Best Tuk Tuk Tour in Chiang Mai | Review

written by local expert Anna Faustino

Anna is a co-founder of Adventure in You and has been traveling the world for the last 9 years. She has spent time living in Thailand, Mexico, Indonesia, and Spain and is our local expert in these areas. Her expertise on travel, gear, and building businesses have been featured on Foundr, Business Insider, Yahoo Travel, and more.

We have been living in Chaing Mai for about two months now when I got the call from my parents saying they were coming over for a visit. Excitement and panic hit me both at once. I wanted to show them the best time possible, without giving them the usual tour that every other tourist does when they arrive. My solution? An off the beaten path tour with Paul from Best Tuk Tuk Tours.

paul collins best tuktuk tour
Photo from: Best Tuk Tuk Tours

Best Tuk Tuk Tours is a company run by Thailand born, American citizen, Paul Collins. What we love about our tour is that Paul was 100% willing to customize our tour, suggesting interesting places along the way. I contacted him and arranged for a tour that isn’t so touristy and he gladly obliged. Paul spoke fluent English and Thai which made conversing with the locals a lot easier. We also loved the fact that he knew a lot about Chiang Mai as he grew up here along with his twin brother. For our tour, we had three points of interest as we didn’t want a full day of sightseeing. The entire tour was pretty fantastic and my parents enjoyed every bit of it. This tour is one of those things where words won’t do it justice so instead, here is our photo diary of of our tour that day.

Read: 10 Awesome Things to Do in Chiang Mai

Baan Tong Luang: Exploring the Hill Tribes of Chiang Mai

Baan Tong Luang is an Eco- Agricultural Village which is home to eight different hill tribes. Here, these tribes live, coexist, and as they preserve their culture and share it with others. Each tribe specializes in a specific handicraft type, creating beautiful and intricate patterns and textile clothing.

weaving baan tong luang village

 

They live is small huts with their families which they reinforce with leaves to create a thatched roof hut. They live off the land and heavily depend on agriculture to survive. The village is set among rice paddies and lush greenery.

cultural tour chiang mai

 

Apart from farming, they also create a lot of handicrafts which they sell to people visiting the village. Below is a photo of Paul, explaining the history behind their craft.

paul collins tour

tribe village chiang mai

Some of them weave, others create batik like textile clothing, and others embroider. The intricate pattern that they make are absolutely stunning. The woman below is creating this hand made textile print which she will then dye using a natural indigo color which they get from  leaves. textile art chiang mai

textile art chiang mai

 

Here in the village, time had seemed to stop. People were going on with their every day lives. Children were playing, the men were farming, and the women were busy. Living here in the village allows them to preserve their culture and pass it on to the younger generation in their tribes.

5 tribe village chiang mai

long neck tribe chiang mai

Here, life was simple and despite not having much, the people there seemed happy and content. Although the authenticity of seeing them in their every day lives similar to when you do a home stay is gone, this is a still a great area of seeing to see different tribes all in one place.

5 tribe village chiang mai

 

long neck karen tribe chiang mai

long neck tribe chiang mai

The Hill Tribe members were kind, they did not mind the photographs being taken, nor were they pushy in selling their handicrafts. Each tribe had a distinct look and hearing about their tribe’s history and way of life was very interesting.

tom guitar tribe

tribe village chiang mai

We had a great time during this tour and highly recommend it to others! If you want to see more information on it, you can check out their website. Cost of entry to the village is 500 Baht a person.

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A Visit to Paul’s Childhood Village and Home

Tom kindly took us to his childhood home as part of the off the beaten path tour. Usually, he goes there to visit his Thai nanny or mom who raised him but unfortunately, she wasn’t there. We did however get to meet his Thai Grandparents which was a nice treat.

paul collins tuktuk tour

Exploring Bua Tong Sticky Waterfalls

This was one place that I was most excited about as I had read so much about it. This place got its rather unique name because unlike most waterfalls which are slippery, you can directly climb up the cascading falls. The water contains a mineral deposit giving the rocks a strong texture which gives you a good grip. We started by walking up to see the water source through the lush forest.

 

sticky waterfalls chiang mai

This incredible natural pool supplies water to the falls on a constant basis. The sticky waterfalls itself is located within the Sri Lanna National Forest and is a great place to head to to getaway from the city. The waterfalls are very interesting and we enjoyed climbing up and down.

sticky waterfalls chiang mai

By the time we finished our tour, I felt quite satisfied that I was able to show my parents around Chiang Mai without it feeling too touristy. Naturally, Paul usually does his tours on a tuk tuk but for larger groups, you have the option of renting a Songthew or an AC Van. Overall, we had a great time and loved the fact that Paul spoke perfect English and Thai. He was able to translate things for us which made the tour easy and enjoyable.

Read: Where to Stay in Chiang Mai, Thailand

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Tips for Booking Best Tuk Tuk Tours

  • Book in advance (Paul runs a one man show so reserving a slot is cricual)
  • Have a rough idea of the things you want to see and do and email them to Paul. From there, he will make suggestions and create a custom itinerary
  • Ask him for his recommendations on where to eat in the city
  • Bring cash as you will have to pay him in cash before the tour start

For more information on Best Tuktuk Tours, you can check out:

Website | contact: [email protected]


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10 thoughts on “Best Tuk Tuk Tour in Chiang Mai | Review”

  1. Tuk Tuk is very funny vehicle, but in my humble opinion its not very safe, isnt it? Thats why I prefer to ride bicycle every time when I am in Thailand, and the last time I rented motorbike at Cat Motors and I should say that this guys just very good professionals at their job, moreover they have only reliable and good bikes so when you are in Chiang Mai you definitely need to go to them and rent some for a mountain trip like me and my girlfriend did last year.

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  2. Those villages would be very bad for my wallet. L am a huge fan of supporting local crafts and can’t resist buying them when I find amazing things like that fabric. I have so much fabric from places I have traveled that I have no idea what to do with it all.

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  3. I love it! I really like the fact that their cultural attires are still so rich in both design and color. Paul really sounds like a nice guy and a perfect candidate as a guide. Those Sticky Waterfalls are awesome!

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  4. This is great =D I usually hate taking Tuk-Tuks because you always end up at weird factories or in the middle of nowhere, but they are so much fun, so that tour is just brilliant. Loved the places you picked too, now that’s a nice way to eyplore a city and culture…thanks for sharing =)

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  5. Can’t wait to visit Chiang Mai later this year. This is a great idea to get an overview of the area without falling into the typical touristy traps. Love your pictures, especially of the Hill Tribes. So cultural and beautiful. Looks like you are having a great time. Enjoy 🙂

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  6. What an incredible tour! I was in Chiang Mai and I did not see this side of it so much. I did go up to Pai, but I did not have the opportunity to really get off the beaten path and visit villages. While I kind of try to steer away from guided tours, I do see the advantages of them, especially one so customized like this one. It looks like your family left with an amazing and memorable experience.

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  7. Looks like an amazing way to get out and explore the area. I’d love to see those textiles made by hand. It looks like such intricate details. Will have to save for when I have a chance to make it out to Thailand.

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  8. What a great way to explore Chiang Mai! We’ve been there a couple of times, but haven’t done many of the things you mentioned. We’ll have to contact Paul for our next trip. So amazing he grew up there! Pinning for later 🙂

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