The bamboo raft trip on the Mae Kok was very enjoyable, one of our trip highlights. The kids loved it too (photo of them on the river). Depending on the time of year, it can be done in 2 days / 1 night if you want, but when we did it (March) the river flow was low and you can only do the 3 days / 2 nights version. But the extra day was so much fun, if you have time, do the longer trip! We went through Thip Travel in Tha Ton (we got to Tha Ton by bus from Chang Mai, spent the night there then left early the next morning). You simply organise it all when you get there. Thip Travel is associated with Thip Guest House near the bridge in Tha Ton, but there are 1 or 2 other operators to choose from. It is great, you drift past forests, hills and people working in the fields while the two boatmen guide the raft along, and cook you nice meals. You even get to visit some hill tribe villages and an elephant camp. The end point is Chiang Rai, you get off under a bridge and catch a rickshaw to a guest house of your choice. We thoroughly recommend Chian House (Guest House), as mentioned on the Hotels page.

What's provided. You sleep on the raft moored up on the edge of the river at night. They supplied us with one blanket each and no mattress, so the nights were quite uncomfortable. It was surprisingly cold at night even in March, so if you have sleeping bags take them, or ask to hire extra blankets. We had 6 of us (a great couple from the USA whom we shared with, our 2 kids aged 9 and 11 and my wife and I) sleeping head to head in the little shelter you see in the photo. But hey, the great trip made up for the uncomfortable nights. Fortunately we were able to hire extra blankets the second night, as we slept near the hot springs and at this place there were some basic tourist facilities. The food was also nice, if basic, and is all included in the price. The first night we had barbequed fish, the second night we had barbequed chicken, both with mild curried vegetables, all cooked on the clean riverside in the evening. Other meals were mild curried vegetables and noodles, breakfast was toast, eggs and coffee, and these meals were actually cooked by one of the two boatmen in a coal cooker as we drifted along. There was also heaps of fruit that we just ate on demand. That little cubicle you see in the photo near the front of the raft (behind the boatman who is sitting preparing dinner) is the toilet. It is simply a cubicle where you squat or stand over a gap to the river and do you business.