I contacted Sergeant Kai to book their Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son tours. I received the following itinerary from "Nooy" at Sergeant Kai's. The response is very different then what I expected. Is this a good itinerary for Chaing Mai, Chaing Rai and other areas? Is anyone familiar with Nooy? Thank you and I appreciate your comments!

Dear Sir:

I'm come back and so sorry to make you waiting for me.

I just think about Mae Hong Son trip that will be worth for you or not. Please consider that it takes about 5 hours along 1864 curves from Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son. Or you can fly to their but the flight always canceled depend on the weather. Then it's difficault to arrange the itinerary. May I recommend a rough itinerary for your trip as below:

Day 1 (Feb. 2nd) Arrive Chiang Mai (Let's see the time)

Day 2 (Feb. 3rd) Elephant Riding and Bamboo rafting

Day 3 (Feb. 4th) Visit Doi Suthep Temple (Land mark of Chiang Mai) and
Handicrafts villages then drop you at walking street (special
market arrangement only every Sunday)

Day 4 (Feb. 5th) Visit Doi Inthanon, the highest mountain of Thailand and try hiking.

Day 5 (Feb. 6th) Check out and head to see elephant show, after that let's explore
Chiang Dow cave. From there we will drive about 1.5 hours to
offer some snacks to proverty children at Lahu village, Tha Ton.
60 children are waiting for your snacks there (you can provide
them as books, pencils, toys ect. anythings if you want).
Stay overnight at Thaton.

Day 6 (Feb. 7th) Visit longnecked Karen Village in early morning then take a boat
trip to Chiang Rai about 2.30 hours. Stay in Chiang Rai.

Day 7 (Feb. 8th) Visit Doi Maesalong where they do tea plantation after try some
tea there we will head to Doi Tung, King's mom's Villa and the
most beautiful flower garden in Thailand.

Day 8 (Feb. 9th) Visit the border between Thailand and Myanmar at Mae Sai. After
shopping we leave for Goldren Triangle where Thailand, Myanmar
and Lao meet together. Here we can take speed boat trip visit
along Khong River pass Myanmar and stop to buy some
souveniors in Lao then back to Thailand.

Day 9 (Feb. 10th) It will be great for you if you have the flight from Chiang Rai to
Bangkok. In case if you plan to go to Phuket after Chiang Mai
then we have to drive back to Chiang Mai on the 9th.

Just for idea, sir. Please consider and let me know anything you want to do here I appreciate to do anything that meet your desire.

If we can set exacly itinerary then we will know the cost of your trip.

May we hear from you soon so that we can complete all arrangements.

Sincerely yours,
Ornchuda S. (Nooy)

Without a price it's hard to say if it's worthwhile or not. Many of the things I would either skip or do on my own.

The elephant riding and bamboo rafting I would personally skip. For elephants, I'd go to the Elephant Conservation Center or maybe the Elephant Nature Park, both sort of near Chiang Mai. Or I'd do the elephants "luxury style" in the Golden Triangle at the Anantara or the Four Seasons Tented Camp.

Doi Suthep is easy on your own. Don't know what handcrafts village is referred to, but if it's the hill tribe village above Doi Suthep I'd give it a miss.

The walking street is also good on your own, take a tuk tuk there if your hotel isn't within walking distance.

I'd also skip Chiang Dao cave, and I'd skip handing out anything I wanted to 40 kids. I feel that setting kids up to receive handouts from tourists can be very damaging. I'm not at all against giving, and well structured and well directed charity is wonderful...but handing out "anything you like, like toys and pencils" is neither well structured nor well directed. Activities like this serve to teach the children that tourists = handouts, which I'm sure is not the intention, but is the result.

I would also skip the long neck village for similar reasons.

You can do Day 8 entirely by yourself as well, or arrange a tour if you are more comfortable. I'd skip shopping/casino in Laos and Burma.

So, basically, I don't like the suggestions much at all. To me, it reads like a bus tour, and lacks anything special.

What would I do? I'd split the days 4 in Chiang Mai and 4 in the Golden Triangle. In Chiang Mai, I'd do Doi Suthep, the Sunday Walking Street, temples inside the city walls, a drive up to Mae Rim, shopping if you are interested in that, a cooking class with www.alotofthai.com, spa time.

In the GT, the Anantara or the Four Seasons I'd pick to stay. The Anantara's website has a great map with clickable links for sightseeing and nature and so on. www.anantara.com I'd do elephants here.

You could rent a car and drive the Mai Hong Son loop on your own, or fly up there on your own. It's very easy to get a driver once you are there, which allows you to plan as you go, allowing you to spend more time where you like, and take a day off of sightseeing if you want to.

I agree. You can see most things around Chiang Mai in 4 days and with 4 at the golden triangle you will have covered a substantial area of northern thailand. Golden triangle is close to Mae sai and burma border for shopping. The drive to Mae Salong is very picturesq mountain roads and the village is built on the ridge of the top of the mountains. We had green tea and Oolong there and brought some back with us.

Much of this you can do on your owner or with a driver. He gave you the "typical" tour. You'll be going to the most touristy places which are not necessarily the most interesting. I would definitely NOT go to the elephant camp he suggested. Go instead to the elephant conservation center or elephant nature park. You will need a driver for that but definitely not a guide. I have used Poon as a driver several times and highly recommend her.if you use a guide in chiang mai etc it should be with someone who will take you someplace you wouldn't do on your own.

We had Nooy as a guide with SK 3 years ago. She is charming. Nonetheless, I don't think that itinerary is particularly thrilling. I would write back and stick to the original Mae Hong Son plan. SK and Nooy are very flexible.

Thank you all for your suggestions. I think we will focus more on touring on our own or hiring guides/drivers when we arrive. KimJapan, thank you for your detailed response - I will follow up! Kingbonza, thank you for the Mae Salong drive tip - it sounds beautiful. Also, many thanks to Glorialf and Gpanda. You've given me a lot to work on and I'm sure I'll be back with more questions! Thanks again!!