Travel Information
Getting to Doi Inthanon is easy if driving your own vehicle and getting to HQ will take about 1.5 hours. From Chiang Mai get on the road which heads out to the airport and continue all the way to Chom Thong from which Doi Inthanon is clearly sign posted. Although it is easy to get to Doi Inthanon without private transport it is highly advisable to hire a car to fully enjoy the park; the birding hotspots are a long distance apart and without transport lots of walking, hitch-hiking or flagging down irregular songtaews will be required. The road up Doi Inthanon is well-maintained and a four-wheel drive vehicle is not needed, although automatics cope with the mountain very badly. Driving to the summit from Chom Thong takes around 45 minutes and vehicles can be hired in Chiang Mai for as little as 800 baht a day with just a passport as deposit.
If using public tranport things are a little trickier; take a bus or songtaew from Chiang Mai to Chom Thong (pronounced Jorm Torng). If you arrive early you may be able to get on a regular songtaew up the mountain, although you may find that you have to charter a vehicle to get you to where you want to go. Somewhere around 500-700 baht should be about the right price for a private hire of a songtaew.