Thick bamboo, forested hills and winding rivers replace beaches and busy resort towns, and hidden above the Ruak River is Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle. It feels remote almost immediately, and quite unlike the Thailand most people have experienced before.
Even the arrival is part of it. From the Golden Triangle, you board a traditional long-tail boat with one of the camp hosts and travel along the Mekong and Ruak Rivers before eventually pulling up beneath the jungle. We love that you arrive at the Four Seasons by boat rather than in the back of a minivan. It sets the tone straight away and makes the camp feel properly tucked away.
Technically tents, slightly misleading
There are only 15 tents, plus the two-bedroom Explorer’s Lodge, scattered through the hillside and connected by jungle paths and a long suspension bridge running above the treetops. Calling them tents is technically correct, although perhaps slightly misleading. If your memories of camping involve sleeping bags, communal bathrooms and trying to hammer pegs into the ground in the dark, you can relax.
Designed by Bill Bensley, the tents take their cues from the great expeditions of the 19th century, with teak furniture, hardwood floors, Thai textiles, huge mosquito-netted beds and collected pieces that give each one its own personality. No two are decorated exactly alike. The tents are a generous 54 square metres and open onto private decks looking through the bamboo towards the river and mountains. Depending on the category, you may also have an outdoor shower or a large wooden hot tub sitting out on the deck, which is not a bad place to end the day.
For all the comfort, you never forget that you are right in the middle of the jungle. Birds are awake long before you are, bamboo presses right up against the paths and the air is warm and heavy in that unmistakably tropical way. Then you step back into your tent, everything is exactly where it should be, and someone has somehow managed to make sleeping under canvas feel very civilised. It is the adventurous side of Thailand without having to rough it for even a second.
It is the adventurous side of Thailand without having to rough it for even a second.
Chiang Rai, Northern Thailand
Mornings with the mahouts
Elephants are one of the biggest reasons to come here. The camp has a longstanding relationship with the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation, which supports elephants as well as their mahouts and families. Rather than the old style of elephant tourism Thailand was once known for, the focus here is on observing the animals, understanding their behaviour and learning about the work being done to improve their welfare.
You can join the mahouts in the morning to watch the elephants bathing, spend time learning about their individual personalities or visit the Foundation itself to understand more about its conservation work. There is even the option of breakfast with the elephants. It is one of those mornings where your coffee becomes considerably less interesting once an elephant wanders into view.
The Golden Triangle itself is worth exploring while you are here. You can head back onto the Mekong by long-tail boat with a private guide, walk through the jungle, explore the countryside by bicycle or venture further into Chiang Rai province. The region has a fascinating and sometimes fairly notorious past, and a visit to the Hall of Opium gives some context to how geography, trade and the old opium routes shaped this part of Southeast Asia.
Some of the smaller experiences end up being just as memorable. The camp can arrange fishing with locals, foraging walks, bamboo and rattan making, Thai massage lessons, cooking classes and cocktail-making sessions. You can make the stay as busy as you like, although nobody is handing out medals for ticking off every activity before you leave.
Spa, sundowners and Nong Yao
The Jungle Spa deserves a proper chunk of your afternoon rather than being squeezed in between other plans. It sits on an open-air platform looking across the jungle valley, with just two treatment salas hidden amongst the bamboo. Sheer curtains move with the breeze, outdoor baths sit beside the treatment spaces and the forest is very much part of the soundtrack. No dark corridors, no closed treatment rooms and no generic spa music trying to convince you that you are relaxed.
If you are going to book a treatment, we would look at either the signature Ruak Bamboo massage, which uses smooth bamboo batons with herbal oils and ginger paste, or the Royal Recovery, which uses warm herbal poultices filled with camphor, lime and lemongrass. Both feel very connected to where you are, particularly after a morning out walking or exploring. You can also finish with a private bath soak in the open air, surrounded by bamboo and jungle. An hour here could very easily turn into an afternoon where absolutely nothing else gets achieved.
By late afternoon, the camp naturally starts to slow down and Burma Bar becomes one of the best places to be. It sits above the Ruak River basin, looking out across the surrounding greenery, and as the heat drops the jungle gets noticeably louder. One drink has a habit of becoming two, and thankfully there is nowhere you urgently need to be.
Dinner follows on easily from there. Nong Yao draws heavily on Northern Thai flavours, with influences from neighbouring Laos and Myanmar, and the setting keeps everything tied to the landscape around you. You can keep the evening simple, or make more of it with a wine tasting, a private dinner or one of the camp’s more secluded dining experiences. After a full day in the jungle, either option works perfectly well.
A private camp within the camp
For families or friends travelling together, the Explorer’s Lodge takes things another step further. Sitting at the far end of the camp, it has two bedrooms, an enormous terrace and its own private infinity pool looking across the bamboo canopy. At 232 square metres, it feels like your own private camp within the camp, and Four Seasons can arrange everything from sundowners on the deck to a barbecue and movie under the stars.
Three or four nights
Three or four nights is enough time to properly settle into the camp without feeling as though you are rushing from one experience to the next. One morning might be spent with the elephants, another out on the river, another walking through the jungle, with enough space between everything to actually enjoy being there. It would be very easy to arrive with a full list of things you want to do and leave having enjoyed the unscheduled bits just as much.
It also works beautifully as part of a larger Thailand itinerary. You could spend time in Bangkok and Chiang Mai before heading north, or make the camp the adventurous start of the trip before flying south for a few completely horizontal days on an island. The contrast is half the fun: bamboo jungle and elephants one week, bare feet and the Andaman Sea the next.
Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle is remote, eccentric in just the right places and completely different from the Thailand most people picture. You may come for the elephants and the jungle, but it is the long-tail boat arrival, suspension bridges, morning birds, those wonderfully extravagant tents and a late-afternoon drink above the river that give the place its personality.
If you thought you had already seen Thailand, this is the part that may change your mind.
We’ll fit the camp into the bigger Thailand picture
The right tent category, time with the elephants and a Jungle Spa booking, then Bangkok, Chiang Mai or an island on either side. We’ll shape the whole itinerary so the contrast works in your favour.
