Conceptual designer Rachen Intawong - or ‘Tam’ as he is best known - played a pivotal part in the construction of Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi, Chiang Mai beginning with its inception in 2001. He sees the resort as a working museum, a place where traditional Lanna culture and Asian colonial splendour have been carefully brought together in masterful harmony.

“We have not just built a resort, but rather we aimed to create a legend with the construction of Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi, Chiang Mai” he asserts. “For me this is a place where we have created the past, to let people touch history”.

Born in Chiang Mai, Tam was a studious child who excelled academically. He moved to Bangkok to study architecture at university but soon discovered he felt out of place in the big city. “I didn’t feel right, I was so unhappy. My heart was in Chiang Mai”.

So Tam returned to his beloved north to take up a degree in Thai art and later expanded his studies to cover the Mekong region, essentially studying the geographical area that was once the Lanna Kingdom.

Driven by a passion for the past, he immersed himself in Lanna history and art, reading widely and spending his free time visiting the region’s villages and researching lost rural architectural styles. In many ways, Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi, Chiang Mai is the product of his passion.

When the idea of Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi, Chiang Mai first emerged, Tam and his small team worked on an idea for the project piece by piece. “There was no master plan, it was more like one big jigsaw puzzle” he admits. “Just like the city of Chiang Mai, we built it up over a long time, in a natural growth process”.

Over many months, the team created the concept of an ancient city. Traditional structures such as wooden rice barns, Royal Lanna houses and magnificent colonial mansions were built in small clusters providing luxury accommodation, restaurants and recreational areas.

These groups of buildings borrow from specific vernacular styles such as Thai Lue or Haw Luang. Just like an authentic Thai palace, the resort’s beautiful 60 acres of grounds contain paddy fields, lakes and Lanna-inspired houses.

“Ultimately, we have rebuilt the past so that some of these Lanna traditions can be kept alive for the future. Change is part of life, I accept that, that’s what Buddhism teaches us, but who says we have to lose our heritage in the name of change?” explains Tam.