Brief history and cultural signifance of Elephants in Thailand

Elephants play an important role in Thai society, culture and history. The elephant is the official national animal of Thailand, therefore their presence can be seen in many parts of Thailand. Historically, elephants played different roles in Thai society, from fighting wars, to providing manual heavy labour, transportation to the tourism industry today.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephants_in_Thailand

Visit to Maesa Elephant Camp

Maesa Elephant Camp is a tourist destination in Chiang Mai, Thailand, establisehd on 8^thApril 1976 by Mr Choochart Kalmapijit. Over the decades, they have transformed, not just on the elephant show performance, they have also evolved into a well organised system and network to take care of the elephants when they are young as well as when the elephants are retired, along with a healthy supply of food and medical care for the elephants under their charge.

There are theree destinations to visit within Maesa Elephant Camp, let me bring you through the activities that you can participate, learn and interact with the elephants and the people taking care of them, from my short stories and photographs.

For the visits to Maesa Elephant Nursery and Maesa Elder Camp, visitors can change into their Maesa Elephant Camp attire and you do not need to worry about getting your clothes sweaty, dirty or wet from interacting with the elephants or when having your hands on activities to learn more about elephant care, nutrition and food preparation.

1) Thai Elephant Kingdom at Maesa Elephant Camp

The star attraction of Maesa Elephant Camp, a well known tourist destination in Thailand, popular with tourists when you look at the number of visitors there. Visitors can buy fruits and get up close to the elephants in their enclosure, feeding them, playing with them, getting their photos taken by their family, relatives or friends.

Prior to the main performance show by the elephants, the elephants would head down to the river stream for a bath and shower, watched by the enthusiastic crowds of visitors from the sides.

At the main performance ground inside Maesa Elephant Camp, visitors were sitted around the arena, watching the elephants perform, from playing football, drawing paintings, how they do logging during the era when logging was permitted in Thailand.

The elephants are smart and friendly, popular with the visitors there. After the performance ended, the elephants would go to the sides and interact with the visitors, posing for photographs and getting more of their favourite fruits.

2) Maesa Elephant Nursery

The Maesa Elephant Nursery is similar to the Masea Elder Camp, except that it’s for the young and baby elephants. Visitors are able to feed and watch the young elephants at the nursery. When you visit the mummy elephant with her baby elephant, do be careful as the mummy elephant might be more protective of her baby, just like a parent being protective of their child.

Tiffany, Peps, Valentino and myself prepared some food and nutrition for the baby elepant into a toy for one of the baby elephants to play with.  The baby elephant was really cute and adorable, very enthusiastic, played with the toy that we made! Just like the other two destinations at Maesa Elephant Camp, the elephants love their fruits, you can feed them and interact with the elephants!

Visitors can also bath and shower the young elephant at the river stream, a fun and interactive activity for visitors and for the elephant! I reckon the elephants love getting a swim, bath and shower in the river stream, while being taken care of by visitors and the elephant care person.

3) The Thai Elephant Care Center (Maesa Elder Camp)

For the elephants that are older in age, they would still be taken care of when they retire, at the Thai Elephant Care Center (Maesa Elder Camp). The retiree elephants health and nutrition are taken care of carefully by the staff of Maesa Elephant Camp.

For visitors to the Maesa Elder Camp, they have tours for them to join. They are able to have a hands on experience in preparing food for the elephants, bringing it to some of the elephants, feeding them and patting them. One of the hands on experience that visitors can have is preparing health supplements for the retired older elephants, guided by the elephant doctors. Besides having good and nutritious diet, the elderly elephants also go for walking exercises with their care person too, you can spot them walking around the Maesa Elder Camp!

Visitors can also have the experience of showering/bathing the elephant in the river, the elephant likes having a bath time in the river, getting scrubbed clean. It’s a fun and enjoyable experience for visitors too, getting into the cold river stream with the elephant.

Overall, the retiree elephants are friendly and nice, even though they are big in size. They can be pretty enthusiastic when it comes to food, just like us human beings!

Maesa Elephant Camp, to visit or not?

First and foremost, elephant shows in Thailand, have its fair share of bad press and ill treatments of the elephants, the stories and photos can be found on the internet and social media.

During my visit to Maesa Elephant Camp, visiting their three different destinations, Thai Elephant Kingdom at Maesa Elephant Camp, Maesa Elephant Nursery and The Thai Elephant Care Center (Maesa Elder Camp), I observed that they do take good care of their elephants, from young to old.

My personal recommendation for visitors, if you are planning to visit Maesa Elephant Camp, is to visit all three destinations, Thai Elephant Kingdom at Maesa Elephant Camp, Maesa Elephant Nursery and The Thai Elephant Care Center (Maesa Elder Camp). This would allow the you, to have a holistic and better understanding of Maesa Elephant Camp, their activities, meals, nutrition and health care for young, adult and elderly elephants, and not just the main tourist attraction at the Elephant Kingdom at Maesa Elephant Camp.

Photographs that I took during our visit to Maesa Elephant Camp can be viewed here inside this flickr photo album! Do check out my Chiang Mai travel adventure photographs of the various destinations that we visited during our Chiang Mai travel adventures!

Do visit my fellow traveler Tiffany’s article coverage on our visit to Maesa Elephant Camp – https://www.tiffanyyong.com/2018/03/24/maesa-elephant-camp-chiangmai/

If you would like to visit Maesa Elephant Camp during your travel holidays to Chiang Mai, Thailand, the information is as follows:

Maesa Elephant Camp

Address: Office: 119/9 Tapae Rd., Muang District, Chiang Mai Thailand 50100

Website:https://maesaelephantcamp.com

Email:info@maesaelephantcamp.com

Telephone: (+66)5320 6247, (+66)5320 6248

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Maesaelephantcamp/

I would like to thank Maesa Elephant Camp for hosting us during our two days visit to Thai Elephant Kingdom at Maesa Elephant Camp, Maesa Elephant Nursery and The Thai Elephant Care Center (Maesa Elder Camp)

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

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However, I confessed that when I first stepped into Elephant POOPOOPAPER Park in the afternoon after our half day trip to Doi Suthep National Park in the morning, I was in awe of this lovely, quiet and tranquil location. This place is environmentally friendly, superb hospitality, a cosy café known as Adobe Cafe, nice souvenirs, craft works and art works gift shop.

Elephant POOPOOPAPER Park is an easy destination to navigate, you can walk on your own through the eight stations and explore it yourself, there are maps, signages and boards explaining the processes at each station. Alternatively, you can sign up for the guided tour. We were hosted by Ms. Tun Kanokrat, Managing Director of Elephant POOPOOPAPER Park, she brought us on a guided tour, demonstrating and explaining to us the processes at each different stages of producing the poopoo paper.

History of Paper Garden– Before you start, visit this segment at the park and learn about the history of paper, the origin and development over the centuries

Poo Fiber Shed– Next up, visit the Poo Poo Shed, touch and smell the dried poo!  Don’t worry, it’s not smelly!

Cleaning & Boiling– The dried poo fiber is put through the process of cleaning and boiling, inside the big hot wok over the charcoal fire.

Mixing & Colouring– After cleaning and boiling, they are headed to the mixing and colouring shed,  transforming into colourful pulp poo balls.

Papermaking– This is probably going to be one of the most fun part getting hands on with the pulp poo balls, spread the dried pulp poo balls onto the mesh wooden tray with water, spread them out evenly.

Sheet Screening– Bring the mesh wooden tray of the pulp poo poo fiber into the backyard for drying. While it might take some time to see your handicraft work turning into recycled paper, you can be proud of your achievement!

Finished Product– At this shed, you can view and touch the various freshly made sheets of POOPOOPAPER, this is probably the next fun segment for you, time to make your own/decorate your own unique POOPOOPAPER product, let your creativity artwork flow! There are also ready made POOPOOPAPER products for you to buy back home as gifts for your family, relatives and friends!

Team #EpiphanyGoChiangMai did a great job there, getting the videos and interviews shot by Valentino with travel hosts Tiffany and Peps, hosting, introducing and interviewing Ms Kanokrat. As for myself, I was busy taking behind the scenes photos and you can view them inside this flickr album! As the quiet Chiang Mai evening sets in, we bade farewell to this wonderful destination and returned back to our Baisiri Maya hotel in Chiang Mai.

However, Team #EpiphanyGoChiangMai, really liked this place so much that we squeezed out a few hours out from our schedule on Day 4 to visit them again after our maiden visit on Day 3 in Chiang Mai.

I got most of my photos on Day 3 of our visit and on Day 4, I continued taking photos of the park that I wasn’t able to finish taking the day before. On Day 4, I was able to get my hands on, making my own TGH Photography bookmark that I can bring home to Singapore. My own DIY bookmark from Elephant POOPOOPAPER Park provided me with wonderful memories and the friendly chats with the owners of Elephant POOPOOPAPER Park.

This is a must visit destination when you visit Chiang Mai, Thailand! Lovely, quiet and tranquil location, ideal for families with children to learn more about eco-friendly movement, recycling and saving the environment, with great hands on experience to build and decorate your own notebooks, bookmarks etc etc … Do check out Tiffany’s article post on her visit to Elephant POOPOOPAPER Park too! If you are a teacher planning a school trip to Chiang Mai, this is highly recommended destination to bring your students, there’s so much to learn about recycling, eco-friendly livng, sustainability, moreover, the students can have an awesome hands on experience with the recycled paper products!

I would like to thank Ms. Kanokrat and her team for her warmest hospitality when they hosted us, Team #EpiphanyGoChiangMai at the Elephant POOPOOPAPER Park. Personally, I had an awesome time there, learning a lot more about eco-friendly activities, recycling, saving the environment, getting hands on with paperwork and handicraft, making my own unique poopoo paper bookmark! I am pretty sure the rest of Team #EpiphanyGoChiangMai agree with me too! More photographs of our visit to Elephant POOPOOPAPER Park can be viewed here in this Flickr album!

Visitor Information on Elephant POOPOOPAPER Park

Address: 87 Moo. 10, T. Maeram, Amphur Mae Rim, Chiang Mai, 50180 THAILAND

Telephone: +66(0)53-299565

Email: info@poopoopaperpark.com

Opening Hours: 9:00am to 5:30pm

Cost of entry: 100 Baht

Website: http://www.poopoopaperpark.com/en/

Google Map: https://goo.gl/maps/7b24kqHCUxk

*Thai language Directions for taxi, tuk-tuk, red bus, etc. :

อยู่ห่างจากตัวเมืองเชียงใหม่เพียง10 กิโลเมตร(15 นาที) โดยเดินทางสู่เส้นแม่ริมและใช้เวลาเพียง2 นาทีจากทางแยกแม่ริม-สะเมิงเลียบคลองมาทางคุ้มเสือและเลยไปอีกเพียง100 เมตร

Follow them on social media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/poopoopaperpark

Twitter: https://twitter.com/poopoopaperpark

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/poopoopaperpark/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/poopoopaperpark/

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Doi Suthep-Pui National Park is a short distance away from Chiang Mai, our first destination for the half day tour was Wat Phra That Doi Suthep.

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep is the most important temple in Chiang Mai, upon reaching the foot of the temple ground, we observed a lot of people, cars and tourist buses. While it might look like another touristy destination to some, once we arrived up at this holy temple, I can see why it is of great significance and importance to Chiang Mai.

There are two ways to get up to Phra That Doi Suthep Temple, you can walk up using the seven-headed serpent stairs or take an electric tram which is available from 6:00am to 6:00pm. The fee for the electric tram is 20 Thai Baht for Thais and 50 Thai Baht for overseas visitors.

We took the electric tram up to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, the experience was pretty interesting,  that’s lots of people queuing to take the electric tram! Upon reaching the top, we spotted many people, both locals and international visitors alike, coming up to visit and paying pilgrimage to the most important temple in Chiang Mai.

Bird’s eye view of Chiang Mai City

The weather was great, clear blue sky and beautiful sunshine when we were at Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. Our Chiang Mai Local Tours guides led us around the temple ground, sharing with us the history and stories of this temple. We then came to an open viewing deck, crowded with people, looking at a bird’s eye view of Chiang Mai City! Oh yes, you can spot the Chiang Mai International Airport runway from this location too!

Exploring the holy temple ground

Continuing our journey inside the temple ground, exploring and learning a lot more about the history, myths and legends of Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, thanks to our guides! There were a lot of visitors at this temple, some of them were tourists, taking photos, while some of them were making a pilgrimage, paying respects and seeking blessings.

Tiffany, Peps and myself decided to pay our homage to this important and holy Phra That Doi Suthep, walking around the stupa (three times) before lighting a candle and offering the flowers. Personally, this is for me to pay my respect to the temple, seeking blessings for the year ahead.

Once we finished our pilgrimage, we left and started walking down the famed seven-headed serpent stairs to the foot of the temple ground.

Visiting the local market bazaar

While we were waiting for our mini bus to arrive and pick us up, there was a bit of time and we decided to explore the local market bazaar at the foot of the temple ground. The food and drinks were calling out to us and we ended up with local Thai snacks and beverages!

A hidden temple and waterfall

Once our mini bus arrived, we departed from Phra That Doi Suthep. On the way down, our guides brought us to another temple hidden away in a small valley. It was a short ride away, soon we alighted and started trek downhill into the hidden temple compound.

A small temple compound without the crowds, there’s something very special about this destination, the perfect and tranquil location to relax and meditate. Exploring the surroundings, we found the waterfall area, sat down on the rocks, relaxed and enjoy the peace and tranquility, listening to the flow of the waterfall. This is a perfect destination to bring a book, away from the urban city life, sit down, read and meditate.

Our visit to this hidden temple and waterfall is a short trip, we spent about an hour at this location. Nevertheless, we had an enjoyable and restful exploration of this destination.

Local Thai Food Lunch

Our local guides brought us for another round of local Thai food lunch, with the help of our guides who helped us ordered our lunch, we all got to try a few different local Thai dishes. I love their steamed chicken rice and dry noodles!

For you foodies out there, Thai food can be spicy. Our travel guide demonstrated to us how we can put a few spices together (small green and red chili) together with small garlic and chili sauce on top of the chicken meat, mix them all up with some rice, eat and enjoy this combo! If you love spices/chili like me, you would be trying this out next time when you are in Thailand!

Goodbye and a big Thank You to Chiang Mai Local Tours

After our nice and delicious local Thai food lunch, we once again had to say goodbye to our friends from Chiang Mai Local Tours. Once again, we were blessed and happy to know them. Their professionalism, enthusiasm, hospitality and wealth of local knowledge can be seen throughout during the full day and half day tours. These two tours are just part of the many different types of tour packages and travel plans that they provide! Visit their website and explore a local Chiang Mai tour package that suits you! More photographs of our visit to Doi Suthep National Park can be viewed here in this Flickr album!

They are highly recommended, with their wealth of local knowledge and experience, I would choose them to be my travel guides when I return to Chiang Mai for dedicated travel photography (landscape and bird photography) adventure! If the opportunity arises, I would love to work with them in the future!

Update! Visit Team #EpiphanyGoChiangMai fellow traveler Tiffany’s travel coverage article on Chiang Mai Local Tours One Day Tour: 5 Must Visit Attraction Spots!

For more information and contact details of Chiang Mai Local Tours, they are listed below:

Website:http://www.chiangmailocaltours.com

Address: 6 Inthawarorot Road., T. Sripoom, A. Muang

Chiang Mai, Thailand

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ChiangMaiLocalTours/

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/chiangmailocaltours/

Email:Cmlocaltours@gmail.com

Line : Odicmlocaltours

Telephone: +66 86 910 1478

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Searching various websites from Thailand Tourism Authority, Thai National Parks, TripAdviser, travel blogs etc etc … I discovered that there were a number of National Parks in Northern Thailand, all these information got me excited as I am an outdoors person and love a trek in the nature areas! Two national parks highly recommended and not too far away from Chiang Mai came up, Doi Inthanon and Doi Suthep-Pui National Parks.

I put forward my suggestions, Doi Inthanon and Doi Suthep, to Tiffany, the person who liaised most of the travel planning and discussions with the respective travel, tourism and hospitality companies for our Chiang Mai trip. When she came back to me that, Chiang Mai Local Tours was going to host us, bringing us on their local tours to Doi Inthanon (Full day tour) and Doi Suthep (Half day tour), I was very excited!

Doi Inthanon National Park (Full Day Tour)

On the second day of our Chiangmai adventure, we began our adventure to Doi Inthanon National Park! Chiang Mai Local Tours met us at our hotel lobby in the morning, Team EpiphanyGoChiangMai was greeted with the warmest hospitality from the friendly tour guides of Chiang Mai Local Tours. After a short introduction and chat between both parties, we went onboard their cosy and comfortable mini bus, beginning our driving journey to Doi Inthanon National Park.

The journey from our Baisiri Maya Hotel to Doi Inthanon National Park took approximately two hours. We continued chatting with our very friendly and hospitalable travel guides during the drive to Doi Inthanon National Park. From the ground level to driving up the mountain range, I knew we were getting closer to our destination. Soon, we arrived at our first destination in Doi Inthanon National Park

Phra Mahathat Naphamethanidon and Nophamethanidon

Upon alighting from the mini bus, we saw a packed parking space and many people visiting this grand destination. The weather was awesome, clear blue sky with cool air! As I looked up into the sky, there are two Buddhist stupas, Phra Mahathat Naphamethanidon and Nophamethanidon, Buddhist palces of worship containing the Lord Buddha’s relics.

Naphamethinidon was built in 1987 to honour the 60th birthday aniversary of King Bhumibol Adulyadej while Naphaphonphumisiri was built in 1992 to honour the 60th birthday anniversary of Queen Sirikit. Our tour guides shared a lot about this Phra Mahathat Naphamethanidon and Nophamethanidon with us when we walked up to the stupa and toured this religious destination. Naphamethanidon and Nophamethanidon each has their own garden and visitors love it!

Although Naphamethanidon and Nophamethanidon are not at the summit of Doi Inthanon, their location is not far away from it. This destination has a vast and wide view of Chiangmai and Mae Hong Son, the view from there is magnificent, a destination landscape photographers will love!

While Team #EpiphanyGoChiangMai was busy touring, learning and enjoying their visit to Phra Mahathat Naphamethanidon and Nophamethanidon, we were also busy with our respective roles, Travel hosts – Tiffany and Peps , videographer – Valentino and photographer – me! You can check out my Flickr album on some of the behind the scenes photos of them in action with our guides from Chiangmai Local Tours!

Summit of Doi Inthanon

We said goodbye to Naphamethanidon and Nophamethanidon, continued with a short drive uphill to the highest peak in Thailand, at a height of 2565m above sea level! Alighting from the mini bus, our travel guides took us to the entrance of the path leading up to the summit of Doi Inthanon. It was a short walk up to the summit of Doi Inthanon and we made it to the highest peak in Thailand!

King Inthanon Memorial Shrine

At the summit of Doi Inthanon, there is a pagoda with offerings in front of it. Our guide shared with us on its history and significance. This is known as the King Inthanon Memorial Shrine.

I bowed and said a prayer at the shrine, paying my respect, before I continued taking photos of the surroundings, video interviews conducted by my fellow travel hosts and videographer with our guides. We walked down from the summit, took a break and getting ready for our delicious local Thai food lunch!

Local Thai food lunch

Before I proceed further, I would like to confess that I am a big fan of Thai food, I love their spices, herbs, sweet and sour flavours! Some of my friends would always notice a few particular Thai dishes that I regularly order, can you guess which are my few favourite Thai dishes?

We went for a lunch break near to the summit of Doi Inthanon, a pit stop for both locals and tourists, with their open space carpark and food stalls. Thanks to our friends from Chiang Mai Local Tours, we don’t have to worry about ordering local Thai food! They ordered different types of local Thai food for us to eat and enjoy! As much as I would love to describe each and every dish, my whole article would become too lengthy, therefore, I let my Thai food photos do the talking!

Since we were having lunch, I took the opportunity to know more about the different Thai cuisines from various parts of Thailand, such as Northern Thailand e.g. Chiang Mai versus Southern Thailand e.g. Bangkok, what are the key differences in cooking style and tastes between the two regions. Listening to them sharing on Thai food, it was definitely a great learning experience from this trip!

Kaew Mae Pan Nature Trail

After a hearty and delicious local Thai food lunch, we had to burn our calories off. Our next adventure at Doi Inthanon National Park began by walking across the carpark to a nice cottage, the entrance to a nature trail that totally blew me away, I was in awe of the beauty, tranquility and surreal landscape, mountain range and forest of Doi Inthanon National Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing Kaew Mae Pan Nature Trail!

I would be sharing more photographs inside my Flickr album, as I start to share on our amazing nature trekking. Our Kaew Mae Pan Nature Trail guide is from the local tribe in the region, he led and guided us on this nature trail, together with our Chiang Mai Local Tours guides.

It’s only 3.2km long with 21 checkpoints, that’s not a very far distance to trek! However, we were at an altitude of 2,200m above sea level and this would meant that the oxygen levels at that altitude would be thinner. All these brought me back memories to the year 2007 when I climbed Mt Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia. From my experience, I knew the challenges and difficulties when climbing uphill at this altitude.

The impact of thin oxygen level can be felt almost immediately when I started to ascend up the nature trail. Although I absolutely loved the gorgeous forest, I wasn’t acclaimatised to the altitude, I was getting breatheless, therefore I had to slow it down and not rush.

I had been an outdoors person since my secondary school scouting days, I love trekking into nature reserves! Our local tribal guide for the Kaew Mae Pan Nature Trail and Chiang Mai Local Tours guides shared with us on the flora and fauna inside the forest, what could be eaten, we had the opportunity to learn about them and tasted it!

While I was quite breatheless at the initial segment of the ascend inside the forest, this was soon forgotten when we reached the ridge line/plateau of the nature trail. Upon exiting from the forested sector, the vast open landscape view from the open trail area welcomed us. The view was simply gorgeous beyond words, I haven’t had that feeling since my Hokkaido trip in 2016!

Such vast landscapes never fail to amaze me, I was busy pressing the Canon EOS 6D Mark II DSLR button to capture as many different views and perspectives. On the other hand, I was also busy photographing the rest of the team in action, interviewing our friends from Chiang Mai Local Tours, group photos and some fun shots too!

Once again, we began to re-enter back into the forested area, trekking back to the start point. At this stage, there were still a few uphill treks before the final descend to the end point of the Kaew Mae Pan Nature Trail. Upon reaching the wooden cottage again, our start/end point of this nature trail, we said goodbye to our local tribal guide, returned to our mini bus for the journey back to Chiang Mai.

Wachirathan Waterfall

On the way down, our guides decided to bring us to one of the waterfalls in this region, Wachirathan Waterfall. We didn’t spend too much time here due to time constraints, nevertheless, we got to witness a magnificent waterfall in the Doi Inathanon National Park. Our guides shared with us that this waterfall is popular during the warm season, many people visit the base of the waterfall to enjoy the cooling water.

After a short thirty minutes visit to Wachirathan Waterfall, taking photos and videos, we made our way back to Chiang Mai city from Doi Inthanon National Park, blessed with a pretty sunset on the road, seen above the mountain range ridge line.

Back to Chiang Mai City

As we reached Chiang Mai city, we wished a big thank you and waved goodbye to our guides from Chiang Mai Local Tours for a fun and adventurous full day tour of Doi Inthanon National Park.

If you are planning to visit Chiang Mai, Thailand, visiting Doi Inthanon National Park is highly recommended! Do check out Chiang Mai Local Tours trekking tour packages to Doi Inthanon National Park (One Day and Two Day programmes are available). More photographs of our visit to Doi Inthanon National Park can be viewed here in this Flickr album!

A great full day of fun, travel, exploring and trekking, we rested early and get ready for our next day half day to Doi Suthep-Pui National Park by Chiang Mai Local Tours!

Update! Visit Team #EpiphanyGoChiangMai fellow traveler Tiffany’s travel coverage article on Chiang Mai Local Tours One Day Tour: 5 Must Visit Attraction Spots!

Chiang Mai Local Tours

I am happy and glad to know Chiang Mai Local Tours during my trip with Team #EpiphanyGoChiangMai! Their professionalism, enthusiasm, hospitality and wealth of local knowledge can be seen throughout during the full day tour. This  tour is just part of the many different types of tour packages and travel plans that they provide! Visit their website and explore a local Chiang Mai tour package that suits you!

They are highly recommended, with their wealth of local knowledge and experience, I would choose them to be my travel gudies when I return to Chiang Mai for dedicated travel photography (landscape and bird photography) adventure! If the opportunity arises, I would love to work with them in the future!

I would also like to highlight that the tour itinerary that Chiang Mai Local Tours brought us for the full day tour to Doi Inthanon National Park is not the same as those planned and listed on their website.

For more information and contact details of Chiang Mai Local Tours, they are listed below:

Website:http://www.chiangmailocaltours.com

Address: 6 Inthawarorot Road., T. Sripoom, A. Muang, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ChiangMaiLocalTours/

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/chiangmailocaltours/

Email:Cmlocaltours@gmail.com

Line : Odicmlocaltours

Telephone: +66 86 910 1478

The post Doi Inthanon National Park (Full Day tour) Chiang Mai appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

This was the hotel that Team #EpiphanyGoChiangMai (Team Epiphany Duplet: Tiffany Yong and Peps Goh, along with Valentino Tan and myself) stayed in during our recent travel adventure to Chiang Mai from 29^th January 2018 to 3^rd February 2018. Baisiri Maya Hotel was our home base when we visited, explored and covered a few tourist destinations in Chiang Mai.

For the duration of our stay at Baisiri Maya Hotel, we stayed in the Premier Room. Personally, I really love this room, it’s very spacious (in the bathroom too!), beautifully designed, comfortable and cosy, together with a great view in front of you, a landscape scene of the mountain range located at Doi Suthep National Park. The late afternoon sun rays shine through and into the room, lighting up the chandeliers on the room ceiling, projecting light artwork on the room walls. When the sun sets over the mountain range, you can sit down on the bed or sofa inside the Premier Room and enjoy the tranquil moment and gorgeous sunset scenery. Late in the night, switch off the lights in your room, look up into the night skyline of Chiang Mai, observe and enjoy the pretty starry starry night!

Breakfast is available at the hotel lounge, just beside the hotel lobby. With a mix of local Thai breakfast choices along with Western breakfast choices, guests can have a hearty breakfast before starting off on their Chiang Mai travel adventures!

If you just want to relax in the hotel, they have a swimming pool inside the hotel, this is definitely not your conventional swimming pool design, rather unique and special, they are great for relaxing by the swimming pool , remember to pose and take lots of instagram photos, selfies and wefies! Oh, do remember to look up above and spot the decorations hanging from the glass rooftop!

There is also a gym that you can visit and do your exercise workout, if not, you can also relax in the hotel lobby with some snacks and drinks that you can purchase from the hotel front office area. Keep a lookout for their iconic and distinctive chandeliers inside the hotel!

Thinking of heading out to somewhere nearby for delicious local Thai food, there is a night market opposite Chiang Mai University, about 20 mins walk, a relatively short 1.4km distance from the hotel. The night market is trendy and hippy, with students from the Chiang Mai University hanging out there for night market shopping and food!

That’s another night market, smaller in size, around 300m away from the hotel, about 5mins walk away. Team #EpiphanyGoChiangMai had a local Thai food feast at the night market, a great and fun local dining experience! Do check out the photos in my Flickr photo album for more photos! There is also a 7-11 convenience store beside the night market too, if you need to stock up or buying something, you can visit 7-11 convenience store before heading back to your hotel.

A further distance away from Baisiri Maya Hotel, you can visit Warorot Market and Chiang Mai Night Bazaar. These two locations are excellent locations to visit for night market shopping and eating local Thai food. In order to get there, I would recommend taking their local taxi or private car hire such as Grab.

Baisiri Maya Hotel, is suitable for families with children, cosy and comfortable, located at a pretty convenient location, not too far away from Chiang Mai International Airport and major tourist attractions! I highly recommend the Premier Room if you are bringing your family with children to Chiang Mai for a holiday!

I would like to thank Baisiri Maya Hotel for their warm and friendly hospitality during our visit and stay in Chiang Mai. Thank you Baisiri Maya Hotel for hosting Team #EpiphanyGoChiangMai during our travel to Chiang Mai! A special shoutout to Tiffany Yongof Team Epiphany Duplet who worked tirelessly on the media trip planning to Chiang Mai for Team #EpiphanyGoChiangMai! Do visit her website and check out her article on Baisiri Maya Hotel!

Information

Address

21/190 Moo 2 , T.Changphuak, A.Muang, Chiangmai , Thailand 50300

TEL. +66 (0) 53 219595

FAX. +66 (0) 53 216837

EMail.info@baisirimaya.com

Website

http://www.baisirimaya.com

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/Baisirimaya/

Nearby amenties

Fresh Food Market / Small night market / 7-11 store

Night market / food eating place – opposite Chiang Mai University

Maps

Baisiri Maya Hotel – https://goo.gl/maps/WQbqZQMLfkH2

Fresh Food Market / Small night market / 7-11 store – https://goo.gl/maps/rENpbRecmPw

Night Market opposite Chiang Mai University – https://goo.gl/maps/4uVn3oY54kN2

Baisiri Maya Hotel

Chiang Mai, Thailand 2018

The post Baisiri Maya Hotel in Chiang Mai, Thailand appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

First and foremost, let me start on the business aspect for my photography:

1. Slow and small growth, not exponential, in this current economic climate, it’s still pretty difficult on the ground level.
2. Photography business portfolio is expanding, need to upload and showcase more diversification when the opportunity arises.
3. A partial travel familiarisation trip to Chiang Mai, Thailand during end January to early February 2018, a golden opportunity to add on to my travel portfolio and hopefully gain more traction for future travel opportunites in the near future.
4. Phootgraphy and travel blog/website is back working again, my content still needs repairing and tweaking, this would take some time. At the same time, I am looking at making changes and improvements to my blog/website. A change of template is coming soon!
5. Not chasing “numbers” anymore, I am chasing quality content over other benchmarks.
6. Photography business can be cyclical, I must always be prepared, continue my marketing, content creation, awareness, engagements, collaborations, slow and steady growth is my motto.
7. During Q1 2018, there had been hits and misses, all these are part of running any business and life. Learn from the life lessons and carry on moving forward.
8. Always learning and improving my photography knowledge and skills, constant reminder to myself.
9. Avoiding negative people and those people who “put me down” in my life, whether in business or personal life.
10. Partnerships and collabroations: The foundations had been laid and built since last year, looking to grow and expand this segment even bigger, wider and further. Check out Hpility SG, The Epiphany Duplet and also Love At Second Sight project.
11. During the most recent UQ alumni networking event in Singapore, I had the opportunity to catch up with my alumni seniors who holds management/executive level positions in their organisations, it was humbling to chat with them, listening to their advice on the difficulities in running a business (no matter how big or small). They were encouraging and helpful to share their work experiences, invaluable and priceless to me.

Next, let me share and reflect on my personal aspect of my photography:

1. Less time for leisure/personal photography: when I am not doing commerical/work photography, majority of time were spent on planning, marketing, pitching, discussion, content creation etc etc
2. Spend quality time on quality personal projects: Returning to my inner most photography self, taking on photography works/projects close to my heart.
3. Commit to fewer organisations: Some organisations don’t deserve my precious time and photography. It’s time to reduce my commitment to just a few organisations.
4. Not chasing “numbers” anymore, I am chasing quality content over other benchmarks.
5. Always learning and improving my photography knowledge and skills, constant reminder to myself.
6. Avoiding negative people and those people who “put me down” in my life, whether in business or personal life.

As Q1 2018 draws to a close, Q2 2018 opens, I am currently reading this book “The Little Book of Ikigai: The Essential Japanese way to finding your purpose in Life”. 生き甲斐 a.k.a Ikigai, has been my guiding principles for my photography, in both personal and business aspects.

Here are the 5 pillars of Ikigai (I brought this book along when I traveled to Chiang Mai, Thailand)

That’s me, reading “The Little Book of Ikigai” in Chiang Mai, Thailand; Peps Goh took this photo.

My journey continues, a big thank you from the bottom of my heart to those who have followed and supported this journey of mine that I embarked on. It has been very very tough and difficult journey, no words can describe it. There were times when a small pat in the back, or even pulling me up when I am down, small achievements and recognition lifted me up and kept me striving onward.

The post Reflecting Q1 2018 (Photography only) appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.