I've been lurking around this forum for the last few months and want to thank everyone for their invaluable input. My boyfriend and I, in our mid-20s/mid-30s, have booked our trip for 2.5 weeks in Thailand and Cambodia but there is still part of the trip that I am not sure how to plan. We will be arriving in Chiang Rai from BKK in the late afternoon on Jan. 17 and plan to fly from Chiang Mai to Phuket on Jan. 22.

We are thinking of staying in Chiang Saen the first night, driving to (and spending the night in) Tha Ton (with stops in Mae Sai, Doi Tung, and Mae Salong), driving from Tha Ton to Chiang Mei and spending 3 nights there. We are planning on keeping the car to visit Doi Inthanon and Doi Suthep one day, and spending the remaining day at the Elephant Conservation Center along with the Sunday market in Chaing Mei.

Is there anyone that has driven through the Golden Triangle that can offer any advice?

I have found road directions on www.budget.co.th for the places we would like to go (although they are going from CM to CR and we would be doing the reverse.) The directions also don't give any indication of how long it takes to reach each point, only the number of kilometers, so I'm not sure if my timing would even work out. Is this driving trip a good idea? My boyfriend loves to drive on vacation and is looking forward to seeing some of the "less touristy" border towns as well as beautiful scenery.

Since we are heading to Phuket after CM for some relaxation so we really don't mind piling on a lot in these few days. Thank you for any help you can provide!

I have driven all over Thailand and have never had any problems. IMO it is definitely the best way to see the country.
We did the Mae Hong Sorn loop from BKK a couple of years ago and used Budget's "World Class Drives" map and directions which were spot on and easy to follow.
As for which car to rent, I have always gone for a 4WD (usually Honda CRV)where possible but bear in mind that the insurance does not cover you for off road use.
I can't comment on the Golden Triangle as I haven't yet driven in this area but will be renting a car in Chiang Rai for a few days in March before travelling down river to Luang Prabang so I look forward to reading your post of your experiences when you return!
Finally, it is essential that you get attuned to the Thai style of driving asap. The driving standards are different to say the least. Be very careful around the big trucks. Thais do use their horns a lot to warn you of their presence but not so much their indicators to warn of their intentions! Another common occurence is for motorcyclists to ride on the wrong side of the road if they only have a short distance to go between junctions. One last thing - Lonely Planet do a road atlas of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia which is quite helpful

You have a little more time than we did, but we did a similar drive this past January. Flew into Chiang Rai, flew out of Chiang Mai, seeing some places in between. We got the car from Budget - who don't have a counter at the CR airport, but meet you there. They came and picked up the car at our guesthouse in CM where we stayed a few days. There was a drop charge of about $25 US, but Budget was still a better price than anything else we found. The roads were were on were all excellent by the way, as long as you don't turn off down a dirt road or something. The main and secondary roads were paved and striped.

We went from the CR airport to Chiang Sean, then up towards the river confluence. Chiang Sean didn't grab us and since we were tighter on time, we moved on. Had a nice lunch overlooking the rivers at the golden triangle spot before heading to Mae Sai

We had thought in the original plans about going on to Tha Ton but decided to stop at Mae Salong, which actually turned out to be our favorite place on the route. The tea plantations in the valley that the town wraps around were green as Ireland that time of year. We stayed there and went up to the temple on the mountain in the morning. It was nice. Later we went through Tha Ton and it just didn't really grab us in the same way. Not particularly scenic or atmospheric from what we could see. So we were glad that we'd stopped earlier.

I have done a lot of driving around the north and you will find Mae Salong a great little place. Make sure you go to one of the tea tasting shops and have some delicious Green or Oolong tea. Some of the mountain scenery is quite spectacular. The Budget maps are quite good.

Thank you all for your input! Mae Salong certainly sounds more interesting than Tha Ton and a better place to stop for the night. We'll be sure to stop for some tea too since we both love gree tea.

I'll let you all know how it turns out when we return in January!

Thanks again.