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ThailandIn the article we talk about one of our most favorite places in Chiang Mai province – free folk hot springs in Chiang Dao. From the article you will learn how to visit them yourself and how to get there, whether they are really free, how to use them and opening hours. Also in the article there is our video about the sources. Well, if something remains unclear or you just want to talk about the topic of holidays in Thailand and share your experience, we invite you to our 💬 Thailand travel chat.
Description and is it worth a visit
A few kilometers from the town Chiang Dao in the province of Chiang Mai are free hot springs Chiang Dao Hot Springs. They are almost unknown among tourists who visit the province and the city of Chiang Mai, mostly locals come here. But this is a very cool and unique place in its own way. The fact is that these springs are completely "wild", i.e. not ennobled with changing booths, toilets, but local residents have long since equipped them for taking hot baths in the open air, installing a system of pipes through which water comes from the bowels of Chiang Dao Mountain and fills large concrete pipes that act as bathing. And it is the fact that they are natural and authentic that we especially like about these hot springs. We visited these springs for the first time back in 2012, and now nothing has changed here, the place has not become commercial and tourist.
You can come here and swim absolutely for free, just like in the nearby river. The sources are concrete barrels in the ground, which are filled with hot water through a pipe system. Water flows from one barrel to another, and therefore the temperature in them is different: those that are closer in the river are cooler. So you can choose a barrel with a suitable temperature for yourself. Well, to make it really cool, you can make contrasting baths, periodically cooling down in the water of a nearby river.
In our experience, there is always someone warming up in barrels, mostly locals or rare tourists who came here for a day from Chiang Mai or stayed in Chiang Dao. But we did not see a big pandemonium, so that there was no place in the barrels. But the least people, in our experience, happens in the morning and late at night after dark. By the way, you can come here even at night, although there is no lighting here.
There is nowhere to change clothes here, so take care of how you will change clothes in advance of the trip. You can take a large towel with you and change out of the way, or just hide behind the nearest bushes. Also take care of where to leave your belongings for the time of bathing, because there are not even benches or anything like that where they can be folded, so you have to leave everything on the ground or put it on the stones.
Well, if you want to bathe in hot water and relax in comfort, then very close, just a hundred metro stations away, without reaching the free barrels on the way, there are equipped thermal springs with bamboo gazebos for just 50 baht per person.
You can also read our long-standing review about the first trip to the Chiang Dao hot springs and a trip to the north of Thailand here
🕐 Working hours
Around the clock.
💵Entrance fee / ticket price
Free of charge. Nearby there are also equipped paid sources with gazebos for 50 baht per person (approximately 1.53 USD, see Thailand's currency and exchange rate).
🚶 How to get there
The hot springs of Chiang Dao are located 6 kilometers from the center of Chiang Dao and 75 kilometers from the city of Chiang Mai (Chiang Dao hot springs on the map). No public transport goes here, there are no excursions, so you will have to get there by rented transport or taxi. Nearby there is a large playground where you can park your car or motorbike for free.
It is quite realistic to go here from Chiang Mai in one day, at the same time you can see many other interesting places along the way. For example, you can visit the toll villages of long-necked tribes, visit waterfalls, Doi Suthep temple, underground temple and much more. See attractions of Chiang Mai province and a map with them here. You can also see interesting places in Chiang Dao itself, we told you about them here. Well, if you stay at a hotel in Chiang Dao itself, then you can also rent a motorbike (from 300 baht) or a bicycle, and use it to get to the springs.
Friends, we remind you that it is much more interesting to get acquainted with the sights of Thailand with the help of excursions, and therefore we advise you to look at options with online booking and reviews on these excursion aggregators: