Mon Jam.

On another visit in 1984 King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) came to Ban Nong Hoi and found villagers still growing opium and living in poverty. Prince Bhisadej Rajani then set up the Nong Hoi Royal Project Development Centre, encouraging farmers — including the Hmong — to grow temperate vegetables, fruit and flowers instead of opium, alongside restoring the forest and improving livelihoods.

The Nong Hoi Royal Project area ranges from 850 to 1,460 m with an average temperature of about 21°C, ideal for cool-climate crops. Today it grows strawberries, artichokes, plums, seedless grapes, tomatoes and herbs such as lemon thyme, mint, chamomile and rosemary; visitors can walk the plots and taste fresh produce.

Lodgings and farm plots on Mon Jam today · Photo: Supanut Arunoprayote

Around 1997–1998 the Nong Hoi Royal Project requested land inside the Mae Rim National Forest Reserve for villagers to farm. The reserve is a class-1A headwater forest of more than 140,000 rai (about 22,400 ha); the farming allocation was roughly 2,000 rai for over 600 people on more than 900 plots. 30 June 1998 became the key cut-off date for proving farming rights, and a Cabinet resolution of 11 May 1999 on northern farmland disputes is still cited by villagers today.

Tourism began in 2002, when the Royal Project started promoting the area's tourism potential, followed by homestays and agritourism. In late 2009 the Royal Project developed the Kiw Suea site for visitors, led by a grandson of Prince Bhisadej, and named it "Mon Jam" because it sounded pleasant and matched nearby Doi Mon Long. In 2014 the community registered as a community enterprise.

Nearby Doi Mon Long, about 1,450–1,460 m, is the highest viewpoint in Mae Rim. Local legend says it is the burial place of Khun Luang Wilangka, a legendary ruler of the Lawa people; the name "Mon Khwam Long" (Overturned Coffin Hill) comes from the story of his coffin tipping over during the funeral procession.

Popularity kept climbing. For the October 2019–January 2020 high season, operators estimated 2,000–3,000 overnight visitors a day and around 1.5 million baht spent daily. Plots inside the project began changing hands, and homestays, campsites and cafés spread along the whole ridge and into Mae Raem and Pong Yaeng subdistricts.

Fast tourism growth raised concerns about forest clearing, waste and unpermitted buildings. In January 2020 the Director-General of the Royal Forest Department invoked Section 25 of the National Forest Reserve Act to halt construction of lodgings in the reserve. A first survey found 53 operators using about 229 rai: 38 had farming rights, 12 had rights but had expanded beyond them, and 3 had sold to outsiders and were prosecuted. In August 2020 officials reported 113 resort and lodging operators using land against the Royal Project's purposes; 30 faced stronger legal action and some structures began to be demolished.

In November 2020 the Chief Ombudsman visited the area. His review counted about 113 plots turned into resorts and lodgings: 31 operators had been prosecuted, while 82 were original landholders who had gone into business and would need to prove their rights against 2002 aerial photos and a 2009 boundary survey, and return to highland farming within the law. He recommended a Mon Jam master plan drawn up by the province, agencies and residents, plus a community enterprise for farming and agritourism; villagers farming within the original boundaries were not to be affected.

On 29 August 2022 more than 500 Hmong residents blocked access to the area after over 100 forestry officers prepared to demolish homes and homestays in a class-1 watershed zone, while villagers insisted theirs is an original community more than a century old.

Chiang Mai's environment office inspected 122 lodgings and found 36 with changed holders, nominee arrangements or transfers to investors. By then 10 cases had been prosecuted and demolished — 5 by the owners themselves and 5 by officials. On 31 August 2022 the National Human Rights Commission asked the governor to delay demolitions; on 4 September officials spent a whole day trying to demolish but were stopped by villagers, and on 6 September residents' representatives petitioned the Natural Resources Minister in Bangkok. About 3,800 villagers hold some 2,500 rai in total — under one rai each on average. The government maintains that Doi Mon Jam is not private land, cannot be bought or sold, and that only those without rights will be prosecuted.

Today the community enterprise is working on rules for sustainable tourism — visitors can help by staying with licensed operators and taking their rubbish back down the mountain.