Phuket Chaisai Mountain Resort - Chiang Rai

“My mum (Mrs. Chaisai) wanted to use this piece of land as a place for meditation. So I fulfilled her dream,” she recalled with her trademark smile.

Phu Chaisai is now an oasis of spirituality for city dwellers that seek refuge from the wear and tear of the city. One can’t help but be impressed by the beauty of the tranquility and the natural setting. Thirty-four rooms were made of bamboo and are void of television sets and electronic alarm clocks. In the warm embrace of Mother Nature, many can make peace with their inner selves.

Simplicity is always the key to ML Sudavadee’s designs. In the East-meets-West fashion show, she defined her design as integrated for relaxation of body and mind with high-quality hospitality and professional performance.

Soaked in dew, the fresh green leaves of trees glisten as day breaks. The entire mountain range and forest is a thick canopy of green humming with the singing of birds and insects. Open your eyes and from the confines of your bed watch the sun moving up the horizon.

From the outside, this small and romantic resort is just a cluster of ordinary bamboo huts with thatched rooms, but once you step inside you realize that these huts are special. Devoid of brand name decorative items and expensive furniture, Phu Chaisai chose to build with decorative items.

The air is just one of the many attractions of Phu Chaisai (Mountain of Clear Hearts), an enchanting little “boutique” resort located in the hills outside of Mae Chan, in Chiang Rai. The relative silence is another. The breathtaking views afforded from the generous terraces and the bright and airy rooms, as well as most of the common areas, is yet another.

The resort is ideally for the traveller who wants to get away from it all without leaving the comforts of home, to get off the beaten track but without going to far. The rooms call “cottages”, are stacked three high in seven hillside clusters and constructed in traditional hill tribe style with mud floors, bamboo walls, and leaf roofs.

All of the furnishings are, of course, ingeniously made of bamboo, from the tables and chairs to the door handles and light fixtures, even clothes hangers and soap dishes.