Anantara Golden Triangle

The Chiang Saen Retreat Captures the Mysterious Essence of the East.

For centuries Southeast Asia’s Golden Triangle the intersection of the Mekong and Ruak rivers, where the borders of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar all converge—was famous chiefly as the center of the world’s opium trade, an amorphous narcotics bazaar spreading over three nations but subject to no law save that of supply and demand. Today, with drug laws strictly enforced, the region happily traffics in a variety of perfectly legal intoxicants: the sight of the early-morning sun breaking through a fogbank to warm a mountainside, for instance, or the sound of a far-off elephant’s roar heard during an evening walk, or the taste of a fiery red curry washed down with a cold beer.

In the northern most province of Chiang Rai sits Chiang Saen, the town overlooking the confluent rivers that define the Golden Triangle. Curious visitors have always travelled here to absorb the natural beauty and to engage with the local hill tribes, whose artworks and handicrafts are among Thailand’s most popular exports. Now they have yet another reason: the Anantara Resort & Spa, a unique destination that offers guests a new take on classic Thai traditions.

Donghia

Angelo Donghia’s original 5th Avenue sofa—designed in the 1970s for Ralph Lauren’s New York apartment—“reinvented seat construction,” says designer Jacques Saint Dizier. “An overscale cloud of a seat almost floats on the minimal base.”

Sofa by Shelton Mindel

The sofa depends on the appropriateness to a time and space. What may be ideal for one space may not work for another. The best sofa would be one that appears to be seamless in the space it occupies.

Framed in leather, the sofa pictured was custom-designed by Shelton Mindel.

Sheer Kitchen

“It’s an example of thinking outside the box,” designer Penny Drue Baird says of the modular kitchen developed by Drag Design for the Italian company Sheer. The split-sphere base includes a cook-top, a sink and an extendable steel dining table.