields were widespread here and there in the mountains of Northern THAILAND, and hill tribe villagers were working constrained by opium smugglers. King Bhumibol (Rama IX) initiated drastic reforms in the whole North to put an end to it. It was the beginning of the ‘Royal Projects’. These ‘triangular’ projects were highly profitable to the whole region and to the little ethnic communities who were literally slaves of the drug barons and adicts to opium. The 'Royal Projects' were actually articulated around 3 main axes, in accordance with one of the King’s credos –‘auto-sufficiency’: 1- Get Opium out from Thailand 2- Get villagers free from opium 3- Handle forest ecologically Nowadays, Doi Inthanon is a huge and superb national park full of majestic waterfalls, lush green valleys, terrace paddy fields, fruits and vegetables crops, flowers in greenhouses and ethnic communities living prosperous, free and happy in their natural environment.… This excursion is one of the most interesting one could undertake in the region of Chiangmai