Lee Wine, the resort on a slope in Ban Rak Thai, overwhelms the landscape in this village of Chinese tea farmers and once upon a time Kuomintang combatants.

Brilliant concept

The resort is cleverly built with traditional Chinese cottages and roofs in a tea plantation, making it a dream place for storyliving and storytelling. Furthermore, it is a clever way to market yourself and be seen on Instagram. But how about the resort itself? Is it good enough? We were lucky to get a last-minute cancellation. The resort was fully booked for many months to come.

We got a house on the top with a lovely balcony overlooking the Rich Pool lake. It is a small dam made for Feng Shui reasons. In our room, there was a nice bathtub and a panoramic Chinese moon window. Plenty of money is spent here on teak furnishings.

The great food in Lee Wine Rak Thai

Sometimes, I turn allergic to overhyped places where everyone has to go to. Albeit, there are plenty of other lovely places in Ban Rak Thai, Lee Wine lived up to expectations. Their restaurant is just top class. Not only for the Yunnanese cuisine for dinner but also the fantastic attention they pay to their quality of noodles, steamed bread and so on. So you have to enjoy Chinese food for breakfast if you stay here. The subtle flavours and cooked to perfection dishes reminded me of a 5-star hotel in Taipei. I still dream of fried mantou with sweet condensed milk.

However, I felt that one night was enough here. I have frequented Ban Rak Thai from 1999 to 2012 very often, and the transformation it went through to become a small piece of traditional China in Mae Hong Son for tourism could have annoyed me. But actually, they get away with it. Behind the facades of the sloping Chinese hotels, you can still find the traditional village with life going about as usual. And just on the border with Myanmar. It sits just on edge, and Burmese pagodas are visible here.

Brief background to the Ban Rak Thai village

Once upon a time, the Kuomintang soldiers of the “lonely army” trapped in Yunnan couldn’t evacuate to Taiwan, so they walked South, settling in Myanmar first and after they were kicked out from there. They resettled here and in Doi Mae Salong.

Helping the Thai Army fight the local communist insurgency as a paramilitary army. They are peaceful farmers with one foot in their Chinese culture and one foot in Thailand. Ban Rak Thai is the village that loves Thailand.

Lastly, yes, Lee Wine is worth it. Book your night with them on Facebook and plan your trip early.