Doi Ang Khang, at 1,928 meters is the 15th highest peak in Thailand. Climbing up on a motorbike via steep and scenic Route 1249 is an exhilarating experience.

The mountain is best known for a large Royal Agricultural Project, though for years Ang Khang was more infamous than famous as an off-limits battleground between Kuomintang and Shan Army forces for control over the lucrative opium trade. When Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej first visited the region, presumably scouting for his Royal Project, he had to be deposited directly on the summit by helicopter as the surrounding hills were under the control of the warlords.

Nowadays is generally calm, other than occasional cross-border spillage from fighting between the Shan and Burmese armies or shootouts between Thai border patrol and drug smugglers, so Doi Ang Khang has become a popular tourist destination. The scenery is spectacular, the hills home to Lahu and Palaung people, many of whom wear beautiful traditional dress, and the fascinating Agricultural Project Station makes for a great visit. The tiny village of Ban Khum is located in a narrow valley and a short walk from the Royal Project. Ban Khum is an old Kuomintang (KMT) settlement, with a still very Chinese feel to it. It has a small souvenir market, ATM, grocery stores, bottled petrol, police box, Chinese café, halal food restaurant, and the obligatory tea tasting shop.

The Royal Project was set up in 1969 to pacify the area since fighting between the KMT and Shan Army in surrounding areas continued for many years afterward and provide locals with alternatives to poppy growing. The sprawling Agricultural Station today is a fascinating place to visit, with plenty of bilingual information, well-marked roads and trails, masses of things to see, and fine coffee shops. There’s a rose garden; temperate fruit orchards, a bonsai house, a rhododendron, and an Azalia forest, all laid out amid landscaped gardens. It’s a huge area to visit and the flat 50 baht per person entry fee, no two-tier pricing here as this is a royal project and not run by the national parks department. If you continue through the project, the rear exit road leads up to a couple of interesting hill-tribe villages: Khop Dong, a very traditional Black Lahu village, and Nor Lae, a Palaung village. Palaung is a Sino-Tibetan hill tribe found across northern Southeast Asia, and part of the Mon-Khmer ethnic group. They likely inhabited this region before the Burmese, Thai, Lao, and even Shan people. Most of the women in Nor Lae wear brightly colored, traditional Palaung costumes and there are a couple of noodle shops plus souvenir stalls. At the end of the village is a Thai army border post overlooking 2 Burmese military camps.