€193.99 for 1 Night
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Onsen @ Moncham
€193.99/ Night
24/7 Support
Looking for help choosing or for a property we don't list? Message our Private Rates Concierge on WhatsApp for member rates and insider knowledge on the right stay
A 24-room Japanese-style ryokan with a natural onsen, high in the mountains near Chiang Mai, with thermal baths, tatami suites and an authentic Japanese kitchen.
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Experience a tailor-made, authentically local treat, ranging from nearby temple or farm tours to origami or traditional Thai cooking classes.
Need To Know
- 24 rooms and suites in Japanese ryokan style, many with tatami areas, terraces and private in-room onsen tubs; some of the top suites are adults-only.
- High in the mountains at Pong Yang, Mae Rim, about 1,200 metres up and roughly an hour from Chiang Mai city and airport.
- A natural thermal onsen with indoor and outdoor baths, a private garden onsen, a spa, three restaurants, a gym and a Zen garden.
- The climate is noticeably cooler than the lowlands, so bring a layer; the setting is remote, a proper retreat rather than a city base.
- Our Favourite Rooms: a suite with its own private onsen tub, for the full ryokan ritual without leaving your room.
Check in - Check out
Check in from 14:00; check out before 12:00.
We Love
- The onsen. Natural thermal water drawn from deep underground fills indoor and outdoor baths, the heart of the place, done as a proper Japanese ritual.
- The concept. A genuine Japanese ryokan in the Thai mountains: yukata robes, tatami rooms and a calm that makes Japan feel much closer than it is.
- The private onsen. Many suites have their own in-room onsen tub, and a bookable garden onsen lets couples or families bathe together in private.
- The food. A seriously good Japanese kitchen across three venues, real wasabi and proper sushi, plus an izakaya and a sake lounge for the evening.
- The mountain air. At 1,200 metres the air is cool and fresh, the valley wakes under mist, and you can feel three seasons in a single day.
Key Features
Book Your Stay at Onsen @ Moncham
€193.99 for 1 Night
Location
Address
293, Pong Yaeng, Mae Rim District, Chiang Mai 50180, Thailand
Travel Info
Onsen at Moncham sits high in the hills at Pong Yang, Mae Rim, about an hour from Chiang Mai and its airport, with transfers on request. The winding mountain roads mean most guests use the retreat transfer or a private car rather than drive.
Nearby Places
Chiang Mai International Airport (CNX)
40km
Last Updated: 2026-07-02
Expert Review
Origins
Onsen at Moncham was built on a simple, unusual idea: bring the Japanese onsen ritual to the mountains of Northern Thailand. Opened in 2017 high in the hills at Pong Yang, in the Mae Rim district about an hour from Chiang Mai, it sits at around 1,200 metres, where the air is cool and fresh, the valley wakes under morning mist, and the heat of the lowlands feels a long way off. Natural thermal water rises from more than a hundred metres underground, and the whole retreat is built around it.
The result is a genuine ryokan transplanted to Thailand. Guests wear yukata robes, stay in tatami-floored rooms, and bathe in gender-segregated indoor and outdoor onsen baths, or book the private garden onsen to share; many of the suites have their own in-room onsen tubs. The property is arranged in two wings that reflect the tastes of its owners, threaded through simple Japanese gardens with a dry Zen garden and quiet lakes, and the kitchen is a real strength, three venues turning out authentic Japanese food, from proper sushi to sake pairings, alongside Northern Thai touches. Warmly run and family-friendly, though quiet by nature, it is a different kind of Thai retreat: not a beach or a city, but a cool, cultural mountain escape built around water, wood and calm.
Top Secret
Just up the road is the Mon Cham viewpoint, a ridge of terraced gardens and food stalls looking out over range after range of Northern Thai hills, best at sunrise or sunset when the valleys fill with mist and the crowds have yet to arrive.
The Review
Onsen at Moncham is one of the more original places to stay in Thailand: a Japanese ryokan, complete with a natural onsen, set high in the mountains an hour from Chiang Mai. At around 1,200 metres, it trades the heat of the lowlands for cool, fresh air, morning mist over the valley and the feeling, as guests often say, that you have somehow reached Japan without leaving Thailand.
The onsen is the heart of it. Natural thermal water, drawn from deep underground, fills gender-segregated indoor and outdoor baths, done properly as a ritual; there is a private garden onsen to book for couples or families, and many of the suites have their own in-room onsen tubs. The 24 rooms are ryokan in style, wood and tatami, calm and pared-back, some with terraces and mountain views, and guests pad about in yukata robes between the baths, the spa and the gardens, which include a dry Zen garden and small lakes. A few of the top suites are adults-only; elsewhere families are welcome.
The food matches the setting. Across three venues- an all-day restaurant, a seasonal izakaya, and a sake lounge- the kitchen turns out genuinely good Japanese cooking: real wasabi, proper sushi, five-course dinners with sake, alongside Northern Thai dishes, and it is consistently one of the things guests praise most, along with the warm, family-style service.
A few honest notes. This is a remote mountain retreat, a good hour of winding road from the city, so you come to settle in rather than to explore Chiang Mai; the highland climate is genuinely cool, so bring a layer, and the garden setting means the odd mosquito. The resort has also been expanding and improving in stages. But as a singular, beautifully done concept, a real onsen ryokan in the cool Thai hills, with a standout kitchen, Onsen at Moncham is among the most distinctive places to stay in Northern Thailand.
