Doi Tung

At Doi Tung, we visited the Princess Mother Commorative Hall, the Mae Fah Gardens, the Royal Villa and the Mae Fah Luang "factories" where a large number of locals have found jobs creating pottery, weaving & making clothing, rugs and other items, papermaking, harvesting macadamia nuts & coffee, roasting coffee beans, gardening, and probably much more than we saw ourselves.

"The Royal Villa is within the area of Doi Tung development project. In the past, the hill tribes grew rice and opium here, using slash and burn cultivation techniques. This destroyed the forest. This long-term development project is a crop substitution and reforestation program for 26 villages over a period of 30 years." - from guidesheet at the Doi Tung Royal Villa

Since the project's inception in 1988 by the Princess Mother when she was 88 years old, the hillsides are once again reforested.

I am adding Kathie's very apt description of Doi Tung, to add to mine:

"Doi Tung is a project initiated by the (now deceased) Princess Mother (the
current King’s mother). The project is an economic development project for the hill tribes including reforestation of many logged hillsides with coffee and
macadamia trees, craft workshops and vocational training. When you visit, you can see workshops (carpet, making, weaving, papermaking) the coffee roasting facilities, and can purchase some of the local products. Then you can drive up the mountain to the Princess Mother’s residence. There you can tour the residence, the gardens, etc. It’s a lovely setting, and it’s fascinating to see what kinds of things this remarkable woman was able to accomplish in her "retirement" at age 88."