What if I am injured? The tours that we offer have varying degrees of risk. Although we do our best to keep you safe, we can not control your actions, other drivers, the road conditions, the weather conditions, etc. Travel insurance is not available in Chiang Rai so we highly recommend that you arrange travel insurance prior to your departure. In Chiang Rai there are two public and one private hospitals. The care is generally good and the doctors speak varying degrees of English. If you need hospitalization, we will help you make sure you get the best possible service. Hospitalization is much cheaper in Thailand than most developed countries so for a small injury like a broken bone, you will pay less than $100 even without insurance.

Do the prices I see include the flight from Bangkok to Chiang Rai? No, all the prices that are quoted are with tours originating in Chiang Rai. You will need to arrange your own transportation to get here. The fastest and easiest way is by flight. Thai Airlines and Asia Air offer flights daily. A flight can cost as little as 400 baht on Asia Air when they have promotions, up to 1800 baht on Thai. The other option is to take a bus from Mo Chit Mai Bus Station. An overnight bus takes about 12 hours but costs only 470 baht for an aircon bus or up to 750 for the VIP. For those who don't mind an overnight bus ride, this is a good way to save some money.

What is Chiang Rai like? Many tourists see the brochures in Bangkok and think Chiang Rai is an undeveloped area with tribal people everywhere and that Chiang Mai is a sleepy little village in the north. The truth is that Chiang Mai is a big, busy, polluted city (although certainly not as bad as Bangkok) and Chiang Rai is a much smaller city with tribal people in the surrounding areas but few in town except for those selling at the markets. In Chiang Mai there are big shopping malls and in Chiang Rai there is one low-end shopping center called Big C and a few western franchises including Swenson's Ice Cream, Pizza Hut, KFC, Boots and 7-11. The population of Chiang Mai city is over 500,000 and the population of Chiang Rai city is about 40,000. Chiang Rai is very easy to get around, has no traffic jams and is surrounded by rice fields in two directions and verdant hills in the other two. It is a great place to relax.

Can I change money or use an ATM there? Yes, Chiang Rai has about everything you need including many ATM machines and money changers.

What if I forgot to bring my (you fill in the blank)? There are literally hundreds of stores so you should be able to find a cheap replacement for almost everything, especially if you don't mind a Chinese made replacement. The exception is very specialized gear like climbing carabiners or name brand goods. (Sorry, no Louis Vitton handbags.)