Chiang Mai Songkran 2027
Songkran in the north, with the balloon dawn and the Golden Triangle either side of it
- Where
- Chiang Mai & Chiang Rai
- When
- 12–16 April 2027
- Duration
- 4 nights / 5 days
- Party size
- Minimum 2 adults
What this package is.
This is a five-day Songkran 2027 departure in Chiang Mai, sold from two adults, with the festival's two biggest days left deliberately unscheduled and a hot-air balloon dawn, the Golden Triangle and the Black House built around them. Explera operates it end to end as a Thailand DMC for travel agents — one contract, one invoice, net rates, and a 24/7 desk in Bangkok behind every booking.
Explera DMC Thailand is an IATA-accredited ground handler (96215733) operating across all of Thailand with in-house transport, licensed guides and a 24/7 operations desk. We work with the trade only — reach us at b2b@explera.co.th or on WhatsApp +66 93 656 8090.
What your client actually gets.
- Songkran itself falls on days 2 and 3, kept deliberately free — Chiang Mai's old town is the event, and no scheduled touring survives contact with it
- Hot-air balloon over the Ping valley at sunrise, up to 2,000 feet, with the champagne landing
- The Golden Triangle by boat, where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet on the Mekong
- Two fine-dining nights: a French set menu at Le Crystal and a five-course Thai-French tasting with wine pairing at Oxygen
How this package is built
- Arrival and departure transfers are private for your pair — airport to hotel and back, no sharing.
- The touring day runs as a group departure: 18 travellers in two vans with English-speaking guides, which is what makes the balloon, the Golden Triangle and the Black House work at this rate.
- Minimum two adults to book. Below the group minimum, the touring day is re-quoted on a private basis.
The itinerary.
-
Day 1 12 April 2027 Monday
Arrive Chiang Mai — riverside check-in, dinner at Le Crystal
- Chiang Mai airport to hotel on a private transfer
- Check in at Aruntara Riverside Boutique, Deluxe Room
- Evening set menu at Le Crystal Restaurant — private return transfer
- Amuse bouche, foie gras or crab mille feuille, soup, sorbet, snow fish, duck or Wagyu striploin, dessert and petits fours
-
Day 2 13 April 2027 Tuesday
Songkran — the old town, at your own pace
- No scheduled touring. This is the first full day of Songkran and the streets are the itinerary
- Breakfast at the hotel; the riverside location puts you a short walk from the moat
- Guides and vehicles are on call through the 24/7 desk if the day changes shape
-
Day 3 14 April 2027 Wednesday
Songkran continues — free day
- Second free day through the festival
- Breakfast at the hotel
- Optional additions can be added to the file at any point before travel
-
Day 4 15 April 2027 Thursday
Balloon at dawn, then the Golden Triangle and the Black House
- 05:30 pickup for the hot-air balloon — 40 to 50 minutes aloft, champagne on landing, flight certificate
- Full touring day by van with an English-speaking guide, up to 12 hours
- Golden Triangle boat ride on the Mekong, at the Thailand–Laos–Myanmar confluence
- Baan Dam Museum, the Black House — Thawan Duchanee's forty black buildings
- Five-course Thai-French tasting menu with wine pairing at Oxygen Dining Room
-
Day 5 16 April 2027 Friday
Check out and depart
- Breakfast, check out at 12:00
- Hotel to Chiang Mai airport on a private transfer
The experiences, in detail.
Hot-air balloon over Chiang Mai
Up to 2,000 feet over rice fields, mountains and villages as the sun comes up — 40 to 50 minutes aloft on a shared basket, with a champagne toast and light breakfast at the balloon base afterwards.
- Shared balloon flight, 40–50 minutes
- Hotel round-trip transfers
- Transfer from landing site to base
- Champagne celebration, coffee, tea, sandwiches and juice
- Commemorative flight certificate
- Travel accident insurance
Golden Triangle boat ride
The Mekong at the point where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet — riverside villages, the border landmarks, and the history of a region that has changed character completely.
- Private boat, up to 5 passengers
- Mekong scenic cruise
- View of the Thailand–Laos–Myanmar confluence
- Local sightseeing from the river
Baan Dam Museum — the Black House
Over forty black-timber buildings by Thailand's National Artist Thawan Duchanee — Lanna architecture, carvings, sculpture and antiques arranged as one continuous, deliberately unsettling work.
- Entry ticket
- Access to museum buildings and exhibition areas
- Access to the gardens
What is on the table.
Le Crystal Restaurant
A French set menu on the Ping river. Amuse bouche; pan-fried foie gras with peach and balsamic, or crab, mango and avocado mille feuille; asparagus cream soup or beef consommé; sorbet; snow fish with caviar beurre blanc, duck breast with orange, or grilled Wagyu striploin with red wine wasabi; green apple parfait or chocolate concorde; coffee or fine tea with petits fours.
Oxygen Dining Room
Five courses of Thai-French cooking at Cross Chiang Mai Riverside, each with its own wine. Chiang Mai sai oua with dry Riesling; char-grilled squid noodle with white Burgundy; braised Thai beef short rib with Cabernet Sauvignon; pan-seared Wagyu tenderloin with Shiraz; coconut pudding with a late-harvest Tokaji.
What is included, and what is not.
Included
- Accommodation in the hotel and room category quoted, on the meal plan and occupancy stated
- Daily breakfast at the hotel unless otherwise specified
- Meals as specified in the itinerary (CP = breakfast; MAP = breakfast plus lunch or dinner; AP = all three)
- All land transfers, sightseeing and transport in air-conditioned vehicles as per the itinerary
- English-speaking licensed local guide where specified
- Entrance fees to the sightseeing points listed
- Airport meet and greet on arrival by an Explera DMC representative
- Bottled drinking water, two bottles per person per day on touring days
- Tolls, parking, fuel and driver allowances
- Applicable government taxes and service charges on the above
- 24/7 Explera DMC operations support throughout the tour, on WhatsApp +66 93 656 8090
Not included
- International and domestic airfares unless expressly stated as included
- Visa fees, e-visa fees and travel authorisation fees, with any associated service charges
- Travel insurance of any kind — medical, cancellation, baggage or personal liability
- Tourist, environmental, city and heritage levies payable directly at destination
- Passport fees, locally payable airport departure taxes and excess baggage charges
- Meals not specified in the itinerary, and all beverages with meals unless stated
- Personal expenses — laundry, minibar, telephone, room service, spa, internet, medical costs
- Tips and gratuities to guides, drivers, porters and hotel staff
- Optional tours, activities and excursions not listed
- Early check-in and late check-out charges
- Peak season, festival, trade fair, gala dinner and blackout date supplements
- Camera, video and drone permit fees at monuments and attractions
- Costs arising from flight delay, cancellation, rerouting, medical evacuation, quarantine or force majeure
- Compulsory gala dinner supplements on Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve and local festival dates where hotels impose them
Good to know before you travel
- Standard check-in is 15:00 and check-out 12:00; early or late is subject to availability.
- Clients carry passport plus the voucher, printed or on a phone, for every redemption.
- Be in the lobby five to ten minutes before each scheduled pickup.
- Timings are indicative and shift with traffic, weather and operator schedules.
- Rates are nett, non-commissionable and confidential to the trade.
- Quotations are valid seven days from issue; space is held only on written confirmation with deposit.
Who this suits.
- Clients who want to be inside Songkran rather than watch it from a coach window
- Repeat Thailand travellers who have done Bangkok and the islands and want the north
- Couples and small groups of two upward, booking a festival week with fixed dates
The ground operation this runs on.
Every element on this page is delivered by Explera as your Thailand DMC services for travel agents — not brokered on to a third party. That is what lets one coordinator answer for the whole file, and what keeps the net rate stable when a detail changes.
Relevant to this programme:
- our Chiang Mai destination guide
- Chiang Rai
- Thailand DMC tours and activities
- our own transport fleet
- licensed guides
We handle agencies in 239 source markets and quote in your currency.
Asked by agents.
Why are days 2 and 3 left free?
Because Songkran is the product on those days. Chiang Mai's old town and moat become the event, roads close or slow to a crawl, and any scheduled touring either gets cancelled or gets soaked. Leaving them open is the honest way to sell it — and vehicles and guides stay on call through the 24/7 desk if a client wants something arranged on the day.
The quote says 18 travellers. Can we book two?
Yes — two adults is the minimum. Your arrival and departure transfers are private for the pair, and the day-four touring joins the group departure of eighteen in two vans with guides. That shared basis is what holds the rate; below the group minimum the touring day is re-quoted privately.
Are festival dates and hotel availability guaranteed?
Songkran dates are fixed. Hotel space over Songkran in Chiang Mai is not — it is one of the tightest weeks in the Thai calendar, and rooms at this standard go early. Rates and space are confirmed only on written confirmation with deposit.
Is the balloon flight weather-dependent?
Yes. Balloons fly at dawn and only in suitable conditions; an operator cancellation is refunded or rescheduled within the stay where the itinerary allows. Build the expectation into the client conversation rather than the complaint afterwards.
What is not in the price?
Airfares, visas, insurance, anything not listed in the inclusions, and all beverages with meals other than the wine pairing specified at Oxygen. The full exclusions list is on this page.
Send the dates and pax — a client-ready quote comes back fast.
Net rates, one invoice, and a 24/7 desk behind every booking — one Thailand DMC accountable for the whole file. We work with the trade only.