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General Information
Accommodation
There are three large villas set around an area of gardens. Each villa comprises 6 student rooms which can sleep up to 8. Each room is comfortably furnished and have two separate toilets and showers. There are also two teachers rooms and a common room / meeting room with a television in each villa.
Adventure Club
The Adventure Club is attached to the Bamboo Club. It comprises a large undercover area for meetings, games and archery. A high ropes course with eight challenging sections, a 12 metre climbing wall with 5 routes, and a bouldering wall make up the facilities.
Bamboo Club
The Bamboo Club is a large social and meeting area for students. Here they have their own snack bar, plus table tennis, a snooker table, darts and board games. The views from the balcony across the Fang Valley are very special.
Booking
Contact Bryan on directly for details about availability as well as type of programmes.
Classrooms
Two large, well-equipped classrooms are available for teaching and for general meetings.
Climate
The area has a typical monsoon climate with three main seasons.
The wet season begins in June and last through October. During this period, it rains probably twice every three days, but storms are rarely prolonged and they do have a delightful cooling effect – as well as turning the countryside a verdant green. Temperatures during the day will reach 30 C, dropping to 20 C at night.
The cool season is from October to the end of February. At this time, the humid air from the Indian Ocean gives way to dry, cooler air from the north. Daytime temperatures can still reach 25 to 30 C, but after the sun has dropped, temperatures follow quickly and morning temperatures of 10 C are quite common.
The hot season is lasts from mid- March to the end of May, temperatures can rise to 35C during the day. The afternoon heat can bring with it impressive storms, with strong winds, torrential rain and spectacular electric storms. However they rarely last more than 30 minutes – disappearing as quickly as they appeared. A subsequent drop in temperature of 10 C or more brings welcome respite. Because of the altitude and surrounding mountains, it does mean that evenings and early mornings are a pleasant temperature despite the daytime heat.
Costs
The cost of the programmes is dependant on group size and type of programme. The costs will cover all aspects of the trip from pick-up to drop-off. However as a guide, programmes currently cost from 1800 Baht to 2500 Baht a day. It maybe possible to design programmes to suit a budget. For details about programmes and costs, contact .
Dietary and Medical Concerns
It would be appreciated if these could be brought to our attention before arrival at the centre. We can cater for most dietary requirements and naturally, our instructors need to learn of any specific medical issues in order to ensure that students can carry out activities safely. It is appreciated that confidentiality is critical and schools may wish not divulge certain information except in cases of need-to-know.
Food and Restaurant
Meals are taken in the student restaurant with its open views across the Fang Valley to the mountains beyond. Breakfast combines Asian and western foods, lunch is a Thai-Western buffet and evening meals will generally be Thai although ‘chicken and chips’ can be requested if absolutely necessary! The food is high quality and we have had very few complaints.
Special dietary requests, such as vegetarian meals, Halal etc are catered for and requests for this information will be made a few weeks before arrival. In particular, we wish to be notified of any particular allergies.
Health, Safety and Medical
It goes without saying that this is of paramount importance and a number of simple precautions should be taken.
On arrival, groups are given an introductory talk about all aspects of the centre, but in particular safety rules, the do’s and the don’ts etc. A list of these rules is provided before the group arrives.
We are a relatively safe area regarding tropical diseases etc, but teachers are advised to seek the advice of their ‘home country’ doctors, although we are happy to give advice ‘as people on the ground’.
The resort has a comprehensive First Aid kit and ‘mobile’ kits accompany all activities. All instructors are First Aid trained.
The nearest hospital is in the town of Mae Ai just 8 km away with a bigger hospital in Fang just over 25 km away. We have been very impressed with the level of care at both these hospitals. There are ambulance links with Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai but we can also provide transport to all the hospitals mentioned above.
Local hospital contact details:
Mae Ai Tel: 053 459 036
Fang Tel: 053 451 444
Insurance
AIG - S.E.Asia. - Local representative of the NEW HAMPSHIRE INSURANCE COMPANY
Policy type - TRAVEL AGENT NAC (covers entire period on tour with us, travel, accommodation, activities, from pick up to drop off).
Cover: Loss of life - Baht 200'000.- Medical cover per accident - Baht 100'000.-
Note: The Thai Insurance cover is low by western standards. The industry associations recommend that we advise our guests to secure their own insurance cover before travelling, as such insurance provides high cover for low premiums.
Kit List
This is not an exhaustive list, but is the minimum required. We do have a laundry service with very reasonable prices.
- A good day pack big enough to carry a packed lunch, two litres of water and a waterproof jacket.
- Good trainer/ sports shoes for walking. These are better than boots as they dry more quickly! Most activities require closed shoes, so please don’t come with just sandals.
- Old trainers which you would not mind getting wet/dirty and even leaving behind. They will get a good home. These are an often ‘forgotten’ item.
- Sandals (no heels). Sports type ‘Teevers’ are ideal.
- Long trousers (2). Cotton trousers are fine, although light weight synthetic trousers are quicker drying once they get wet. NOT denims.
- Long Shirts (2) You want long sleeves to give you protection from the sun and insects!
- Fleece / sweater – it can get cool in the evenings (ONLY when visiting October –February)
- Shorts (2)
- T shirts (4) ) Please, no offensive slogans! Girls – this is a ‘conservative rural area’ so spaghetti string / revealing tops should not be worn outside the resort
- Swimming gear
- Lightweight waterproof jacket
- Underwear
- Sunhat
- Sunglasses/ high factor sun cream or sun block
- Insect Repellent. Deet-based is a good idea
- Wash Kit. (We provide towels)
- Any personal medication/sanitary items
- Torch/flashlight
- Water bottle with a ONE litre capacity. We provide water, but not bottles of water. If students forget to bring water bottles, they can ‘hire’ one for the week
For fieldwork groups, clipboard, pens, pencils, notebook, calculators and camera are required items.
DO NOT BRING
- Expensive clothes
Clothes will get wet and muddy. Bring old, comfortable clothes. Jeans in particular are no good; they are too restrictive, and bad in the heat. - Jewellery
You cannot wear this during the course for your own safety. Be aware that you will be getting wet, so if your watch is not waterproof it may be better not to bring it. - Electronic items
It is not a good idea to bring personal iPods; mobile phones etc.
PLEASE NOTE THAT OLD CLOTHES OR SHOES CAN BE LEFT. THESE WILL BE CLEANED UP AND SOLD. THE MONEY WILL GO INTO THE STAFF COMMUNITY FUND.
Programmes
Programmes are highly flexible and schools are free to choose from the ‘menu’ of activities. The final design will thus be an agreed set of activities set up after discussions about the requirements of the school well before arrival.
A few sample programmes are provided as a guideline, but we are very flexible and will do our best to meet the needs of the visiting schools requirements.
Should changes wished to be made during the time here, we will do so if logistically possible. Equally, weather or other external factors may also force programme changes.
The programmes are aimed to be led by the instructors. This of course allows accompanying staff to be more flexible in how they wish to engage with the group. We are of course happy for teachers to involve themselves fully in all the activities and indeed to lead any of the activities which they feel comfortable about. For example, whilst instructors are prepared for evening activities, it maybe that accompanying teachers would wish to run one, some or all of these sessions.
Risk assessments
All activities at the resort have been risk assessed. These are available on request.
For climbing and high ropes elements we only use CE rated equipment (the worldwide accepted industry standard). All equipment is checked prior to use, is logged and replaced on a regular basis. All waterborne activities require students to wear buoyancy aids. All our buoyancy aids provide 7.25 Kg buoyancy (above minimum requirements). An instructor on each trip will carry a full rescue kit.
All treks and activities off-site are accompanied by guides and instructors with radios / tele-communication facilities.
Most trek routes are within a few km of tracks which are accessible by the centre’s four wheel drive vehicles should there be a need for emergency evacuation.
Swimming Pool
A 10 metre pool is located in the Student Village. Under supervision, students are free to cool off after a long day’s activities, play water polo and water volleyball….or just laze around the pool.
Transfers and Transport
Air-conditioned 10 seater minibuses (or 40 seater coaches) transfer students from Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai. Our drivers and guides will be waiting for groups in the respective arrivals hall. Chiang Rai is nearer (about 90 km) whereas Chiang Mai is 175 km away. However, the journey from Chiang Mai, depending on time of arrival, could take in various visits such as elephant camps, orchid farms, Chiang Dao caves, or even an elephant dung factory making paper products.