Tepin “Baan Lek” Don Chan

Contents.

1. Where are we?

2. Getting here.

3. Close by.

4. A tour round Baan Lek.

5. Things to know.

6. Booking.

7. Food and drink.

1. Where are we?

Baan Lek (Thai for “little house”) is some 6km to the south east of the city, in an area as the full

name would imply, called Don Chan. Even though we are some 6km from the bustle of the city

centre, there are lots of things in the immediate area that make Baan Lek an attractive place to stay.

We will say a bit about that later.

The house itself is situated in a “moo ban”, sometimes referred to as a village but to many western

visitors it is a housing development with its own security and facilities.

This is the address of Baan Lek;

99/2 M6 The Oriental Regent 3. Chaiya Sathan. Saraphi. Chiang Mai 50140 Tel 0823824077

99/2 หมู6่ ดิโอเรียลทอล รีเจ้นท์3 ต.ไชยสถาน อ.สารภี จ.เชียงใหม ่50140 โทร 0850317897 ไทย

As you can see it is provided in both English and Thai with phone numbers so you or your driver can

call us if needed.

Here is a photo of the Google map of the area;

Baan Lek is in the lower right hand corner identified as a yellow bed.

If you are reading this on some form of internet connected device then the following link will get you

to the Google map.

https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zU5w7WAKrt_g.kRZr2dIl2sUQ

2. Getting Here

When you book with us we will usually arrange to pick you up from your point of arrival in Chiang

Mai. If your arrival is by air we will ask you in advance if you will be transferring directly from an

international flight (so you do not check your bags in at Bangkok) or if you have checked your bags in

at Bangkok. This is so we know which terminal at Chiang Mai Airport to have you picked up from.

Once here we will make

paper copies of out address

available to you. Many of our

guests use taxis (red taxi

vans) for trips to and from

the city.

Or even the famous Tuk-tuks!

Despite the fact

that you may well

show them a piece

of paper with a map

and the address on

it you may find the

driver has no idea

where to go.

The major landmark close to Baan Lek is the Promenada resort mall.

The Promenada is a large mall on highway 1317 that leads from the Airport to Sankampaeng hot

springs.

Just Past the mall there is a junction controlled by traffic lights, straight through that junction and on

the left you will see a group of shops including a 7-Eleven and a Tesco

Tesco and 7-Eleven.

(More about these later.)

Just past these and on the other side of the road there is “The Heritage”

The Heritage (AKA Koolpunk AKA Koolipan view) is often mistaken for the Oriental and it you are

dropped here you a few 100m short of your bed for the night.

Travel a few hundred metres further and on the right you will see “The Oriental”

One way to differentiate it from The Heritage is the row of townhouses next to the entrance.

The Oriental or Regent 3?

You may have seen on our address that we use both terms so which is right?

Well the answer appears to be no one knows, even Google Maps calls it by both names.

Regent 3 was the original name for the development but as the village matured the name was

changed but the old name seems to also stick around. For now I am going to call it The Oriental but it

is worth having both names for taxis and the like.

4. Close By

The Oriental is off the 1317 road. Across the road there are some local shops including a Tesco Lotus

Express.

And a 7-Eleven

Both the Tesco Lotus Express and 7

Eleven are open 24 hours a day and

have a reasonable choice of food,

drink and non-food items.

There are also ATM machines there as

well.

There are Thai food and drink establishments in this area as well and in the evening the area comes

alive with roadside food stalls selling all sorts of good things to eat.

Within the same block as the Tesco and 7-Eleven there is a pharmacy

There is another pharmacy just opposite the entrance to The Oriental

Plus a whole host of shops that will

repair a puncture, cut your hair, make

curtains and on it goes. There is even a

clinic open in the evenings.

The Promenada Resort Mall

If you continue towards

the city, crossing the large

intersection with a ring

road (safe* to do as it is

controlled by traffic lights.

* Please always keep a

look out, traffic lights or

no lights vehicle operators

in this part of the world

sometimes either don’t

understand the rules or do

not believe they apply to

them.) You will soon arrive

at The Promenada Resort

Mall.

It is less than 1km away.

This large Mall has a number of shops although perhaps not as many as you would expect, a very

good supermarket for western tastes, Rimping and many many places to eat and drink with a host of

varieties in style and price range.

Big C

Big C is possibly the largest chain

of supermarkets in Thailand. It

has a large product line and

cater for both Thai and western

tastes although not as western

as more specialist supermarkets

like Rimping. Pricing is

competitive.

As well as the supermarket itself

there are restaurants, shops,

banks and a food court*. On

Monday and Tuesday the car park area to the immediate front of the supermarket is used for a

market. Well worth a trip for good value Thai dishes to eat.

Big C is just under 2km away.

*Eating At a Food Court

Most supermarkets and malls have food courts and they are a great place to eat. For most places

you purchase a ticket or tickets in 100 THB units. In most food courts this ticket is an electronically

read plastic card although a (very) few places still have paper tickets.

Having purchased your “credit” you

are free to choose from a variety of

food vendors with a wide variety of

meals on offer. So you are able to

mix and match plus it means that

everyone in the party can select

what they want.

You may well find that the food vender does not speak anything but Thai so every now and then,

non Thai speakers have to resort to pointing etc. but that’s all a part of the fun.

Sometimes the signs have English although the

translation may make you wonder…

4. A Tour around Baan Lek.

Baan Lek is a building separated from the main house and by the pool side. It comprises of the

private room that you would stay in which has its own bathroom.

Next to the guest room there is a toilet so that anyone using the swimming pool area can go without

dripping water everywhere and a communal kitchen.

Your room has a double bed.

There is space to add a further single bed if required.

All of the doors and windows are fitted with mesh to help prevent you being bothered by pesky

flying critters mainly mosquitos.

There are also hooks fitted if you want to hang nets.

The room has air conditioning and a wardrobe

A small safe

A refrigerator.

A small table and chairs

A small desk and chair

A television

The bathroom has a shower with hot and cold (ish) water. A hand basin And a western style toilet.

Lurking behind the toilet you may just be able to spot a bin which is where paper and other sanitary

items go when using this toilet and we would be really grateful if you did also.

You have use of the communal kitchen and Pin will show you how to use such things as;

The Hob

Microwave, toaster, rice cooker…

And Washing machine

Outside there is a further small table which you can use and move poolside, maybe for breakfast?

And of course the pool.

The pool has both a waterfall and a spa area.

There is also a large table you are welcome to use.

Plus sun loungers

5. Things to know

You can access Baan Lek by the front of the main house

Or the back which effectively becomes your private entrance.

We ask that you keep the gates closed so that the 2 monsters that share the property do not make a

dash for freedom.

The “two monsters” are our Chihuahuas, Moohan (the short haired one) and Satang (the long haired

one. Both will want to say hello and will bark at you, especially Satang, she is the yappy one and

barks at just about everything that moves. She is also the nosey one and will look to come into your

room and see what you are up to.

We advise against this! Some guests heed the advice, most do not

They also have been known to use the grass area as their (toilet) area and so we advise that you

keep off the grass!

Getting about

Baan Lek is some 6 kilometres from the city centre. You can get there by Red car, taxi and tuk tuk

which you can either book or walk out to the main road to try to get one that is passing by.

Promenada mall also offers (as well as being a good place to pick up a taxi) a regular free shuttle to

and from the city.

If you want to hire a car or motorcycle we can suggest competitively priced operators that have

proved reliable in the past. We can also recommend a car and driver for excursions.

Whilst we are not a tour agent we can offer advice of trips and things to see and do whilst you are

here.

Climate

Perhaps the most important thing you need to consider is the climate. The north of Thailand has

some quite distinct “seasons” which I have had described to me as “hot, bloody hot and

unbearable!”

Well that may not be the case and indeed the winter period can have some wonderfully cool

evenings so you can enjoy a comfortable night’s sleep without air conditioning in the background.

Here is a graph of what to expect, I don’t think it matters that it is a couple of years old.

It is only right to point out that during the winter months, usually the 1st 3 months of the year in my

experience there can be some significant smoke in the atmosphere do to the traditional burning to

clear land.

6. Booking

You can book Baan Lek via;

If you are reading this on an internet connected device here is the link;

http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/chiang-mai/hom_home_type.chalet/hom_sleeps_max.3/

You will also find Baan Lek on Airbnb

Here is the link;

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/494220

7 Food and Drink

Most of our guests self-cater and you are welcome to use the kitchen etc. to do so.

If you would like to take it easy and have some or

all of your meals given to you on a plate please let

us know and we will see what we can do and let

you know for how much.

We are also happy to stock you fridge with items for sale if you don’t want to go and get them

yourself.

Just a footnote, we give you 2 bottles of drinking water per day during your stay.