Nai Wiang – Ban Nong Tao Community Based Tourism Club

Nai Wiang – Ban Nong Tao is a community-based tourism (CBT) club covering two neighbourhoods either side of the Nan River in Nan: Nai Wiang, part of Nan’s old town, and Ban Nong Tao, an agricultural village on the opposite bank. It’s registered with Thailand’s community-based tourism network and has been shortlisted among the country’s award-winning CBT destinations — a small, locally organised group rather than a commercial tour operator.

What’s on offer is modest and specific rather than a packaged “cultural show.” The club can arrange visits to nearby temples, walks through vegetable and flower gardens tended without chemicals, and craft sessions such as candle-making taught by village elders — a practice tied to local merit-making traditions. Ban Nong Tao’s households mostly grow rice, corn, and garden vegetables, and some still weave cloth and make baskets by hand; visitors who arrange it in advance can see these crafts worked rather than just displayed. The club also lists homestays, local guides, and a small tourism service point for anyone wanting to stay overnight in the village rather than commute from Nan town.

The two neighbourhoods split naturally by geography and history. Nai Wiang sits inside Nan’s old town on the west bank, within reach of the provincial museum and the city’s main temples on foot. Ban Nong Tao is the working village across the river, where the pace and the activities on offer are more agricultural than urban — chrysanthemum and sunflower beds alongside the rice fields, and household-scale crafts rather than a market or shopfront. The club’s 2020 tourism-safety registration and its recognition among Thailand’s community-tourism award recipients are both signs this is a functioning, monitored group rather than an abandoned listing, even if the pace of arranging a visit is slower than booking a standard tour.

Watch out: Don’t plan a visit around a fixed itinerary without contacting the club first — unlike a ticketed attraction, activities here depend on which families and guides are available on the day.

This is a low-key stop best suited to travellers who want an unscripted look at rural Nan life rather than a headline sight. Pair it with Nan’s better-known temples nearby, such as Wat Phumin and Wat Phrathat Chae Haeng, or the National Museum of Nan for context on the province’s history before crossing the river into the villages.