Doi Suthep-Pui is a band 1 park — 100 baht for a foreign adult, 50 for a foreign child, 20 and 10 for Thai visitors, plus 30 for a car. Band 1 is the cheapest of four and holds 67 parks. Doi Inthanon, in the same province, is 300. The Royal Decree of 14 April 1981 that created it names nine sub-districts across Mae Rim, Hang Dong and Mueang Chiang Mai — and states no area figure at all, defining the park by an annexed map. Park houses on the mountain run 1,500 to 6,000 baht a night.
A hundred baht, and the park next door at three hundred
Schedule 1 of the Department of National Parks regulation B.E. 2564 — Royal Gazette, 9 December 2021, in force 7 June 2022 — sorts every national park into four fee bands. Doi Suthep-Pui is in band 1, the cheapest, alongside 66 others including Thap Lan, Mae Ping, Si Nan and Kaeng Krung: 100 baht for a foreign adult, 50 for a foreign child, 20 and 10 for Thai visitors. Vehicles are charged nationally at 20 baht for a motorcycle, 30 for a car, 100 for a six-wheeler and 200 up to ten wheels.
The number that surprises people is the one an hour and a half down the road. Doi Inthanon is one of only nine band 3 parks in the country, at 300 baht. Same province, same department, same day trip from the same city, three times the price. Nothing about the two parks explains it except the band each was put in; it is a policy choice, not an error, and it is worth knowing when you plan a week in Chiang Mai with a family.
A child is defined in the regulation as three to fourteen complete, or not more than 140 cm tall. A foreigner is anyone without Thai nationality — no residency test, no resident rate, no long-stay discount. Free entry under clause 16(1) goes to monks, novices and clergy of other religions residing in Thailand, Thai people aged sixty complete years and over, disabled people, and children under three.
What the Royal Decree says, and what it does not
The park was created by a Royal Decree published in the Royal Gazette, volume 98 part 57, pages 106-107, on 14 April B.E. 2524 — given on 1 April that year, in the thirty-sixth year of the reign, and countersigned by General Prem Tinsulanonda, Prime Minister. Its authority is section 159 of the Constitution and section 6 of the National Parks Act B.E. 2504.
Three things in it are worth stating plainly, because the versions in circulation drift from them.
- It states no area. Section 3 designates the Doi Suthep forest land in the named sub-districts within the boundary shown on the map annexed to this decree. Any square kilometre figure attributed to “the 1981 decree” is not from the decree; it is read off the map or from a later record.
- It is written around Doi Suthep alone. The decree’s title is the Doi Suthep forest. The name the park carries today, with Pui in it, is not in the 1981 instrument.
- Its date is 14 April 2524. That is on the Gazette page itself. Dates in June of the same year appear in circulation, including in published research; the Gazette header is the one to use.
Section 2 brings it into force the day after publication, and section 4 gives charge to the Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives — a reminder of how long ago this was: national parks moved to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment two decades later.
Where the boundary runs, and why a buyer should care
The decree lists the sub-districts it covers, and they are not all on the mountain behind the city. Nine tambon across three amphoe:
| District | Sub-districts named in the decree |
|---|---|
| Mae Rim | Pong Yaeng, Mae Raem, Mae Sa, Don Kaeo |
| Hang Dong | Ban Pong, Nong Khwai |
| Mueang Chiang Mai | Chang Phueak, Suthep, Mae Hia |
Mae Rim and Hang Dong are the two districts people move to when they want a house and land rather than a condo in the city. The protected boundary runs into both of them. That has two consequences worth carrying into a purchase: the western hillside above those districts is not going to be developed, which is a large part of what you are paying for; and a plot near that edge needs its title and its boundary checked properly against the survey, not eyeballed on a map. Ask the question early rather than at the land office.
A note on scope: the park as administered today is generally described as larger than the 1981 decree, following an expansion in the following year. We could not open that later instrument, so the table above is the 1981 decree and nothing more.
Sleeping on the mountain
The annex to Schedule 4 of the fee regulation prices the park’s own houses in its headquarters zone on Doi Suthep-Pui, Mueang district.
| Unit | Sleeps | Baht / night |
|---|---|---|
| Suthep 104 (Khae Saet) | 6 | 6,000 |
| Suthep 106 (Sam Poi Luang) | 10 | 3,000 |
| Suthep 101 (Phai Dam) | 8 | 2,500 |
| Suthep 103 (Chum Cham) | 8 | 2,500 |
| Suthep 109 (Sang Ching) | 8 | 2,500 |
| Suthep 105 (Chang Kham) | 6 | 2,500 |
| Suthep 107 (Chomphu Phing) | 6 | 2,500 |
| Suthep 102/1 and 102/2 (Suan Son) | 4 each | 1,500 |
Camping with your own tent is 30 baht per person per night; a park dome tent for three without bedding is 225, a pillow 10, a sleeping bag 30, a mat 20. A field lantern is 30 a night, a picnic table with four chairs 100, and a bicycle for the nature trails 50 an hour or 200 a day. All of those are national rates set in Schedules 3 and 4 of the same regulation, not on-site pricing.
What we could not confirm
- Opening hours, checkpoint locations and what is collected where. On 7 September 2026 nps.dnp.go.th timed out at the network level and dnp.go.th and portal.dnp.go.th returned an automated challenge page rather than content — from two separate networks, and for the second run in a row. None of that is on this page as a result.
- The park’s current area, and the 1982 expansion. The 1981 decree carries no area figure and we did not open the later instrument. Figures around 161 and around 261 square kilometres both circulate; we are not choosing between them here.
- Anything about the temple near the summit. It is not administered by the park, and its hours, its own charges and how they interact with the park fee should come from whoever runs it.
- Trail lengths and the Doi Pui summit route. Widely published, not sourced today from a government page, so absent rather than guessed.
Frequently asked questions
100 baht for a foreign adult and 50 for a foreign child, against 20 and 10 for Thai visitors, plus 30 baht for a car or 20 for a motorcycle. That is band 1 of Schedule 1 of the Department of National Parks regulation B.E. 2564, published in the Royal Gazette on 9 December 2021 - the cheapest of four bands, and the largest, with 67 parks in it. It is a third of what Doi Inthanon charges in the same province and a fifth of Mu Ko Similan. Entry is free under clause 16(1) for monks, novices and clergy of other religions residing in Thailand, Thai people aged sixty complete years and over, disabled people, and children under three.
That is the question people arrive with, and we are not going to answer it from memory. The temple near the summit is not run by the park, the road up passes checkpoints, and what is collected where has changed over the years. The department's own park pages - which is where an opening-hours and checkpoint answer would properly come from - were unreachable on 7 September 2026 from two separate networks. What we can tell you with certainty is the park's own rate, 100 baht for a foreign adult, and that any other charge on that road is a separate matter from a separate body. Ask at the checkpoint what you are paying for and for what.
Less than people quote from it. The Royal Decree published in the Royal Gazette on 14 April B.E. 2524, given on 1 April that year and countersigned by Prime Minister General Prem Tinsulanonda, designates 'the Doi Suthep forest land' in nine named sub-districts across three districts of Chiang Mai as a national park, under section 159 of the Constitution and section 6 of the National Parks Act B.E. 2504. Section 3 defines the park by the map annexed to the decree - it states no area figure at all. So the square-kilometre numbers you will see attributed to the 1981 decree are not in it. Note too that the decree is written around Doi Suthep alone; the 'Pui' in the modern name is not in its title.
Three districts, by the decree's own list. In Mae Rim: Pong Yaeng, Mae Raem, Mae Sa and Don Kaeo. In Hang Dong: Ban Pong and Nong Khwai. In Mueang Chiang Mai: Chang Phueak, Suthep and Mae Hia. That is worth knowing before you buy anything on the western edge of the valley, because two of those districts - Mae Rim and Hang Dong - are exactly where people move for a house with land rather than a condo, and the protected boundary runs into both. It is a reason to have any plot's title and boundary checked properly rather than trusting a map pin, and it is also why the western hillside stays green.
Yes, and cheaply by Chiang Mai standards. The annex to Schedule 4 of the fee regulation prices the park's own houses on the mountain in Mueang district: Suan Son at 1,500 baht a night for four, a run of houses at 2,500 sleeping six to eight, Sam Poi Luang at 3,000 for ten, and Khae Saet, the largest, at 6,000 for six. Your own tent on park ground is 30 baht per person per night and a park dome tent for three without bedding is 225, with a pillow at 10, a sleeping bag at 30 and a mat at 20. At this altitude in the cool season the bedding line is not decorative.
It is one of the few amenities in Thailand that cannot be built over, which is a different kind of value from a mall or a school. Chiang Mai has nine national parks in the province and this is the one you can reach in half an hour from the old city, at 100 baht a visit. Set against that, the thing every long-stay resident of the valley eventually raises: the burning season, roughly February to April, which fills the same valley with smoke and is the single largest complaint about living here. Both are true, they sit in the same decision, and a serious look at Chiang Mai should weigh them together rather than one at a time.
Related guides
- National parks in Thailand — the four bands, the booking system and the rules that carry a fine.
- Chiang Mai — the city the park sits above, and what living there costs.
- Living in Mae Rim — one of the two districts the park boundary runs into.
- Living in Hang Dong — the other one, and the house-and-land side of Chiang Mai.
- Doi Inthanon National Park — the same province at three times the price.
- Cost of living in Chiang Mai — what a northern base actually costs.
- Thailand’s seasons — the cool months, and the smoke months.
- Explore Thailand — the section this guide sits in.
The green hillside above Mae Rim is protected land
That is why it stays green, and why a plot near that edge is worth checking against the survey before you commit.
Sources & References
- Royal Gazette, vol. 98 part 57, pages 106-107, 14 April B.E. 2524 - the Royal Decree designating the Doi Suthep forest land, in nine sub-districts across Mae Rim, Hang Dong and Mueang Chiang Mai districts of Chiang Mai province, as a national park. Given on 1 April B.E. 2524, the 36th year of the reign, under section 159 of the Constitution and section 6 of the National Parks Act B.E. 2504; section 2 brings it into force the day after publication; section 3 defines the park by the map annexed to the decree rather than by any stated area; section 4 gives charge to the Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives; countersigned by General Prem Tinsulanonda, Prime Minister
- Royal Gazette, vol. 138 special part 301 Ngor, 9 December 2021, pages 57-58 - Department of National Parks Regulation B.E. 2564 on service fees, signed 18 November B.E. 2564. Schedule 1 places Doi Suthep-Pui in band 1, the cheapest of the four bands and the largest at 67 parks, at Thai adult 20 / child 10 and foreign adult 100 / child 50; Schedule 2 sets the vehicle rates; clause 16(1) sets the exemptions; Schedule 4 and its annex price every Doi Suthep-Pui bungalow by name
Primary and official sources are cited above. Government rules, fees and procedures in Thailand change over time and vary by office; always confirm current requirements with the relevant authority before relying on them. BAANLYY never takes paid placement in editorial content.
